Apple Shares New Ad Showcasing Portrait Lighting Mode on the iPhone 8 Plus

[69Mustang]

I think this ad is gorgeous. What's the issue with it?

I think some people are taking issue with the false impression the video is presenting. A normal person watching that ad would be forgiven for assuming Portrait Lighting is a video mode of the 8+. The ad is essentially 30 seconds long. 21 of those seconds show Portrait Lighting being displayed as a function of video. 4 seconds of the ad actually show the feature in it's proper context.

 

[truthertech]

I can't imagine using this automatic masking feature more than ...once.

At some point you might have friends, significant others, etc., that you want to take portraits of and then, trust us, you'll love it. If that's not how you interact with folks, you'll never see the benefit.
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Portrait mode is pretty awesome but the stage light setting in Portrait Lighting is pretty damn horrendous. Unless I want to highlight how bad the software is, I can’t ever see myself using it.

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Those are both beautiful pictures, what camera did you use to take them? With the different lighting effects, they create two very different, but great photos.

 

[2010mini]

I love Portrait Mode on my 7 Plus. It’s not perfect nor does it match my DSLR, but I’ve taken some pretty good shots with it. And as they say, the best camera is the one you have with you.

I’m also waiting for the X, and can’t wait to try the new features. Only one more month.....

Care to share some of those pics?

 

[mdatwood]

Regular portrait mode has gotten better with each software release. I expect the various lighting modes to also improve.

As someone who lugs around a dslr + lenses on every vacation, I find myself using my phone more and more for ease of use. On my last trip I mostly left my 70-300 on my dslr for reach, and used my 7+ for other shots. Worked out really well.

 

[flat five]

how well do these modes work with objects other than people/faces?
say, a product shot.. or a sculpture?

anybody have any example of that?
thx

 

[jonnysods]

8+. The 8 doesn’t have this feature.

Sorry that's what I meant. I can't use the regular 4.7's anymore, I feel like Andre the Giant when I hold them!

 

[Ihm]

Look at this "fantastic" example of the Bokeh-Effect, found on the Apple iPhone X Page:

Did Apple forgot to edit this image before posting it on their site...like the other ones?

 

[Berti10]

Can someone please share some of their portrait lighting shots?

 

[Larry-K]

"Apple reportedly studied the work of professional portrait photographers as well as famous painters to see how lighting has been used in the visual arts throughout history."

Yeah, it looks like they put the better part of an afternoon into studying it.

"Famous painters"? Thomas Kinkade? Bob Ross? Earl Scheib?

 

[GoodWheaties]

They purposely used a model with super short hair since portrait lighting has issues with hair.

Yep. And glasses.

Also ears sometimes.

 

[flat five]

"Apple reportedly studied the work of professional portrait photographers as well as famous painters to see how lighting has been used in the visual arts throughout history."

Yeah, it looks like they put the better part of an afternoon into studying it.

seems like they at least had a peek a Philip-Lorca diCorcia's stuff

(albiet, this isn't a posed photo.. just that @Berti10 's image above made me think of this series)

 

[A MacBook lover]

Haters will hate, meanwhile I will continue to take these career-ascending photos.

 

[Mr. Donahue]

Haters will hate, meanwhile I will continue to take these career-ascending photos.

Something about it looks off. Looks odd. It's not you. You look sharp but something with the filter and contrast I dunno looks funny.

 

[Alexander.Of.Oz]

I can't imagine using this automatic masking feature more than ...once.

They purposely used a model with super short hair since portrait lighting has issues with hair.

It is rather unfortunate that the masking they apply has no subtlety to it with this feature. It removes every fine detail of hair, clothing, etc from the outer regions of the subject, which makes the images very strange and unusable, really.
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Made this selfie recently (with rear cam). Works quite well most of the time, but I especially enjoy the subtle studio light effect. Really awesome.

It's removed a lot of hair from the right hand side of your face, with its heavy handed masking being applied there.

 

[PCMA]

Does anyone know WHERE the ad was shot?

 

[A MacBook lover]

Something about it looks off. Looks odd. It's not you. You look sharp but something with the filter and contrast I dunno looks funny.

You’re right! It looks off. Probably a little too sharp in the defining lines between top of head and background. I did add a contrast filter and darkened it to help blend with background. I took this photo in front of a lamp in my hotel room - so for not really trying, I think it’s a great photo. And if I had tried, I’m sure it would yield better results.

Not something I would blow up to it’s full resolution and canvas, but definitely a headshot to add to the collection.

 

[Ntombi]

I get kind of tired of not having features like this just because I choose a smaller phone that's not too big to fit in my pockets, but I digress.

Which is exactly why I’ll be getting the X: the most features of any iPhone, packed into a size I’m comfortable with.

 

[Alexander.Of.Oz]

You’re right! It looks off. Probably a little too sharp in the defining lines between top of head and background. I did add a contrast filter and darkened it to help blend with background. I took this photo in front of a lamp in my hotel room - so for not really trying, I think it’s a great photo. And if I had tried, I’m sure it would yield better results.

Not something I would blow up to it’s full resolution and canvas, but definitely a headshot to add to the collection.

So, I'm confused, which tends to happen a lot. Is this taken using Portrait Mode, or did you achieve a similar look using other phone apps? Even with your hair slicked back it hasn't masked it very well, there's no subtlety to the mask that was applied to really show all of your hairs edges here, there are small sections missing. Something Portrait Mode seems consistent at.

 

[flat five]

Does anyone know WHERE the ad was shot?

California.. N.Hollywood / the valley.
somewhere along the Orange Line (L.A. bus line.. shown at the end of the commercial).

 

[Tycho24]

Haters will hate, meanwhile I will continue to take these career-ascending photos.

Lol, I'm straight... but you look super attractive in that picture!
If I saw that prior to watching the keynote I would never believe that was a quick cellphone selfie w/ no 3rd party tweaks. It legit looks like a studio portrait.

 

[PCMA]

California.. N.Hollywood / the valley.
somewhere along the Orange Line (L.A. bus line.. shown at the end of the commercial).

Many thanks

 

[mazz0]

The wife says you're handsome. Still can't save that photo. It's terrible, even with the caveat that it's beta. From the bottom of your left ear through your jawline looks like someone edited that portion with MS Paint. Whatever math they used to create those effects needs to be adjusted. It made your eyes and eyeglasses seem "placed" into the photo. Very disconcerting. The coloring of your cheeks and nose... uh... uh... the pattern is reminiscent of the late, great, Ultimate Warrior. RIP

Portrait lighting is in beta for a reason. A very good reason.

Gotta disagree with you there - I think the eyes and glasses look spot on. The only problem I see in that picture is his left jawline/cheek being badly cut out. Would probably be worse if he had lighter hair that didn’t merge into the black, but as it is that’s the least terrible example of the new Portrait mode I’ve seen.

 

[69Mustang]

Gotta disagree with you there - I think the eyes and glasses look spot on. The only problem I see in that picture is his left jawline/cheek being badly cut out. Would probably be worse if he had lighter hair that didn’t merge into the black, but as it is that’s the least terrible example of the new Portrait mode I’ve seen.

Agree to disagree.

 

[ThatGuyInLa]

Does it work in video mode like they show in this ad? That would be gnarly!

 

[mazz0]

Does it work in video mode like they show in this ad? That would be gnarly!

Well it works in real-time as you’re framing the shot doesn’t it? If so maybe they could make it work in video, though dunno what FPS it could handle, and you’d probably have it turning off and on every now and then as it tells you to reposition.