This troubleshooting guide will take you through a number of possible causes We found 2 possible causes: Start guideI can't take pictures using the camera
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Portrait mode is a staple on basically every smartphone nowadays. As you'd expect, Samsung has its own portrait mode on the Galaxy S21. It's as easy as choosing the mode from the slew of options, pointing your phone at your subject and clicking the shutter button.
Simply put, portrait mode on a phone mimics a trick photographers have been employing on traditional SLR and DSLR cameras for years now. The final product has the subject in sharp focus while the background is blurred. This is called the bokeh effect, or a depth-of-field effect.
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On smartphones, a lot of the work is done with software, meaning that the bokeh effect on your phone's portraits is artificial. Smartphones just don't have the camera hardware to do this on their own, since true portrait-style shots require bigger sensors, high focal lengths and fine-tuned control over the focus.
For you, your phone does all the heavy lifting. Just point it at your subject and let the software take care of the rest. Follow the steps below to get on your way to taking beautiful portrait photos with your Galaxy S21.
How to take portrait photos on Galaxy S21
1. Open the Camera app.
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2. Above the shutter button, tap the More button.
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3. Select Portrait from the menu that appears.
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4. Aim at your subject and tap on the screen to focus. Then tap the shutter button to take a portrait.
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Android is a powerful operating system with many features, but we can help guide you through some of the things you might not know how to do.
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Jordan is the Phones Editor for Tom's Guide, covering all things phone-related. He's written about phones for over six years and plans to continue for a long while to come. He loves nothing more than relaxing in his home with a book, game, or his latest personal writing project. Jordan likes finding new things to dive into, from books and games to new mechanical keyboard switches and fun keycap sets. Outside of work, you can find him poring over open-source software and his studies.