A digital image acquisition system having no photographic film comprises an apparatus for capturing digital images and a flash unit for providing illumination during image capture. The system has a portrait mode for generating an image of a foreground object against a blurred background, the portrait mode being operable to capture first, second and third images (A, B and C) of nominally the same scene. One of the first and second images (A, B) is taken with flash and the other is taken without flash, and the third image (C) is blurred compared to the first and second images. The portrait mode is further operable to determine foreground and background regions of the scene using the first and second images (A, B), and to substitute the blurred background of the third image (C) for the background of an in-focus image of the scene. In one embodiment the in-focus image is one of the first and second images. In another embodiment the in-focus image is a fourth image.