What is Portrait Mode - How Does it Work in Xiaomi Mi A1

You must admit that a photo, especially a portrait looks pleasing if the subject is sharp and in focus while the background has bokeh effect. In the past, only DSLR cameras were able to produce smooth bokeh effect in a picture. But now even a budget smartphone such as the Xiaomi Mi A1 allows you to capture DSLR-like bokeh effect using the portrait mode.

What is Portrait Mode?

Portrait mode is a trending smartphone camera feature which allows you to capture photos with DSLR-like bokeh effect. In the past smartphone manufacturers have been trying to achieve the bokeh effect using a single camera by solely depending on the software. Then smartphones such as the Mi A1 started setting a new benchmark for the quality of bokeh effect, with the help of dual-rear camera setup.

How does Portrait Mode work in Mi A1?

The portrait mode allows you to capture a photo in which the subject remains in focus while the background gets blurred out. With the use two rear cameras, Mi A1 enables you to capture photos in portrait mode.

The benefit of two camera lenses is that it uses the telephoto lens to increase the focal length, from 26mm to 50mm in the case of Mi A1. The other benefit is that both the camera sensors function simultaneously to sense the depth in the scene and to calculate the distance between the camera, the subject, and the background.

The name portrait mode does not necessary means that you can use this mode only for people photography, try using this mode of Mi A1 for capturing any random subjects and you shall be surprised. Though there are some tips that you must follow in order to capture a photo with perfect bokeh effect, let’s talk about them.

Tips to click photos using Mi A1 Portrait Mode

The distance between the Mi A1 phone and the subject should be at least 2 meters, else the camera would not focus on the subject.This minimum distance allows the camera to accurately calculate the depth and the distance between the subject and the background.
Try and maintain some distance between the subject and the background in order to get better results. the more the distance between the subject and the background, the more the blur effect would be.
Do not completely fill the frame with the subject. Your frame should also have some parts of the background in order to show the depth captured in a photo, else the blur effect would not be visible.
Keep your camera steady as in the portrait mode the focal length increases and it has more chances of introducing shake in your photos, especially in low light conditions.
Avoid shooting in low light conditions as when the focal length increases your smartphone camera would have to choose a faster shutter speed. In this practice, the camera might increase the ISO value and that will introduce grains in your photos.