Shoot images in low light

Capture colour and detail in low-light without a tripod or a flash

George Cairns

1 Aperture The iPhone 13 Pro Max’s wide aperture of f/1.5 allows a low ISO speed, reducing ugly digital noise.

2 Chevron options Tap here to access controls such as the Night mode dial and the Flash settings.

3 Exposure Adjustment Go to Settings > Camera > Preserve settings. Toggle on Exposure Adjustment to display the exposure adjustment indicator.

4 Exposure adjustment Tap here to summon a dial that enables you to brighten a dark scene by up to two f-stops.

IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes

YOU WILL LEARN How to capture low-light shots using the Camera app

YOU’LL NEED iPhone 11 or later

As the nights draw in we have less daylight hours to shoot in. And, when it’s cold outside we’re more likely to take shots indoors. In low-light conditions, traditional DSLR photographers can manually set a faster ISO speed to make their camera more sensitive to available light. However, this can add ugly specks of digital noise to a shot. Alternatively, a wider aperture will let in more light, but then that can make it harder to get the subject in sharp focus. DSLR photographers can also set a slower shutter speed but this long exposure may lead to a blurry subject (unless shooting on a tripod). And while a burst of flash might illuminate a foreground face, background details may be plunged into darkness.

The wider the lens…