【Dear Utol (2025): Itch Follows Episode 23】

New York Comic Con is Dear Utol (2025): Itch Follows Episode 23perhaps the only place where you can see Batman and Deadpool standing side by side or a half-a-dozen Harley Quinns purposefully ignoring each other.

It's basically like the cosplay Olympics on the floor of New York's comics, pop-culture, sci-fi and gaming convention. It's also the perfect place to capture indelible images of many of these home-grown, custom-made costumes.

SEE ALSO: Is the iPhone 8 the Best iPhone Ever?

Last year, I took the iPhone 7 Plus out for a spin and captured mesmerizing portraits of comic-book-culture enthusiasts. This year, I decided to take it to the next level, using both the updated Portrait mode technology in Apple's new iPhone 8 Plus, as well as the still-in-beta Portrait Lighting mode, which, like Portrait mode, uses the iPhone 8 Plus's wide and dual telephoto 12-megapixel cameras.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Portrait Lighting lets you adjust the light on Portrait Mode shots either on the fly or as a post-process (it's all done through software and the powerful A11 Bionic CPU). There are five lighting options, including Natural Light, Studio Light, Contour Light, Stage Light, and Stage Light Mono.

For New York Comic Con ("NYCC" if you're cool), I chose the dramatic Stage Light, which turns the blurred background black, but leaves the color intact on the subject, plus casts a spotlight on them.

Even though Portrait Lighting Mode is still in beta, it worked fairly well. There are oddities, like the effect's inability to properly light two subjects and the sometimes jarring silhouette work.

What follows are the best and most interesting subjects I found. I've provided an image slider so you can slide back and forth between iPhone 8 Portrait Mode and iPhone 8 Portrait Lighting Beta Stage Lighting.

Left:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Right:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Left:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Right:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Left:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Right:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Left:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Right:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Left:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Right:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Left:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Right:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Left:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Right:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Left:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Right:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Left:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Right:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Left:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Right:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Left:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Right:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Left:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Right:Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

---

Featured Video For You

---

Making your own 'Wonder Woman' costume is easier than you thought

---

Topics Apple Comics iPhone

(Editor: {typename type="name"/})