Taking an iris photo with your phone
With a few simple rules, any modern smartphone can capture a shot detailed enough to reconstruct your iris.
1. The right light
Light your eye with a flashlight held at an angle from the side – ideally the flashlight of a second smartphone. The iris should look clearly bright and fully visible. Don't shine light straight into the pupil and don't use a direct camera flash from the front: both create large reflections and overexposed areas with no recognisable structure.
2. Distance and framing
Hold the phone about 15 to 25 centimetres from the eye. The iris should fill a large part of the image while staying fully visible. Use the main camera instead of the front camera – it delivers far more detail.
3. Set focus manually
Tap directly on the iris in the camera view and hold to lock focus and exposure. Slightly reduce exposure if the white of the eye burns out.
4. Hold steady
Brace your hands or have someone else press the shutter. Open your eyes wide, blink just before the shot and look slightly past the camera – this keeps the eyelid open and the iris clear.
5. Quick check
Zoom into the iris on the photo. If individual fibres are visible, the shot is good enough. If everything looks smooth or blurry, take a new one.
Common mistakes
- • Direct camera flash or frontal light into the pupil
- • Iris too dark, with no visible colours or structures
- • Overexposed, white areas on the iris
- • Digital zoom instead of moving closer
- • Iris partly covered by the eyelid
- • Motion blur from shooting handheld
- • Screenshot uploaded instead of the original file