Using the Long Exposure Effect in iOS 11

Over the past few weeks I have had a chance to use the iOS 11 beta on both an iPhone and iPad. There are a ton of great new features and updates that will be covered in the upcoming “What’s New in iOS 11” tutoral but in this post I wanted to give a sneak peak of one of the best new photo effects. With Live Photos you can take a shot and your iOS device will automatically capture a video of about 3 seconds before and after that shot. In iOS 11 we can now add effects to Live Photos. Loop and Bounce are video effects. Long exposure uses the video to create a blur in only the areas of the image that contain motion. This works great with flowing water. 

So, notice that image #1 below is a Live Photo. In iOS 11 when we swipe up on the photo the three effects options are presented (image #2). Tap long exposure and after a few seconds of processing the result is presented (image #3). The still areas of the image like the rocks and trees are still crisp and in focus. But the water gets a great motion blur creating a ribbon effect on the waterfall. To achieve this effect with a normal camera you would need to manually set an exposure time and most likely would need to use a tripod. But now with the long exposure effect in iOS 11 its as simple as a tap!