Slow Camera

Slow Camera is a new spin on timelapse photography. Rather than making a video Slow Camera composes a single picture where each line is shot at a different time. Capture a building at sunset and you'll get a slow fade from day to night in one frame. Switch to the front camera and shoot the world's most challenging selfie - can you hold still for ten minutes while Slow Camera stitches together waves or a passing crowd behind you?

I started shooting single frame time lapse photos by capturing thousands of images and then composing them together using custom software. The results are amazing but the process took too long. Slow Camera is the result of automating the technique for Android so I could produce the same effect without the effort.

For best results keep your phone still while shooting - either prop it up somewhere or use a tripod. Slow Camera plays a shutter sound at the start and the end of the exposure which is helpful if you can't easily monitor progress on the screen. For longer exposures I'd also recommend using an external battery (especially if you try to pull off a 24 hour shot). I get the best results from contrasting something still with a lot of motion in the background or by shooting at sunrise or sunset for a dramatic shift in lighting.

Settings for Slow Camera are pretty straightforward. At the bottom left hand side of the screen there is a drop down to pick the number of minutes for the exposure. Next to this is an icon to switch between the front and rear camera on your device. Once you've got the perfect shot framed hit the shutter button to start the capture. The shutter sound plays twice, once at the start of the exposure and once at the end. There is also a progress bar at the top of the screen during capture.

Pictures are saved to your gallery / photo roll automatically.

I'd love to see some of the photos you manage to take with Slow Camera. Tweet them with the #SFTL (Single Frame Time Lapse) hashtag, or email me directly.

If you manage an epic selfie use #SlowSelfieChallenge. One minute is easy. Watching yourself for ten minutes is an exercise in zen. Can you keep still for an hour and capture the sun setting behind you? Can anyone manage more than an hour?

This is an early version of Slow Camera. I've had a lot of fun building and testing it. I hope to make it much better over time so if you have any problems or suggestions please let me know.