Smartphone Photography Tip of the Week --- Portrait Mode

This week's smartphone photography tip is about Portrait mode. If your phone camera has two or more lenses, then it likely has a Portrait mode option in addition to the regular Photo mode. Just swipe left or right where you see Photo to find Portrait.

Portrait mode creates a soft, blurred background behind your subject. This effect minimizes background distractions and makes your sharp subject stand out from the blurry background.

Portrait mode automatically switches to your phone's telephoto lens (2/3x). And you can use Portrait with both your regular, rear camera as well as the front, selfie camera.

For the best results from Portrait mode, make sure your subject is standing away from the background; leave three feet or more between your subject and the background. And position yourself between three and five feet from your subject.

Left -- Standard lens (1x)
Right -- Telephoto lens (3x)

Portrait mode is not just for pictures of people. You can use it any time that you want to blur the background and keep your subject sharp. In the pictures below, Portrait mode blurred the background stairs and kept the horse head ornament sharp.

Lawn ornament in Portrait mode

If you are taking a selfie with a friend, you may want to change the lens to standard (1x) so there is more space around both people.

Portrait selfies with a friend using the standard 1x lens