If you're clued into social media, or terminally online like I am, you may have noticed posts of people realizing that photos shot on iPhone look different if they stick their hand in the frame. Instead of the drab, washed out browns and greens, you end up with a photo with warmer and more vivid colors than before. The only trade-off is that you need to have your hand in frame to get the effect.

Obviously, I was curious about whether this was actually true, and how much of an impact sticking your hand in shot actually makes to the final photo. As it turns out, yes, I could mimic the same effect by putting my own hand between the camera and the foliage.

And there's a very good reason for it, and that reason means iPhone 18 Pro owners can avoid going to these same extremes.

iphone can’t handle anything colorful unless there’s a hand in the frame https://t.co/C8FVp17gkoOctober 31, 2026

The above pictures were taken on the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the final pair which were shot with the iPhone 17 Pro Max. As you can see, the coloring in all of the images is pretty washed out with a dreary gray sheen that seems pretty typical of the Old English Autumn. Unlike New England, the leaves aren't nearly as vivid here — but they certainly don't look like that.

Once my hand is in frame (with some help of my white sleeve) the coloring changes for the better.

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