Photographer showcases upcoming Portrait mode using Apple's iPhone 7 Plus at wedding

Reddit users claiming to be professional photographers proclaim the iPhone 7 Plus in Portrait mode in iOS 10.1 an excellent, high-quality photography tool when coupled with the appropriate user skillset.

The iPhone 7 Plus was used by Reddit member "Rytterfalk" for about 70 percent of the shots at a wedding. The photographer claimed that some shots required the use of a DSLR for future use of the photos, but it was "much harder to get the moment the same way as you can with a phone."

All shots were taken with natural light, according to the photographer.

"Portrait" is now available to select in the native Camera app on iPhone 7 Plus units running any of the iOS 10.1 betas. When shooting photos in "Portrait" mode, users must lock onto their subject to separate it from the background, forcing the iPhone to simulate what is known as a "bokeh" effect in photography.

Instructions at the bottom of the screen inform the user whether or not there is enough light in their shot, and also whether they are too close or too far from the subject. Photos captured in this mode are labeled with "Depth Effect."

With proprietary range finding technology, the iPhone 7 Plus dual cameras can produce a selectively out-of-focus portrait. While the feature was demonstrated at the iPhone 7 Plus unveiling, it did not ship with the device and is set to arrive for all users with the full iOS 10.1 software update later this fall.

31 Comments

volcan 1799 comments · 10 Years

About 8 years ago

AppleInsider said:

...to simulate what is known as a "bokeh" effect in photography.

I wish people would stop calling Portrait mode "bokeh" because it is not. It is just a blurred background. Bokeh is different. It has individual convolution areas and swirls not just a Gaussian blur. I have to admit the masking capability is impressive. If I could get the masking feature alone without the blur, it would be helpful in compositing work.

That picture of the bride and groom together looks terrible.

Rayz2016 6957 comments · 8 Years

I think this is a case of 'just because you can do something, doesn't necessarily mean you should.'

mike1 3427 comments · 10 Years

I'm not sure I'd trust wedding photos to the phone, but there are certainly times I wished I could blur the background some to make the subject pop. Don't want to retouch all the time.

sflagel 864 comments · 11 Years

Dear author: a blurred background is not bokeh, it is just depth of field. Bokeh is when you have light points turn into perfectly concentric circles, resulting in a "magical" and dreamy background.

The depth of field looks ok in these pictures (better than none), I have not yet seen a bokeh effect anywhere.

xpad 46 comments · 11 Years

volcan said:

AppleInsider said:

...to simulate what is known as a "bokeh" effect in photography.

I wish people would stop calling Portrait mode "bokeh" because it is not. It is just a blurred background. Bokeh is different. It has individual convolution areas and swirls not just a Gaussian blur. I have to admit the masking capability is impressive. If I could get the masking feature alone without the blur, it would be helpful in compositing work.

That picture of the bride and groom together looks terrible.

It's not a Gaussian blur. Additionally, bokeh is the out of focus area of a photograph. It doesn't have to have any specific feature (like a certain iris pattern), those are just aspects of bokeh that can vary.

Apple's implementation is not a Gaussian blur, and it takes into account distance from the in-focus plane. It most certainly is (simulated) bokeh.