iPhone 7 Plus Portrait Mode “The death of the DSLR?” Plus 5 tips on how to get the best images with Portrait Mode!
The iPhone 7’s Camera is absolutely fantastic all by itself:
It also has amazing slow motion and video capture capabilities:
But where it truly shines is the new Portrait mode which mimics depth of field that you would normally only get with a professional DSLR camera.
The new portrait mode is like pizza. And who doesn’t like pizza?!?!
Honestly it is like apple made a deal with the devil to get the algorithm for “digital” depth of field, because the results are uncanny. Sure there are some things that need improvement but for what it is right out of the gate, mind blown. How many magical elves are inside my iPhone 7 plus to make the picture do that?!?!
Check out these examples below (swipe left to right to see the “RAW”(not using portrait mode) and with Portrait Mode on with color correction all done on the iPhone)
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-10-04-15.41.24.jpg” leftlabel=”RAW” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-10-04-15.41.24-Edit.jpg” rightlabel=”Portrait Mode” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-26-16.17.46-2.jpg” leftlabel=”Portrait Mode” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-26-16.17.46-1-e1482962764471.jpg” rightlabel=”RAW” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-10-04-15.37.22-1-e1482959947549.jpg” leftlabel=”RAW” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-10-04-15.37.22-1-Edit-2.jpg” rightlabel=”Portrait Mode” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-10-07-17.04.31-1-Edit.jpg” leftlabel=”Portrait Mode” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-10-07-17.04.31-1-1-e1482960793294.jpg” rightlabel=”RAW” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-26-17.45.39-2-1.jpg” leftlabel=”Portrait Mode” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-26-17.45.39-1-e1482963875915.jpg” rightlabel=”RAW” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-27-16.35.20-1-1-e1482961106238.jpg” leftlabel=”RAW” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-27-16.35.20-2.jpg” rightlabel=”Portrait Mode” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-27-17.20.32-1-1-e1482961673520.jpg” leftlabel=”RAW” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-27-17.20.32-2-2.jpg” rightlabel=”Portrait Mode” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-27-16.35.21-1-e1482961371677.jpg” leftlabel=”RAW” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-27-16.35.21-2.jpg” rightlabel=”Portrait Mode” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-10-04-15.39.13-e1482966828934.jpg” leftlabel=”RAW” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-10-04-15.39.13-Edit.jpg” rightlabel=”Portrait Mode” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-27-17.55.19-1-3-e1482962201600.jpg” leftlabel=”RAW” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-27-17.55.19-2-2.jpg” rightlabel=”Portrait Mode” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-26-16.26.09-1-e1482962917808.jpg” leftlabel=”RAW” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-26-16.26.09-2.jpg” rightlabel=”Portrait Mode” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-27-16.33.40-2-2-2.jpg” leftlabel=”Portrait Mode” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-27-16.33.40-1-1-e1482961992825.jpg” rightlabel=”RAW” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-26-16.27.23-1-e1482962898310.jpg” leftlabel=”RAW” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-26-16.27.23-2-3.jpg” rightlabel=”Portrait Mode” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-26-18.01.10-2-6.jpg” leftlabel=”Portrait Mode” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-26-18.01.10-1-1-e1482964145188.jpg” rightlabel=”RAW” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-10-04-15.35.56-2.jpg” leftlabel=”RAW” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-10-04-15.35.56-Edit-2.jpg” rightlabel=”Portrait Mode” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-26-17.57.01-1-2-e1482964121599.jpg” leftlabel=”RAW” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-09-26-17.57.01-2-1.jpg” rightlabel=”Portrait Mode” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
[sciba leftsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-10-04-15.35.47-Edit.jpg” leftlabel=”Portrait Mode” rightsrc=”http://alttabme.site.nfoservers.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-10-04-15.35.47-2.jpg” rightlabel=”RAW” mode=”horizontal” width=””]
What I am waiting for is when people stop calling it “Mobile Photography” and just call it “Photography”.
Conclusion:
So as you can see the Portrait mode is quite impressive. You have to be very careful of textures still, as it likes to blur them at time. Luckily the portrait mode saves a Depth of Field version with Bokah or Blur (however you wanna say it), and then gives you the normal shot without any retouches. So let’s say you shoot a shot and somehow a piece of hair, eyelash, foreground bit gets blurred accidentally. You can combine both photos in a program outside of the phone to recover your image without worrying about having lost the perfect shot. It would be cool if apple allowed you do that in the photo editor. (still waiting on my “advanced mode” for the photos app! =D )
But besides the small hiccup here or there, this thing could easily replace a DSLR in any daytime shoot. No one looking at the photo quickly, on social media, or even side by side is going to go “OMG THAT IS THE iPHONE DEPTH OF FIELD!!!!!!” They are going to go, wow that is a beautiful image. And that is absolutely an amazing place for photography on mobile phones to be. (are they even phones anymore? Why doesn’t apple just removed the earphone area too cause no one makes calls anymore…. damn millenials, I LEARNED THE HELL OUTTA MAKING PHONE CALLS, NOW WHAT AM I GOOD AT?!! I can only say LOL SO MANY TIMES!!! *tangent over*) Is it different than a DSLR, sure, but will it matter in a few years. NOPE. Is it already starting to not matter? Yup. I would MUCH rather have my iPhone on a shoot with me than my DSLR, and it has been that way for the last 2 years, and I have realllllly nice DSLR’s. Not to mention for those who aren’t trying to get that professional shot, you now have a chance to do it anyway, just by reaching in your pocket, following the onscreen instructions, and snapping away. It is like when DSLRS first dropped in prices and everyone had one. Sure the images weren’t great, but it allowed more people to join the m̶a̶s̶s̶a̶c̶r̶e̶ fun!
