iPhone Photography Tips and HEIC Photo Management

The iPhone camera tips worth learning are the ones Apple documents: the grid and level, focus and exposure lock, Portrait depth control, Night mode, Live Photo effects, 48 MP and ProRAW. Each one depends on your iPhone model, so each tip below lists the models Apple names. For managing the photos afterwards: shoot in HEIC to save space, convert copies to JPG when you share, and keep the HEIC originals as your archive.

Before you start

The steps follow Apple’s iPhone User Guide for iOS 27, checked on 31 October 2026. Apple lists iOS 27 for iPhone 11 and later and iPhone SE (2nd and 3rd generation). On older iOS versions, some buttons and menus are in different places.

Tip	Models, per Apple	Where
Grid and level	All iOS 27 models	Settings > Camera
Focus and exposure lock	All iOS 27 models; on iPhone 18 Pro models and iPhone Duo, focus and exposure are separate controls	Camera
Portrait background blur	Models with Portrait mode	Camera, Portrait
Night mode	iPhone 11 and later; not iPhone SE	Camera, turns on in low light
Live Photo effects	All iOS 27 models	Photos
48 MP photos	Models with Resolution Control	Settings > Camera > Formats
ProRAW	iPhone 12 Pro and later Pro models	Settings > Camera > Formats

7 camera tips

1. Turn on the grid and level

Go to Settings > Camera and turn on Grid and Level. They help you keep horizons straight and compose the shot. You can still straighten a photo afterwards in the Photos app.

2. Lock focus and exposure

Tap where you want to focus, then drag the Adjust Exposure button next to the focus area up or down to change brightness. To keep both for the next shots, touch and hold the focus area until you see AE/AF Lock. Tap the screen to unlock.

3. Adjust background blur in Portrait mode

In Portrait mode, tap the Camera Controls button or swipe up from Portrait mode, tap Depth, and drag the Depth Control slider. You can change the blur again later in the Photos app, or turn the portrait effect off. On iPhone 15 and later (except iPhone 16e), iPhone can capture depth information in Photo mode, so you can add the portrait effect later.

4. Hold still in Night mode

Night mode turns on automatically in low light on iPhone 11 and later (Apple’s list does not include iPhone SE). Hold the phone still until the capture finishes; if crosshairs appear, line them up to reduce motion. Apple’s tip: use a tripod for even more detail. For more detail, tap the Camera Controls button, tap Night Mode and choose one of the exposure options.

5. Choose a better frame from a Live Photo

Live Photo is on by default and captures what happens just before and after the shot. In the Photos app, you can pick a different key photo, trim the clip, or add Loop, Bounce or Long Exposure. To share the motion with someone who does not use an Apple device, Apple suggests Save as Video. Live Photos are not available when ProRAW or HEIF Max is on.

6. Use 48 MP when you need detail

On iPhone 15 and later, Main camera photos default to 24 MP. To capture 48 MP, turn on Resolution Control or ProRAW & Resolution Control (the name depends on your model) in Settings > Camera > Formats. On iPhone 14 Pro and later Pro models with iOS 17, HEIF Max saves HEIC photos of up to 48 MP; the resolution changes if you zoom or switch to Night mode or flash. For 48 MP ProRAW, Apple says only the Main camera at 1x qualifies.

7. Shoot ProRAW only when you plan to edit

ProRAW, on iPhone 12 Pro and later Pro models with iOS 14.3 or later, gives more room to adjust exposure, color and white balance. The cost is size: Apple says a ProRAW photo is about 25 MB at 12 MP and about 75 MB at 48 MP, 10 to 12 times larger than HEIF or JPEG. ProRAW files are DNG, not HEIC, and do not work with Live Photos or Portrait mode.

Manage storage and backups

• Optimize iPhone Storage. With iCloud Photos, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos; in iOS 27, tap iPhone Storage, then make sure Optimize iPhone Storage is on. Full-resolution originals stay in iCloud and, when space is needed, the iPhone keeps space-saving copies.
• Keep a separate backup. Deleting a photo with iCloud Photos on deletes it on all your devices; you have 30 days to recover it from Recently Deleted. Apple says photos in iCloud Photos are not duplicated in your iCloud backup, so keep backup copies of your library.
• Keep HEIC when importing to a computer. A USB import may convert photos to JPEG. To keep the HEIC files, go to Settings > Apps > Photos, scroll down and tap Keep Originals.

HEIC photo management in three rules

Stage	Format	Why
Shooting	HEIC (High Efficiency)	Apple says HEIF uses less storage than JPEG at the same visual quality
Sharing	JPG copies	JPG opens almost everywhere, including on Windows without extra installs
Archiving	HEIC originals	A JPG is a second lossy encoding; heicly also resizes photos over 16,777,216 pixels, which includes 24 MP and 48 MP photos

Why your iPhone uses HEIC, and which transfers convert to JPEG on their own, is covered in why iPhone photos are HEIC.

Convert a batch for sharing

The converter below runs on this page. Your photos are converted on your device and are not uploaded.

1. Click “Choose Files” and select the HEIC photos you want to share, or drag them into the box.
2. Optionally set “Quality for this batch” (it starts at 90) or “Download file names”.
3. Click “Download completed files as ZIP”, or download photos one by one.

The JPGs keep the date taken and camera details; location is removed unless you turn on “Also keep location (GPS)”. For large batches, see 4 ways to batch convert HEIC to JPG.

Sources

Checked on 31 October 2026. iPhone User Guide (iOS 27): compatible models, Use camera tools, Take portraits, Take Night mode photos, Take Live Photos, Edit Live Photos, Change advanced camera settings. Apple Support: About Apple ProRAW, Set up and use iCloud Photos, Manage your photo and video storage, Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices.