The camera on your iPhone is remarkably good, and most people only use a fraction of what it can do. Here’s a practical guide to taking better photos and getting the most out of the Photos app.

Opening the camera

The quickest way: swipe left from the lock screen, the camera opens immediately, even without unlocking your phone. This is useful for moments you don’t want to miss.

You can also tap the Camera app from your home screen.

Taking a photo

Point at your subject and tap the white circle button at the bottom of the screen to take a photo. The camera will focus automatically.

To focus on something specific: tap on it on the screen. A yellow square appears to show where the camera is focusing. If a face is in shot, the camera usually focuses on it automatically.

To brighten or darken the photo: after tapping to focus, you’ll see a small sun icon next to the yellow square. Slide it up to make the photo brighter, or down to make it darker.

The different camera modes

Swipe left or right along the bottom of the screen to switch between modes:

Photo, the standard mode for still photos
Video, tap the red button to start recording; tap again to stop
Portrait, blurs the background to make your subject stand out (more on this below)
Pano, panoramic mode for wide landscapes; pan the phone slowly left to right
Slo-Mo, slow-motion video

Portrait mode

Portrait mode is one of the most popular features on newer iPhones. It keeps your subject sharp while blurring the background, giving photos a professional, studio-like look.

It works best for:

People (faces and upper body)
Pets
Close-up objects (flowers, food, etc.)

To use it: swipe to Portrait mode, frame your subject, and take the photo. The iPhone needs some distance between your subject and the background to work well.

Tip: you can add or remove the blur effect after the photo is taken. Open the photo in the Photos app, tap Edit, and you’ll see a toggle for the background blur effect.

Front camera (selfies)

Tap the rotate camera icon (two arrows in a circle) in the top corner to switch to the front-facing camera. Tap it again to switch back.

Using the flash

The lightning bolt icon controls the flash. Tap it to choose:

Auto, flash fires if the camera decides it’s needed
On, always flashes
Off, never flashes

For most indoor shots, Auto works well. Flash often makes portraits look harsh, try without it first.

Finding your photos

All photos you take are saved automatically to the Photos app. Open it to see your camera roll.

The Library tab at the bottom shows everything you’ve taken. The Albums tab organises photos automatically by type:

Recents, everything in date order
People & Pets, faces the iPhone has recognised
Places, photos sorted by location (if location is on)
Selfies, Videos, Screenshots, automatically sorted into their own albums

Editing a photo

Open any photo and tap Edit (top right). You can:

Crop and straighten
Adjust brightness, contrast, and colour with simple sliders
Apply filters (tap the three overlapping circles icon)

Tap Done to save, or Cancel to discard changes. Edits are non-destructive, you can always revert to the original by tapping Edit → Revert.

Open any photo and tap the Share button, the box with an arrow pointing up. You can:

AirDrop, send instantly to a nearby iPhone or Mac
Messages, send via iMessage or SMS
WhatsApp, if you have WhatsApp installed
Email, sends as an attachment
Save to Files, save to iCloud Drive

To share multiple photos: in the Photos app, tap Select (top right), tap the photos you want, then tap the Share button.

Freeing up storage

Photos can take up a lot of space. The easiest solution is to turn on iCloud Photos, this stores your full photo library in iCloud, keeping only smaller versions on your phone.

To enable: Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Photos → Sync this iPhone.

Want to get more from your iPhone camera, or need help with photos and storage? Get in touch with Hebden Tech Tutors, we’re happy to help.