How To Blur Background On iPhone: 3 Easy Ways
August 12
11 min. to read
In your quest to capture a beautiful shot, you may often encounter distracting elements such as pedestrians, vendors, vehicles, etc. These uncontrollable factors can create a chaotic background for your photos. One of the solutions is to cut these objects using photo editors. However, let's consider a simpler option. Using your iPhone, you can blur the background of your photos, highlighting the main subjects while mitigating other distractions. In this article, you will find three easy ways to blur the background on your iPhone. Let's get started!
Method 1: Blur Background on iPhone When You Are Taking Photos
Take stunning portraits on your iPhone with beautifully blurred backgrounds. You don't need a digital SLR for this. With modern smartphones, professional results can be achieved by applying the settings correctly!
Take Photos Instantly with a Blurred Background
The iPhone Camera app has a portrait mode, using depth effect software to unfocus the background in natural photos. It ensures the sharpness of the subject and improves portrait photography. With sufficient lighting and the absence of small or complex details, this effect is almost perfect and does not need additional improvement.
Portrait mode is compatible with the latest iPhone models: 15 series, 14 series, 13 series, 12 series, 11 series, XS series, XR series, X, 8 Plus, and 7 Plus. Can you blur the background of a photo on an iPhone that doesn't have portrait mode? Definitely can! Try the tips from the second method, or use mobile photo editors, as shown in the third method.
Using Portrait Mode to Blur the Background
To use portrait mode, open the Camera app and select Portrait. Ensure the subject is 2 to 8 feet (1 to 2.5 meters) away with adequate lighting. A yellow focus box indicates readiness. Just tap the shutter button to take a shot.
Adjusting the Background Blur after Shooting
On compatible iPhones, you can adjust the strength of the effect after taking the photo by opening the photo in Photos, tapping Edit, and then adjusting the Depth slider. Higher aperture values reduce blurring for more detailed backgrounds.
Editing with Portrait Lighting
Explore portrait lighting effects like Studio Light and Contour Light to enhance your portraits even more. Adjust the effects using the sliders and tap Done to save your changes.
It was really easy, wasn't it?
Method 2: Blur Backgrounds by Moving Closer to the Subjects
If the iPhone's Portrait Mode isn't delivering the desired results, ensure you focus and shoot at optimal distances.
Key Factors for Achieving Blurred Backgrounds
1. Optimal Focal Distance
For an ideal depth of field, keep the subject within 0.5-2 meters. Avoid extreme closeness, which enlarges faces, or excessive distance, which diminishes the depth of field.
2. Subject-Background Distance
Maintain a suitable separation between subject and background to maximize effect. Avoid placing the subjects too close together to ensure the effect is pronounced.
Positioning correctly prompts a yellow box for iPhone recognition, ensuring automatic focus on the subject's face while blurring the background effectively.
How to Blur Photos on an iPhone without Portrait Mode?
Catch a simple trick: get closer to the object! Zooming in creates a shallow depth of field where only a small part of the image is in focus, and the rest is blurred. The closer you are, the stronger the unfocused background. However, stay close enough, as the camera may not focus properly, causing the subject to be blurry. If this happens, move back a bit and try again.
To ensure the correct part of your scene is in focus, tap the screen in the Camera app where you want to set the focus. A yellow box will appear, indicating the focus point. If the background is not blurred enough, move closer and tap to focus again. Remember, the closer you get, the more unfocused the background will be!
Method 3: Blur Background on iPhone with Photo Editing
How to blur background of photo already taken? Simple again! You can use any editing app to achieve this effect. Check out the list of the best ten apps that blur the background on iPhone.
Common Steps to Blur Background Using Applications
1. Select Your Foreground Subject & Background:
Open the application and tap Select Photo.
Choose your image and follow any tips provided.
Use the corresponding tool, most often called Blur, to highlight the subject and background.
Ensure the app has correctly selected your subject. If not, adjust it again. Zoom in and use the Brush tool for precision.
2. Customize the Blur Effect:
Tap the Blur icon and adjust the effect strength using the slider.
Use the Motion Blur option (if the application provides it) to add a sense of movement for motion effects.
Compare the edited photo with the original to see the difference.
Finally, save your edited photo. Now, you can easily unfocus the background of any image, making your subject stand out beautifully. Depending on your chosen program, the names of the effects and instruments and the interface may differ. However, background blur is one of the simplest effects so you won't have any trouble with it.
Bonus Method: Creating Bokeh Effect with Professional Software
Another way to create a professional-quality image is to use desktop software. It is more powerful than mobile apps and has more advanced editing features. However, remember that the more filters and changes you apply to an image created on an iPhone, the worse the quality of the final image can be. It happens because of the mobile photo format. It is more limited in editing than RAW, which professional cameras have. Speaking of image formats, it's also worth noting that not all photo editors work with HEIC, and you may need to change it to another one first. Learn more about how to change HEIC to JPG on iPhone to get the most out of mobile photo editing.
Such photo editors as Luminar Neo and Adobe Photoshop offer effective functions for working with the background and various types of photo blurring, both partial and full. If you want to try it, check out how to blur whole image in Photoshop. You can change photo background fast and easily in Luminar Neo. Its intelligent tools do it as professionally as possible, giving you the best result and saving you the time of manual adjustments. You can blur out background along with enhancements, regardless of whether you have a portrait or another type of photo. You can also add a motion blur filter to highlight your photos with an interesting and unique effect.
Thus, powerful software can help you take mobile photography to a new level. Bokeh effects are created this way to convey the maximum depth and emotionality of the subjects in your pictures.
And we have good news for lovers of mobile photography. The Luminar Neo desktop photo editor has a mobile iPad version and an iPhone app. You can already try the benefits of a powerful photo editor for your mobile photos. Also, the developers are constantly improving the toolset, so stay tuned for updates and additional features!
Bottom Line
So, is there a way to blur the background of a photo on an iPhone? Now you know that yes, and even three! Mastering this effect on your iPhone is simple with these three methods. Use Portrait mode for effortless, professional-looking portraits. For non-Portrait mode photos, get closer to your subject to achieve a shallow depth of field. Mobile editing apps that you can download from AppStore allow you to blur backgrounds in existing photos easily. For a more professional experience, explore advanced desktop software for more sophisticated effects and elevate your mobile photography to a new level.
