Phone camera settings for a pet portrait photo

This page goes through the phone camera settings that change a pet portrait photo: Photo and Portrait modes, the Portrait Lighting effects, resolution, filters and styles, Live Photos, and which camera to use. It uses the iPhone and the Google Pixel as examples, because Apple and Google publish their camera instructions. The main pet photo guide covers the rest of the process.

You do not need to learn manual controls. The Cats Protection volunteer who wrote photo tips for the UK cat charity says hardly anyone chooses the manual settings on phones as the default, because the automatic settings adjust well to conditions. The settings below are the few that are worth checking once, before a photo session.

Quick settings table

The sections below explain each one.

Use the back camera

An American Kennel Club (AKC) article on dog photos says not to use the selfie side of your camera, because the lens is much grainier. Apple's iPhone guide says the Lens Correction setting adjusts photos taken with the front camera or the Ultra Wide camera for more natural-looking results. The back camera also lets you see the screen while you take the photo.

Photo mode and Portrait mode

Apple's guide says Portrait mode applies a depth-of-field effect that keeps the subject, whether people, pets or objects, sharp while blurring the foreground and background. The AKC article suggests using portrait mode when you can, with the focus on your dog. It names the flooring, the bedding and the background as places the focus should stay away from. Cats Protection also suggests a pet mode or portrait mode where the phone has one.

A blurred background helps a portrait photo when the room behind your pet is busy. It matters less against a plain wall.

Apple gives two useful details:

• The effect can be removed. After you take the portrait, open the photo in the Photos app, tap the edit button, then tap Portrait to turn the effect on or off. The Depth Control slider, in the Camera app or later in the Photos app, changes how strong the blur is.
• Photo mode can capture depth too. Apple says the iPhone captures depth information in Photo mode on supported models, so you can apply the portrait effect later even if you did not use it when you took the photo.

On a Google Pixel, Google's help page says Portrait mode is in the photo mode carousel, the row of modes you swipe through at the bottom of the screen.

Cats Protection suggests portrait mode when a cat is sitting still, and an action mode when it is in a playful mood. For a pet on the move, use Photo mode with burst, as the page on sharp pet photos explains.

Portrait Lighting effects

Apple lists six Portrait Lighting effects:

• Natural Light: sharp focus with a blurred background.
• Studio Light: bright, clean lighting.
• Contour Light: dramatic shadows with highlights and lowlights.
• Stage Light: a spotlight effect against a black background.
• Stage Light Mono: Stage Light in black and white.
• High-Key Light Mono: a greyscale subject on a white background.

For a portrait photo, choose Natural Light. The portrait needs the real coat colours and the real shape of the face, and the Mono effects remove the colour while the Stage effects replace the background. Apple says you can change Portrait Lighting levels later in the Photos app as well.

Resolution: keep every pixel

Resolution is the number of pixels, the tiny squares of colour, that make up a photo. MP means megapixels, or millions of pixels.

The AKC article advises taking photos at the highest possible resolution, which you should be able to change in the phone's settings, and says you want all the pixels you can get. Apple says that on supported iPhones you can change the default resolution of the main camera between 24 MP and 12 MP under Settings, Camera, Formats, Photo Mode. To take 48 MP photos, you turn on Resolution Control, or ProRAW and Resolution Control, in the same Formats menu, depending on the model.

On a Google Pixel, Google's help page lists a Resolution option in the camera settings with a Full HD choice to save storage space. Check that Full HD is off. Google also says Pro models such as the Pixel 8 Pro, 9 Pro and 10 Pro can take 50 MP photos from the Pro tab in the settings.

More pixels make a larger file. The Purrealism portrait studio takes one image file of up to 5 MB, and the page on photo file size and format explains what to do when a high-resolution photo is too large.

Filters and Photographic Styles

Apple's guide says you can change how photos look before you take them, with a filter on iPhone 12 models or earlier, or with a Photographic Style on newer models. Apple says a Photographic Style applies to every photo you take until you change it or close Camera, and that a setting called Preserve Settings can keep the same style every time you open Camera.

A style or filter set months ago may still be on. It changes the colours in every photo, and a warm or cool tint changes the colour of the coat that the portrait will copy. Before a session, open the camera, check Styles or Filter, and choose Original or the standard style.

On a Google Pixel 11 model, Google's help page describes Camera Looks, which change how photos are processed, including a default Look that applies every time you open the Camera app. Check it the same way.

Cats Protection suggests using a photo editing app to make a shot brighter if needed. Keep edits to brightness and straightening. The page on black, white and two-tone coats covers brightness in detail.

Live Photos

Apple says that with Live Photos, the iPhone records what happens 1.5 seconds before and after you take a picture, that Live Photo is on by default, and that you can pick a different key photo later. For a pet, keep it on. If the eyes closed at the exact moment you pressed the shutter, another frame may have them open.

When you share or upload, the still image is what matters. Apple says that to share only the still photo, you tap LIVE in the upper-left corner before sharing, and that a Live Photo sent by Mail arrives as a still image.

Other iPhone settings worth knowing

• Prioritize Faster Shooting. Apple says this setting changes how images are processed so you can capture more photos when you tap the Shutter button quickly, and that it is on by default. Leave it on for pets.
• Lens cleaning hints. Apple says supported iPhones detect a smudged lens and suggest cleaning it. Leave these hints on.
• Grid and Level. These help you keep the phone straight, as the page on camera height and angle explains.
• Flash. Apple says the camera uses the flash automatically when needed. The page on lighting a pet photo explains why to set it to Off for pets.

Lenses and zoom

Apple's iPhone guide says supported models have buttons such as 0.5x, 1x, 2.5x, 3x, 4x, 5x or 8x to zoom in or out quickly. Google says a Pixel picks the lens automatically as you zoom, and that some models let you turn on Manual Lens Selection to choose one yourself. Use these buttons for framing. The AKC article says zooming in with your fingers on the screen loses some of the crispness in your picture, and suggests moving closer or farther away. For a head and chest photo, 1x or 2x from a step or two away is a good start.

Once the settings are right, you rarely need to change them again. Check the style, the resolution and the flash once, then spend the session on your pet.