Anyway, obviously I have had too much coffee today (which is odd considering I don’t drink it), so here are some top numbered things for clickbait 😉
Top 5.5 Tips for Shooting in Portrait Mode on the iPhone 7!
Lighting
I have shot in pitch black and in the heat of the noon sun. All is doable in portrait mode, but the most successful it has been was at 12 noon sunlight. The more light the better for portrait mode. Not only is it shooting through the 55 mm lens of the dual lens with a higher f stop (i.e. less light allowed in) it needs to be able to make out those edges in order to blur properly so introduce too much noise and darkness and your results may not be what you want. However carry an icelight knockoff(yes I said knockoff, icelight is ridiculously overprices for an LED panel in the shape of a lightsaber), and you can boost the light enough to really pull off some great nighttime shots. Even a cafe’s bulbs on a string hanging outside can truly enhance your photo. But at the moment, your best results are 100% daytime.
Rules of Thirds
Camera 101. Portrait mode, Landscape mode, Panoramic Mode(did you know you can use panoramic mode to shoot really odd shaped normal photos that are vertical!), it doesn’t matter, knowing some basic shooting techniques will always increase the quality of your photos. And when you add the blur effect/bokah effect that Portrai mode introduces you want that background to shine through, so have a subject in one of the thirds allows for more of it to be seen.
Distance
You CAN push the distance of the Depth of Field Portrait mode beyond the 8-10 feet it tells you to stay within, but you will start to get edge tearing around the subject. The filter will not be able to tell the difference between and arm and the ocean for example. Sometimes it will though… but to be safe, stick within the range apple’s app tells you to, unless you are a rebel like me and feel like reading why below.
Know when to turn it off
Yes we know Bokah(the pretty blurred out lights behind someone) is pretty for EVERY PICTURE.. or is it?! Know when to turn it off and allow the beauty in-front and behind your subject truly shine through. Also without it on, you get more low light, so remember that!
Bonus feature: if you shoot in portrait you also get the non portrait version with it, but will still be the same F stop of the zoom lens on the dual lens system!
The important one:
BREAK ALL THE RULES
No not in a “I say bae cause I can’t even” way.
But because while these tips and tricks are great for getting you started and are the foundation for creating a beautiful image using portrait mode, this is very much new tech that doesn’t even know it’s own limits yet. For instance the distance tells you to not go more than 8-10 feet from the subject, you can push that using different creative barrel rolls and tumbles during a shoot to push the limits further. (mind you results may vary beyond this distance as you are not using it as it was programmed to work seamlessly, but you can get truly stunning results) But just push it to the limits and let Apple know you want to grow their magical fairy power that is obviously powering this new Portrait mode. Sure other’s came before this one as third party apps, but NONE of them have been able to achieve what this has! So obviously we must curb our enthusiasm and immediately request they push it even further! 🙂
*micdrop*
Check out more at:
http://instagram.com/dancers_of
Showcasing mobile innovation through Strength, Passion, & Dance
Everything is shot/edited on iPhone7
Gone are the days of needing months to fill out a portfolio, each dancer is
scheduled ONE day to shoot with me and an iPhone.
The result is a very fast, professional kick start to your port.
iPhone 6S+ Drop test from 10,000 feet! “Part 2” I.E. Breathtaking 4K Aerial Footage of NYC!
Tristan Pope Photography took to the skies over NYC with the iPhone 6S + to get some of the first 4K aerial footage via an amazing company called #FlyNyon. They fly open door helicopters directly over some of the most amazing sights NYC has to offer, deemed as “the Ultimate Photo Experience”. And it truly is! See what it is like to #FlyNyon and how our different gear holds up against the extreme conditions! Will the screen break? lol
All aerial shots are in Native 4k on the iPhone 6S+
All Behind the Scenes are in 1080p on the iPhone 6+
Footage rendered at 4K
No color correction was applied so you can see what the 4K on the iPhone 6S+ can do over NYC!
Check out our adventure!
Miss the prep and behind the scenes of part 1? Check it out here:
http://flynyon.com
Equipment used:
iPhone 6S +
iPhone 6 +
BeastGrip
Moment Lens
Blackwing handle
Reticam Mount
Z1-Smooth Stabilizer
Zoom iQ5 Lightning Adapter Mic
Shit tons of Gaff tape
and a lot of tethers!
Subscribe or Follow us for updates:
Tweets by tristanpope
http://instagram.com/tristanpope
http://facebook.com/tristanpopephotography
http://www.tristanpope.com