How to Shoot Night Mode Portraits on iPhone 12 Pro/Max

How to shoot Night Mode Portrait on iPhone 12 Pro/Max Depth of field became important in Portrait mode photography when Apple introduced the telephoto lens with the iPhone 7 Plus. Using camera software algorithms, two iPhone 7 Plus lenses were utilized to create the look and feel of the image taken with portrait settings in a DSLR with telephoto lenses, resulting in a bokeh effect that artistically blurred the background.

How to Shoot Night Mode Portraits on iPhone 12 Pro/Max

The Night mode that comes with the iPhone 11 series works the same. Google made it popular with Pixel phones, and every major Android phone manufacturer already had it before Apple decided to include night mode, but now the iPhone 12 models and version 2.0 have arrived.

The iPhone 12 has only advanced low-light mode, while the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max pair with this Portrait mode. Yes, behind them is the LiDAR camera, which measures how long it takes light to reflect back from objects, thus creating a quick and accurate depth map of the area. It helps a person distinguish their face even at night and successfully blurs the background.

Open the iPhone 12 Pro Camera app.
Scroll to Portrait mode.
iPhone 12 Pro / Max will ask you how to set up your object.
Night mode Tap the Shutter button to take a portrait and hold the iPhone 12 Pro/Max steady.
When taking a night mode photo, you can tap the stop button below to stop instead of waiting for the shot to end.

With iOS 14, if your iPhone 12 Pro or 12 Pro Max detects motion while trying to take a Night mode photo, you can align the plus signs to your frame to help you reduce movement and improve shooting.

Needless to say, your results will vary depending on the amount of light available, but Night Mode's 2.0 algorithms are very helpful here.