Take photos with your iPhone camera
Learn how to take great photos with Camera 
on your iPhone. Choose from camera modes such as Photo, Video, Pano, Time-lapse, Slo-mo, and Portrait (on supported models). Enhance your photos with camera features such as Night mode, Live Photos, filters, and Burst.
Ask Siri. Say something like: “Open Camera.” Learn how to ask Siri.
Take a photo
Photo is the standard mode that you see when you open Camera. Use Photo mode to take still photos. Swipe left or right to choose a different mode, such as Video, Pano, Time-lapse, Slo-mo, and Portrait.
Tap
on the Home screen or swipe left from the Lock screen to open Camera in Photo mode.Tap the Shutter button or press either volume button to take the shot.
Note: For your security, a green dot appears in the top-right corner of the screen when Camera is in use. See Control access to hardware features.
Turn the flash on or off
On iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and later, tap
to turn the flash on or off. Or, tap 
, then tap below the frame to choose Auto, On, or Off.On iPhone X and earlier, tap
, then choose Auto, On, or Off.
Set a timer
On iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and later, tap
, then tap 
.On iPhone X and earlier, tap
.
Zoom in or out
On all models, open Camera and pinch the screen to zoom in or out.
On iPhone models with Dual and Triple camera systems, toggle between 1x, 2x, 2.5x, and .5x to quickly zoom in or out (depending on your model). For a more precise zoom, touch and hold the zoom controls, then drag the slider right or left.
Take a selfie
Use the front camera to take a selfie in Photo mode or Portrait mode (on iPhone X and later).
Switch to the front camera by tapping
or 
(depending on your model).Hold your iPhone in front of you.
Tip: On iPhone 11 models and iPhone 12 models, you can tap the arrows inside the frame to increase the field of view.
Tap the Shutter button or press either volume button to take the shot.
To take a mirrored selfie that captures the shot as you see it in the front camera frame, go to Settings 
> Camera, then turn on Mirror Front Camera (on iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and later) or Mirror Front Photos (iPhone X and earlier).
Adjust the camera’s focus and exposure
Before you take a photo, the iPhone camera automatically sets the focus and exposure, and face detection balances the exposure across many faces. If you want to manually adjust the focus and exposure, do the following:
Tap the screen to show the automatic focus area and exposure setting.
Tap where you want to move the focus area.
Next to the focus area, drag
up or down to adjust the exposure.To lock your manual focus and exposure settings for upcoming shots, touch and hold the focus area until you see AE/AF Lock; tap the screen to unlock settings.
On iPhone 11 and later, you can precisely set and lock the exposure for upcoming shots. Tap , tap 
, then move the slider to adjust the exposure. The exposure locks until the next time you open Camera. To preserve the exposure control so it’s not reset when you open Camera, go to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings, then turn on Exposure Adjustment.
Take low-light photos with Night mode
On iPhone 11 models and iPhone 12 models, Night mode captures more detail and brightens your shots in low-light situations. The length of the exposure in Night mode is determined automatically, but you can experiment with the manual controls.
On iPhone 12 models, Night mode is available on the front camera for selfies, on the Ultra Wide (0.5x) camera, and on the Wide (1x) camera. On iPhone 11 models, Night mode is available only on the Wide (1x) camera.
Choose Photo mode. In low-light situations, Night mode turns on automatically: the
button at the top of the screen turns yellow and a number appears next to the button to indicate how many seconds the camera will take to shoot.To experiment with Night mode, tap
, then use the slider below the frame to choose between the Auto and Max timers. With Auto, the time is determined automatically; Max uses the longest time. The setting you choose is preserved for your next Night mode shot.Tap the Shutter button, then hold the camera still to take your shot.
Crosshairs appear in the frame if your iPhone detects movement during capture—align the crosshairs to help you reduce motion and improve the shot.
To stop taking a Night mode shot mid-capture, tap the Stop button below the slider.
Take a Live Photo
A Live Photo captures what happens just before and after you take your photo, including the audio.
Choose Photo mode.
Tap
to turn Live Photos on or off.Tap the Shutter button to take the shot.
You can add effects to Live Photos such as Loop and Bounce. See Edit Live Photos on iPhone.
Take a panorama photo
Use Pano mode to capture landscapes or other shots that won’t fit on your camera screen.
Choose Pano mode, then tap the Shutter button.
Pan slowly in the direction of the arrow, keeping it on the center line.
To finish, tap the Shutter button again.
Tap the arrow to pan in the opposite direction. To pan vertically, rotate iPhone to landscape orientation. You can reverse the direction of a vertical pan, too.
Take a photo with a filter
Choose Photo or Portrait mode, then do one of the following:
On iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and later, tap
, then tap 
.On iPhone X and earlier, tap
at the top of the screen.
Below the viewer, swipe the filters left or right to preview them; tap one to choose it.
You can remove or change a photo’s filter in Photos. See Revert an edited photo.
Take Burst shots
Burst mode takes multiple high-speed photos so that you have a range of photos to choose from. You can take Burst photos with the rear and front cameras.
On iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and later, swipe the Shutter button to the left to take rapid-fire photos. On iPhone X and earlier, touch and hold the Shutter button.
The counter shows how many shots you took.
Lift your finger to stop.
To select the photos you want to keep, tap the Burst thumbnail, then tap Select.
Gray dots below the thumbnails mark the suggested photos to keep.
Tap the circle in the lower-right corner of each photo you want to save as an individual photo, then tap Done.
To delete the entire Burst, tap the thumbnail, then tap 
.
Tip: Press and hold the volume up button to take Burst shots. Go to Settings > Camera, then turn on Use Volume Up for Burst (available on iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and later).