HOW TO

Capture Light Trails at Night

Tap for 5 easy steps to create a stunning long-exposure shot.

Slow Shutter Cam

Long Exposure Photography

View

The river of red taillights on a highway. The wispy white streaks created by a plane’s navigation lights as it crosses the sky. You’ve probably seen light-trail photos like these in travel magazines or on Instagram. What you might not realize is how easy they can be to capture.

The technique you’ll use is known as long-exposure photography—the practice of leaving the camera shutter open for seconds or even minutes at a time.

To pull this off, all you need is an app like Slow Shutter Cam and a tripod or other stable surface to steady your iPhone or iPad. Here’s how:

Launch Slow Shutter Cam and tap the settings icon (it looks like a gear).

Tap Light Trail and move the Shutter Speed slider all the way right until it says Bulb. This will let you manually control when the shutter opens and closes.

Frame your photo, and when you’re ready tap the shutter button to start capturing. To get a photo like the one above, you’ll need to use a tripod or set your device on something steady.

To end the capture, tap the shutter button.

If you’re happy with the result, tap Save.

Don’t be afraid to shoot from different angles and play around with your settings. Experimenting is part of the fun—and essential to capturing a share-worthy shot.

Slow Shutter Cam

Long Exposure Photography

Capture Light Trails at Night

nproxy.org