Diwali is almost here, and celebrations are already in full swing. People are dressing up, attending parties, and of course, taking plenty of photos and selfies. If you’re an iPhone user wondering how to capture the best shots for Instagram this Diwali, we have got you covered. Here are some tips, settings, and tricks to help you take chic photos this festive season. Read on for the details.

Use this app to take film-like images

If you are a fan of the film and want to emulate it on your phone, you have this app called Mood. It lets you capture in both Portrait Mode and normal mode in various focal lengths, depending on the lens offerings on your iPhone. You also have options to select between various film stocks. But if your 7-day trial has ended, you will still be able to click your images, but the film stocks will be random. Try this app if you want that grainy, film-like effect with filmic look. The app interface is clean, and there is subtle haptic feedback every time you click an image or interact with a UI element.

Flash trend

Most of us have seen flash photography where people take harsh images with bright flash and strong shadows cast on the face. As uncool as it may be from a photography standpoint, people do appreciate that aesthetic. If you are unsure of what we are talking about, go check Dua Lipa’s photos. Most of them have a very harsh flash casting on her skin. If you like this trend, you should enable flash in a dark setting. Also, if you want to add a bit of jazz, shake your phone slightly while it’s clicking the photo. It will give you a very blurry, dreamy look which many people enjoy these days, especially Gen Z. Change the flash setting to On from Automatic to ensure that the flash fires every time.

Portrait Mode is your friend and click images in the 5x mode

Use the longest possible focal length your iPhone offers. If you have an iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro, or any other recent Pro model, those phones have a telephoto lens. So, you should be clicking portrait images using the telephoto lens. This allows for the most natural-looking portraits with your loved ones. Instead of the 1x, choose the 5x, 3x, or the new 4x on the iPhone 17 Pro (native zoom setting of your phone). This will give you nicely compressed backgrounds and create that dreamy look.

Of course, you may have to move back a little if you are framing multiple people, so do keep that in mind. Also, Apple still lets you choose photographic styles while in Portrait Mode. We recommend using the Gold Photographic Style for all your Diwali images.

Use these settings

Many people never touch the iPhone camera settings because they are buried deep in the Settings app. So, go to Settings > Camera > Formats, and choose Most Compatible.
Now, in the photo capture mode, choose 24MP instead of 12MP.

If you want to edit your images later, enable ProRAW and Resolution Control, and set the ProRAW format as JPEG XL Lossless.

You should also enable the Grid Level under Composition settings in the Camera section as this helps you frame your shots correctly.

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