If you’ve ever seen creative photographs of rivers or waterfalls, you’ve probably seen long-exposure images where the water is purposefully blurred to appear smooth while the surrounding scenery, such as the rocks and trees, is still sharp. In the past, you needed a DSLR with filters and a tripod to capture slow shutter speeds over a few seconds. This type of photograph is a terrific way to create the illusion of motion in a still image. However, there’s a clever function in the camera of your iPhone that makes it nearly effortless to take these stunning pictures.
To utilize this feature, you don’t even need the most recent iPhone 16 Pro or Pro Max. Any iPhone released after the iPhone 6 can use it.
Read more: Use Your iPhone to Take the Greatest Pictures You’ve Ever Taken
The method makes use of Live Photos, a function that records a few seconds of video when the shutter is fired, converting a still image into a brief animation. The iPhone detects which things are moving, records the movement, and blurs it. Additionally, it can identify stationary objects, like a wall or a rock, and makes an effort to maintain their focus and sharpness. This eliminates the need for a tripod or filter so you may take long-exposure photos in the blazing midday sun. DSLRs, take that.
A sea jetty comparison photograph with and without the long exposure effect
A typical iPhone 11 Pro photo (left) and the identical photo with the long-exposure setting turned on (right).
CNET/Andrew Lanxon
Here’s how to accomplish it.
Recognize the qualities of a good long-exposure photograph.
Not every image is suitable for long exposure. A photograph of a static car will stay, well, motionless, but a close-up of a flower moving in the breeze will merely become a hazy mess.
A scene with both dynamic and static elements is what you need. Since the surrounding rocks will remain solid while the rushing water is blurred, waterfalls are frequently photographed. Actually, any body of water would make an excellent subject for an experiment.
An illustration of the long exposure effect from a Disney park
The conventional photo on the left appears to be just another picture from a Disney theme park. However, a long exposure (right) turns it into a dreamy picture that highlights the scene’s movement.
CNET/Andrew Lanxon
You might perhaps try the streets of a busy city. The buildings and roads remain crisp and fixed in the picture due to the long-exposure effect, but the people moving about will appear as ghostly figures, creating a dramatic and atmospheric impression.
Another excellent opportunity for long-exposure photography is this weekend’s spectacular aurora borealis occurrences. A long-exposure photograph may capture reds and greens that our eyes might not even see since the lighting are changing so fast.
Activate Live Photos
It’s crucial to have the Live Photo mode turned on when shooting since it records the movement needed to get a long-exposure picture. When held in portrait mode, it is situated in the upper right corner of the camera’s screen; when held in landscape mode, it is situated in the upper left corner. An icon with two circles encircled by a third dotted circle will be seen. Live Photos is turned on if there isn’t a line through it. Tap the icon to see the message “Live” display onscreen in a small yellow box if there is a line through it.
An illustration of the iPhone 11’s camera screen’s Live Photos button
Verify that there isn’t a line through this icon.
Remain calm.
Keeping the iPhone as stable as possible as it takes the Live picture will yield the best results, even if a tripod is not necessary to get a good long-exposure picture. When shooting, I advise leaning the phone against a wall or other stationary object. I’ve found that holding my breath and folding my elbows in toward my body reduce motion blur when snapping pictures if you have to keep the phone in your hand.
Additionally, it’s a good idea to take several pictures while holding the position and pressing the shutter button. By doing this, you’ll raise the likelihood that you’ll get at least one picture that’s steady enough to yield a pleasing long exposure.
Make the extended exposure
It’s time to convert your Live image into the real long exposure after you’ve taken it. To begin, use the gallery app and select your image. A little indicator that reads “Live” and has a tiny downward-pointing arrow next to it may be found in the upper left corner. You can choose to make the image a long exposure at the bottom, a looping GIF, or a bouncing GIF that plays forwards and backwards by tapping the arrow.
You’ll see how any motion in your photo has been blurred into the desired dreamy effect in a matter of seconds. After that, you can enlarge it to make sure it’s still crisp. In case other pictures you shot of the same scene turned out better, feel free to use the same effect on those as well.
Open the picture you’ve chosen in your gallery and swipe up if you’re still on iOS 14 or earlier. This will open the Effects tab, where you may loop the video’s movements into GIFs. However, you’ll notice one named Long Exposure if you swipe to the end of the effects window. Give it a tap. A more modern version of your phone would be a great upgrade, though.
A long exposure effect image of a castle along a lake
I didn’t plan on using a long exposure when I took this picture, but since it was a Live snapshot, I could use the long-exposure mode later.
Create long-exposure pictures using already-existing live shots.
Look through your library to see if you already have any pictures that would work for long-exposure shots if you don’t have a view of auroras in the night sky. You don’t have to utilize the iPhone’s long-exposure tool while you’re shooting, which is a terrific feature. Any Live image you have taken up to this point can be used with it.
It’s possible that when you took pictures at Havasu Falls in Arizona or Niagara Falls in New York a few years ago, Live Photos was turned on. On any of those photos, you can swipe up to turn on long exposure. To view all of the photos on your phone that can be turned into long exposures, you can even navigate to your Live Photos album in your gallery. My recommendation? Listen to a great podcast, find a comfortable chair, and explore your library for some dreamy images.