How to shoot long exposure photos: an easy iPhone tutorial

Step 1: Take a Live Photo

To capture a long exposure, you need to be in ‘Live’ mode. You can tell it’s activated by the circles at the top right of your screen (see the screenshot). When it’s on, ‘Live’ will appear in yellow at the top centre. If you don’t see it, tap the circles next to ‘RAW’ in the top right.

To avoid overexposure, you can underexpose the photo slightly. Just tap on your subject to bring up a yellow square and a sun icon. Swipe the sun down to darken the image.

Now, take the photo while holding your iPhone still. For best results, use a tripod or place your phone on a stable surface. You can also use the timer to avoid vibrations when pressing the shutter.

Step 2: Change the Mode

Go to the photo in your album. In the top left, you’ll see ‘Live’. Tap it and select ‘Long Exposure’.

And there you go! Your long exposure photo is ready. It’s that simple 🙂

All the photos on this page were taken with the iPhone 13 Pro. Any iPhone with at least iOS 11 should have this feature. These shots were taken handheld, but for better results, using a tripod or stable surface would be ideal.

The main advantage of a tripod is that it prevents cropping. When you tap the screen to take the photo, it can cause a shake, and the iPhone automatically crops part of the image.

Optional: adjust exposure

Think the exposure is a bit too long? Then click on ‘edit’ and then on the circles of the live photo at the bottom left. Select the part you want to use for the slow shutter speed. You’ll see the result immediately, so keep going until you get the result you want 🙂

Side note: I am not going to proclaim that an iPhone photo is as good as taking one with a full-frame system camera. These iPhone photos are not made for poster-size printing. But it can make for just a bit nicer holiday photos 😉

Fail or have any other questions? Let us know in the comments!