The iPhone camera has gotten so much better over the years. Today, iPhones take great night photos—but not by default. If your low-light shots look grainy or dull, it’s time to tweak your settings.
4Set Night Mode to Max Duration
When you enable Night mode on your iPhone, the camera takes anywhere from 1 to 30 seconds to capture a photo. By default, your iPhone automatically selects the appropriate exposure time based on the lighting conditions.
However, you can manually extend the capture time toMaxfor even better results. Increasing the duration allows the camera to gather more data and produce photos with sharper details, reduced noise, and richer colors.
To set the Night mode capture time duration to maximum on your iPhone:
Note that the maximum capture time available can vary depending on lighting conditions and camera stability. Using a tripod can unlock longer exposures for even more detailed night shots.
3Adjust the Exposure Manually
While the iPhone’s Night mode does a great job of automatically brightening dark scenes, it can sometimes overcompensate. When this happens, you may notice that grays and blacks appear grainy, and bright areas look too washed out.
Thankfully, you can fix this by manually lowering the exposure. This reduces the amount of light captured, which can help minimize noise and improve contrast.
To do this, tap the part of the scene you want to focus on. This will bring up the exposure control (a small sun icon next to the focus box). Simply swipe down to darken the image and bring back richer blacks and deeper shadows.
Lowering the exposure slightly is a great way to prevent highlights from being blown out and to preserve details in bright areas, such as streetlights or neon signs. However, be careful not to lower it too much, as this can darken your photo and cause loss of shadow details.
2Enable Apple ProRAW
If you have an iPhone 12 Pro or a later Pro or Pro Max model,enabling Apple ProRAW formatcan enhance your night photos. This format combines the extensive detail of a RAW image with Apple’s smart image processing, so you’ll have greater control over exposure, colors, and noise reduction.
Unlike standard JPEG or HEIC images, ProRAW captures far more image data, like details in shadows and highlights. This extra data is particularly useful in low-light conditions. you’re able to enable the Apple ProRAW feature by heading toSettings > Camera > Formats. If you have an iPhone 14 Pro or later Pro or Pro Max models, set the resolution to48 MP.
Once enabled, you’ll see aRAWbutton at the top of the Camera app. Tap it to activate ProRAW before capturing your night shots. Later, you can use an app likeLightroom to edit your night photosand make them look even better.
1Disable Prioritize Faster Shooting
In most cases, you’ll want your iPhone to capture photos as soon as you tap the shutter button. That’s why thePrioritize Faster Shootingsetting comes pre-enabled on all iPhones.
However, this feature is not ideal for night photography, as it prevents the iPhone from capturing more details. Hence, it’s best to disable it by heading toSettings > Cameraand turning off thePrioritize Faster Shootingtoggle. Disabling this setting can also improve your photos in general.
Adjusting these iPhone settings should help you capture better night photos. However, settings alone won’t be enough—you also need to keep thegeneral night photography tipsin mind, like using a tripod, clearing the lens, and more.
