How to Change the blur effect of portraits on iPhone

One of the fundamental roles of the dual camera of smartphones, and in particular of iPhones, is that of shooting “portraits” with a blur effect in the background. This was the choice that Apple has decided to adopt since the first extended module installed on the iPhone 7 Plus.

Today it is almost obvious to have such a function even on devices with a single module. The most obvious example is obviously that of the models from iPhone XS onwards (including iPhone XR), which even manages to calibrate the aforementioned blur effect, increasing and decreasing the details available. So today we see how to do it before and after shooting in portrait mode.

Calibrate the focus of the portraits on the iPhone

Before starting we want to clarify that, the change of focus within the native camera app on the iPhone, is only available on the XR, XS and later models. For the previous ones there is no way to do it, except by downloading third-party applications such as Focus, available for free on the App Store. We then proceed with the guide, starting with the modification before shooting.

  • Open the “camera” application on the iPhone
  • Swipe your finger from right to left to enter portrait mode
  • Click on the fire button at the top right
  • Increase or decrease the focal aperture using the tool that appears below

In case you have already taken the photo, here’s how to act in post editing.

  • Open the “Photos” application
  • Select the shot concerned (only if taken in portrait mode)
  • Click on “Edit” at the top right
  • Continue with the fire button at the top left
  • Increase and decrease the focal aperture using the tool that appears below

Even after changing the focus before shooting, it will be possible to perform the post editing procedure simply by repeating the steps listed above.