Learn how to take your best shot

Use your iPhone camera to create stunning, professional-looking photos and easily edit and share them with your friends and family.

The Camera screen in Photo mode, with other modes to the left and right below the viewer. Buttons for Flash, Live Photo, Timer, and Filters appear at the top of the screen. An image thumbnail at the lower left gives access to view existing photos and videos. The Shutter button is at the bottom center, and the Switch Camera button is in the lower right.

Don’t miss it!

To quickly open Camera, swipe left from the Lock screen. To capture an action shot, use Burst to take multiple photos in rapid succession. Touch and hold the Shutter button to activate Burst, and release it to stop.

To view all of the shots, tap the photo thumbnail in the lower-left corner, then choose your favorites to save as individual photos.

The Camera screen in Photo mode. In the viewer, an outline of a yellow box shows the area of focus, and a slider can be dragged up or down to adjust the exposure. The 1x Zoom button can be used to zoom in.

Adjust for the perfect shot

You can fine-tune your shot by manually adjusting the focus and exposure. Tap where you want to set the focus, then slide your finger up or down to change the exposure.

On iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone X, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone 7 Plus, tap to use optical zoom to make a subject that’s far away appear close by. Or, drag to zoom in even further.

The Camera screen with Portrait mode selected. In the viewer, a box shows that the Portrait Lighting option is set to Studio Light, and there’s a slider to change the studio lighting option.

Take amazing portraits

On iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, iPhone X, and iPhone 8 Plus, you can add studio-style lighting effects to your portraits. Switch to Portrait mode, drag , then choose an option. Use Studio Light to brighten facial features or Contour Light for dramatic shadows.

On iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, you can also fine-tune the background blur with Depth Control. In Portrait mode, tap , then drag the slider that appears below the frame.

The Camera screen in Filter view. Several filters are displayed as thumbnails below the image. The selected filter has a square border around it.

Add the final touches

Use the editing tools to make every photo great. Select a photo, then tap Edit. Tap to straighten and crop, tap to adjust color and lighting, and tap to apply a filter.

Can’t decide whether to keep your changes? Touch and hold the photo to get a peek at the original and see how it compares to your edited version.

The Photos app showing the For You button selected at the bottom of the screen and a Sharing Suggestion at the top of the screen.

View and share your best photos

Explore the For You section of the Photos app to see your Memories, Featured Photos, Effect Suggestions, and more.

With Sharing Suggestions in the Photos app, your best photos from an event are selected, and you get recommendations for people you might want to share them with. After you’ve shared, the recipients are prompted to share their photos from the event with you, too.

Want to learn more? Check out the Camera and Photos chapters.

Helpful?

iPhone User Guide