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cellphone Technique

Slow it Down

Ambarin Afsar tells you how to make slightly crazy, slightly

trippy long exposures using your good ol’ cellphone.

2014

W

hen light levels fall, the

first thing you get worried

about is the shaky pictures

that your cellphone camera

will end up making.

Have you ever thought of using such slow

shutterspeeds to your advantage?

Explore the Inbuilt Camera App

First things first, check whether the native

camera app allows you to control the

shutterspeed in any manner. Can you

reduce the ISO value to base level?

Doing so will give you a slow shutterspeed

in low light. Does your phone have a

specific Night exposure mode that either

gives you a preset long exposure, or gives

you control over long exposures? If it does,

your battle is half won.

Look for Third Party Apps

Camera FV-5, a paid Android app, allows

you to control variables like shutterspeed

and ISO, while apps like Slow Shutter Cam

(iOS), Lightbomber (iOS) are dedicated to

long exposures. While a great number of

these apps are paid, it is a nominal amount

(Rs. 50–200, depending on whether you

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Better PhotograPhy

The best part about

making light trails

handheld is that other

distracting details get

eliminated on their own.

Shot with: Oppo N1

Invest in a

Gorillapod or a

lightweight, yet

sturdy tripod

so that you can

mount your

cellphone on it

and effectively

do away with

unwanted shake.

cellPhone technique

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Ambarin Afsar

march 2015