iPhone 12 Pro Max iPhone 12 Pro Max Camera Question

[C7 POWER]

The last few days I’ve noticed my camera is blurring things in the background, and I’m not in portrait mode, I’m in normal photo mode.

example, the second cat in my lap is blurred. I’ve noticed this the last few days on many of my pics. Running as of today, iOS 14.3.

Any ideas what’s causing this?

 

[conleyca]

Generally, that’s how a camera is supposed to work. When you’re really close to a subject and it’s in focus, the background is going to blur some (bokeh). If you want it all in focus, you have to be further away from the closest subject.

 

[seezar]

Are you shooting close up to the first cat using the telephoto lens? If so, that’s to be expected.

 

[wardie]

Ye canna change the laws of physics, Jim.

Unless it’s in portrait mode and artificially blurring, then have a read of something like this. Tricky thing is smartphones and normal camera apps its hard to see what the camera is doing with its settings, as its making it easy to use for most people, versus a DSLR camera settings for example where you can fine tune all the settings and change the lens optics.

What Is Depth of Field? (And Why it Matters in Photography)

Depth of field (DoF) refers to how much of your scene is (and isn't) in focus. Photographers often manipulate the depth of field as a creative choice. They do this by selecting the right aperture for the scene they want to create.

expertphotography.com

 

[adamhenry]

tl;dr brighten up the lights to increase your depth of field and bring the second cat more into focus.

 

[C7 POWER]

Thanks everyone. I just have never had this happen on any of my pictures so thats why I asked.

 

[wardie]

Thanks everyone. I just have never had this happen on any of my pictures so thats why I asked.

No problem and great if you can learn something new! The smartphones are so clever these days with AI processing etc. They make taking great photos very easy. If you did want to mess around with that depth of field effect, put it in Portrait mode but then adjust the blurring by clicking on the “f” in a circle. This is showing you something like changing the aperture on a DLSR would do. Bigger number = more stuff in focus. See item 1.1 in this article. You originally described a case like 1.2 in the article with a shallow depth of field with your front cat.

6 Advanced iPhone Camera Controls For Jaw-Dropping Photography

Learn to use advanced iPhone camera controls, including shutter speed and ISO. Start taking incredible photos that you never thought possible!

iphonephotographyschool.com

 

[C7 POWER]

No problem and great if you can learn something new! The smartphones are so clever these days with AI processing etc. They make taking great photos very easy. If you did want to mess around with that depth of field effect, put it in Portrait mode but then adjust the blurring by clicking on the “f” in a circle. This is showing you something like changing the aperture on a DLSR would do. Bigger number = more stuff in focus. See item 1.1 in this article. You originally described a case like 1.2 in the article with a shallow depth of field with your front cat.

6 Advanced iPhone Camera Controls For Jaw-Dropping Photography

Learn to use advanced iPhone camera controls, including shutter speed and ISO. Start taking incredible photos that you never thought possible!

iphonephotographyschool.com

I love using Portrait Mode and adjusting the blur effect, but this was the first time it started doing it on the regular photo mode.

 

[wardie]

I love using Portrait Mode and adjusting the blur effect, but this was the first time it started doing it on the regular photo mode.

I don’t think it “did” anything to the image captured in regular photo mode (i.e. post-processing to make it blurrier), it was just a result of the focus on the front cat and the short focal range optically of the lens and aperture at that point in time and composition.
P.s. you can sometimes spot errors in the Portrait mode blur effect if you look carefully, particularly in foreground items which have small holes in and you can see the background (which may not get blurred properly as the camera sensor doesn’t detect the very small areas of dramatic distance difference).