Portrait Mode Not Working As Expected

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Portrait Mode Not Working As Expected

I have an iPhone8 SE, running iOS 16.5.1 (I always update to the latest version).

Recently a friend told me I could use Portrait mode to take better photos of things like flowers or pets’ faces, as well as people. But when I tried to do it, the pictures didn’t have the blurry background that his photos did, even though we were photographing the same flowers in the same lighting conditions.

I’ve been trying to get photos of my cats using Portrait mode, but it keeps saying there’s no person detected.

It’s only when I try the selfie camera and it sees my face that it will blur the background.

I found I can change the amount of blur by adjusting the f-Stop setting, but ONLY when using selfie mode.

Thanks in advance for any helpful suggestions.

iPhone SE, iOS 16

Posted on Jul 23, 2023 4:14 PM

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Answer 1

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sberman

Level 10

272,262 points

Jul 23, 2023 4:31 PM in response to iPhoneCat2023

This article is pertinent.

Use Portrait mode on your iPhone - Apple Support

Note the last sentence under item 3 in “Take photos in Portrait mode”:

“With iPhone XR and iPhone SE (2nd generation), the rear-facing camera must detect a person's face to take a Portrait mode photo.”

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Answer 2

Jul 23, 2023 5:02 PM in response to sberman

Yes, but my point is that I want to take photos of my cats, or a bee on a flower, using the FRONT-facing camera. That’s when I get the Person Not Detected message.

As a matter of fact, I tried taking some photos of my husband in Portrait mode, but there was no background blurring. It just isn’t working.

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Portrait Mode Not Working As Expected

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