Pro portrait lighting

How to retrospectively add realistic lighting effects to Portrait mode photos

What makes professional portrait shots look so good is not just the quality of camera or framing. Proper studio lighting elevates a photo beyond the norm. That’s why Apple includes special lighting effects as part of Portrait mode, but you don’t get any control of those, making it difficult to be artistic.

That’s where the app Apollo: Immersive Illumination ($1.99) comes in. It lets you add custom lights to Portrait mode photos, setting their colors and positions to cast realistic glows on your subjects.

The thing is, lighting is a skill like any other, so you need to know good principles if you want amazing results. Here, we’ll show you how to use the app itself and its features, as well as some key basic lighting setups, showing how our use of lights within Apollo mimics real–life setups used by photographers. When you know the core techniques, you’ll be able to start playing with them, getting that stylized look that really elevates your shots.

Of course, because this only works with Portrait mode shots, you’ll need to be the proud owner of either an iPhone 7 Plus, 8 Plus, X or XS.