iPhone Workflow Tutorial: "Streetcar into the Tunnel"
During my last trip to Bratislava, I took a photo of a streetcar entering the tunnel at the castle hill. For this photo, I used the iOS camera App, Superimpose, and Lightroom.
I thought that this would make a great addition to the iPhone Workflow Tutorials, where I outline how I composed, shot, and edited photos with iPhone (and sometimes iPad). Enjoy!
Location Scouting
I already knew the location. I've been there a few years ago and took a photo of the empty tunnel using ProCamera App.
There are two major problems at this location. First, the area is tiny. The even smaller area to the left and right of the rails is steep, and there are buildings to the left and right. So, no room here to safely put up a tripod. If you want to check for yourself, here's the Apple Maps Link
Second, the rails make a turn right before the tunnel. So if you're standing too close to the tracks, the streetcar driver will only see you in the nick of time.
Taking a long exposure using a Live Photo
As I could not use my new Rollei Compact Traveller No. 1 Carbon tripod here, I decided trying to take a handheld Live Photo and to convert the Live Photo into a Long Exposure.
If you're going this route, bear in mind that you should have a calm hand. It would be best if you keep your iPhone still and steady for three seconds.
If you move the iPhone too much within these three seconds, iOS will apply image stabilization as soon as you convert the Live Photo to a long exposure.
Because of the way image stabilization works, the result will be a cropped photo.
Using a Live Photo is just one way to create a long exposure with iPhone. Here are three ways to create a long exposure with iPhone.
Editing in Superimpose
As you can see from the screenshot below, the long exposure turned out quite well, with one exception. There are notable stripes visible that originate from the hinge of the streetcar.
Long Exposure taken using a Live Photo
I wanted to get rid of that and turned to Superimpose on my iPad Pro for that. Masking is a bit easier using Apple Pencil.
After I imported the photo into Superimpose, I first duplicated the layer. To do so, tap the layer once and choose Duplicate layer in the menu, then hide the layer
Hide Layer in Superimpose
Then, after hiding the top layer, I applied a motion blur filter to strengthen the blurring effect of the streetcar just a bit so that the stripes would disappear. To apply a motion blur effect in Superimpose:
- Tap the Editor Button in the Lowe toolbar
- Then tap Effects
- Then tap Motion Blur*
You'll see an arrow in the middle of the screen. Drag it into the desired direction.
Specify the direction of motion blue in Superimpose App
This is the direction of the motion blur effect. Drag the arrow from the center to increase the effect and drag it to the center to reduce the effect. Then tap the checkmark in the upper right corner.
Next, I displayed the top layer again and converted it to black and white. Just tap the layer again and select Show Layer. To convert a layer to black and white in Superimpose:
- Tap Filters in the lower toolbar
- Tap Colors
- Reduce the saturation to 0
Desaturating Photo in Superimpose
Next, I used a brush to mask out the streetcar of the topmost layer, which made the (colorful) streetcar from the layer below shine through.
Masked Streetcar in Superimpose
To create a mask in Superimpose:
- Tap Mask
- Tap Mask Tool
- Select the desired masking tool.
Creating a mask in Superimpose
Superimpose supports quite a few masking tools. I usually use either the third or fourth option. The fourth masking tool (see screenshot above) is edge-aware. So it detects edges and does not mask these areas if you paint over it.
You could share the photo right from Superimpose to Lightroom, but you'll lose all metadata! So I always export a photo to Photos App and then open it in Lightroom.
Finishing Touches in Lightroom
I added the final touches in Adobe Lightroom Mobile by increasing the contrast to 60 to add a bit of a dramatic look and to further darken the inside of the tunnel. I also reduced the whites to -30 reduced the blacks to -40 even further to dramatise the look and make the inside of the tube darker.
To bring out more details of the tunnel portal, I increased clarity to +55 and added +30 texture.
To optimize the red of the train a bit, I reduced the saturation of the reds a bit and slightly decreased the luminance in the color panel.
Finally, Sharpening. I've written a tutorial about how to sharpen a photo in Lightroom Mobile. And there you go, here's the final result.
Streetcar into the Tunnel Final Edit
I you found this tutorial helpful, see all the other iPhone photography workflow tutorials. Moreover, here's a list of all the recommended iPhone photo apps and iPhone photo gear I rely on and updated regularly.
