How to use iPhone Alive Photos for creative photos and videos

  • July 27, 2021

Alive Photos have been around for a while now, but have you ever used this feature? Many iPhone users haven't. You may think that Live Photos are just a fun gimmick for teens and GIF creators, and while this is partially true, Live Photos can be used creatively by anyone with an iPhone.

Understanding iPhone Alive Photos

Live Photos on iPhone were introduced in 2015 with the rollout of the iPhone 6S serial. This was i of the flagship features of this series and caused quite a bit of excitement when it was first introduced. Alive Photos are at present considered a staple of every iPhone, and they're a great way to bring your withal photos to life.

What is a Live Photo?

A Live Photo is like a photo/video hybrid, capturing a notwithstanding image and also a i.five-2nd video on either finish of the still photo. Y'all can take a Live Photo with whatsoever iPhone starting with the iPhone 6S. Y'all tin can set up your iPhone to ever take Live Photos, or you lot can turn the feature on whenever you lot want.

What's the betoken of Live Photos on iPhone?

Live Photos capture a short video with sound, and so they are perfect for capturing move, wildlife, or active toddlers. They're also dandy for capturing grouping shots because you can scroll through and observe a nonetheless photograph where everyone is really smiling and looking at the photographic camera. You lot can use Live Photos to create long-exposure images and GIFs, too!

Practise Live Photos accept sound?

Yes, sound is captured in your Live Photo for about one.5 seconds before and after you press the shutter button.

Using the iPhone camera's Live Photos feature

Ready to utilise iPhone Alive Photos to capture fantastic moving images? The feature is like shooting fish in a barrel to turn on and off using your iPhone's native Camera app. Here's how to apply Live Photos on your iPhone.

How to take a Live Photo

Taking Live Photos is like shooting fish in a barrel. In fact, it's the default setting for taking photos on your iPhone. Yous tin can too turn it on and off as needed. Hither'due south how to take a Live Photo:

  1. Open your iPhone's Camera app.
  2. Yous volition see a series of concentric circles at the top of your screen. If the circles icon is yellow, it ways the Live Photos feature is already turned on. If the circles icon is white, the characteristic is off. Tap the circles to turn on Live Photos.
  3. Once Live Photos is on, all y'all take to practise is snap a photo by tapping the shutter button.

How to plough on Live Photos

You toggle Live Photos on and off by tapping the concentric circles icon before taking a photo. Because Live Photos take up a significant amount of infinite on your phone, it'south probably smart to only use Alive Photos when yous are hoping to capture movement and/or sound. Toggle the feature on merely before taking a Alive Photo and off when you are finished.

How to play a Live Photo on iPhone

Viewing a Live Photograph on iPhone or iPad is piece of cake:

  1. Open up the Photos app on your iPhone.
  2. Navigate to the Live Photograph that y'all want to view.
  3. Concur your finger down on the Live Photograph, and information technology volition automatically begin to play.

Getting artistic with iPhone Live Photos

Now that you know the basics, permit'south take it a pace further. Here are some creative ways to use your Alive Photos.

How to edit Live Photos on iPhone

You edit a Live Photo on your iPhone in much the aforementioned mode that you edit whatsoever photo using the Photos app. You tin can use all the same photo editing tools that y'all would use for a still photo. Plus, you lot tin extract the Key photograph, trim the length of your Live Photo, and mute the audio. Hither's how to access the iPhone Live Photograph editing tools:

  1. Open the Photos app and navigate to the Live Photo that you lot want to edit.
  2. Tap Edit.
  3. Cull the Live Photos icon from the bottom of the screen.
  4. Roll through the series of still photos on the bottom to cull your favorite. Tap Brand Key Photo on your favorite. This even so prototype will exist the one that shows up in your Photo Library.
  5. To make your Alive Photo shorter, elevate the arrows on either side of the whorl until your Live Photograph is the desired length.
  6. To mute the sound, tap on the speaker icon in the upper-left corner. Y'all can toggle the sound on or off using this icon.
  7. In improver to these tools, which are specific to Live Photos, you can besides admission the regular photo editing tools by tapping on the icons at the bottom of the screen.
  8. When y'all are finished editing, tap Done.

To extract a all the same photo from your Live Photograph, you don't even accept to go to the editing screen. Hither's an easy mode to practice it:

  1. Open up the Photos app and choose the Alive Photo that y'all desire to extract a nevertheless from.
  2. Tap the share icon at the bottom-left corner of the screen.
  3. Tap Indistinguishable.
  4. Tap Duplicate as Still Photo.

How to turn Alive Photos into videos

Making a video from your Live Photo is just as easy. Here'south the easiest way to salvage your Live Photo equally a video file:

  1. Open the Photos app and cull the Live Photo that yous desire to turn into a video.
  2. Tap the share icon at the bottom-left corner of the screen.
  3. Scroll down and tap on Save equally Video.

How to take long-exposure photos using Live Photos

To create a long-exposure photo from a Live Photo, yous will essentially exist stitching multiple photos together to create a special event. This will work best with a tripod because y'all desire the still portions of your photograph to remain still while capturing some sort of movement, such as running water, clouds, or traffic. Once yous have framed your shot, you can take a long exposure image using the post-obit method:

  1. Before shooting your photograph, toggle on the Live Photograph feature within the Camera app.
  2. Have your photo past tapping the shutter button, being careful not to shake your telephone. If you want to ensure a steady shot, apply the cocky-timer by tapping on the timer icon at the top of the screen.
  3. In one case you've taken your photo, open up it in the Photos app.
  4. Swipe up across your photo, which will open up the effects menu.
  5. Gyre through and tap Long Exposure and watch your photo transform.
A Live photo converted into a long exposure shot

How to turn a Live Photo into a GIF

You can employ Live Photo effects to too create looped GIFs (similar to the Boomerang characteristic on Instagram). To brand a custom GIF, you employ the same furnishings screen that you used to create a long exposure:

  1. Open the Photos app on your iPhone and navigate to the Alive Photograph you want to edit.
  2. Swipe upward to reveal the effects screen.
  3. Tap Loop, which volition create a looped video that will play over and over once more.

Ready to start experimenting with Live Photos and the cool effects they create? Go along this guide handy for your next Live Photo shoot.

This was nigh:
  • iPhone Camera
  • Photography

Tara Schatz

Travel writer. Photographer. Lover of dogs and the outdoors.