--- title: "Autumn Leaves Don't Fall, They Fly" url: 'https://aboutgrau.com/blog/autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly' markdown: 'https://aboutgrau.com/blog/autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly.md' date: '2026-11-09' description: 'The title of this blog post and this series "Autumn Leaves Don''t Fall, They Fly" is a quote by Delia Owens. I tend to pick such references to literature, art, the movies, trivia to show that there are interconnections everywhere, that no thing on earth, no new craft, no new idea exists of its own, …' taxonomy: category: - blog tag: - software - writing - photography - nature --- ABOUTGRAU ![](https://aboutgrau.com/user/themes/saturn/img/avatar.png) Welcome to my photo blog! Read all backstories here # Autumn Leaves Don't Fall, They Fly [Autumn Leaves Don't Fall, They Fly](https://aboutgrau.com/blog/autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly) --- The title of this blog post and this series "Autumn Leaves Don't Fall, They Fly" is a quote by Delia Owens. I tend to pick such references to literature, art, the movies, trivia to show that there are interconnections everywhere, that no thing on earth, no new craft, no new idea exists of its own, everything has ancestors and descendants. It's autumn. Colorful leaves are everywhere. So what could be easier to go outside, face the weather and treat yourself with taking a few simple snaps of the surrounding nature, the trees, the leaves, the season. If you're like me and you're enjoying yourself by having a camera in your hand, here's a simple advice. Get the Bluristic camera app for iPhone! Seriously, if you have an iPhone and are interested in blur and intentional camera movement (ICM), you need to know the Bluristic app. You've never heard about this app so far? Nor did I. But all I can say is that it's such an improvement compared to all the other slow shutter apps that are out there or that i'm aware of. For years I've been toying around with apps like the seemingly "original" [Slow Shutter Cam](https://apps.apple.com/app/slow-shutter-cam/id357404131) app and later candidates of the same genre, like the [Spectre Camera](https://apps.apple.com/app/spectre-kamera/id1450074595) app by Lux Optics, the makers of the famous [Halide Mark III](https://apps.apple.com/app/halide-mark-iii-pro-camera/id885697368) camera app. Or I've been just using Apple's native Live Photos in conjunction with the Long Exposure setting. ![autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly01](https://aboutgrau.com/user/pages/01.Blog/69.autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly/autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly01.jpg "autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly01")*Bluristic app, iPhone 17 Pro Max* All these approaches, all these apps and settings work. In principle. But sadly only up to a certain point. Taking long exposure shots on your iPhone or really with any other camera out there requires timing and a pretty decent understanding of the tools you use. When making such intentional camera movements while your shutter is still open, a lot of attention goes precisely into that movement. And usually there's not much capacity left to handle all the different settings, knobs and buttons of all these apps. So basically all the apps I've tried so far, felt clunky and just weren't able to produce the results I've wanted. Until now. Until I've first heard of the Bluristic app. I immediately installed the app on my iPhone and made my first baby steps. And rather instinctively I could operate the app pretty naturally. Also there are some good onboarding screens that introduce the most basic features of the app quite well. So maybe after five or ten minutes I had my first results. ![autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly02](https://aboutgrau.com/user/pages/01.Blog/69.autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly/autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly02.jpg "autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly02")*Bluristic app, iPhone 17 Pro Max* The major difference of the Bluristic app is that it basically shots video and condenses all the frames of one single shutter release into one image. So be aware that the output files of the Bluristic app have the typical 16:9 aspect ratio of a video file. Also the image dimensions are slightly smaller than the ones of the Slow Shutter Cam app or the Spectre app. But we're talking about a minor difference between 11 MP on the Bluristic side compared to 12 MP for Slow Shutter Cam and Spectre, all with my iPhone 17 Pro Max using the main 24 mm 1x lens. Following along that idea of shooting a video file instead of single split second photographs you're actually holding down the shutter release button as long as you need it. And release it when your take is over. So the shutter speed is basically dynamic, exactly as long as you need it and as long as you press the button. It's basically a Bulb mode. The viewfinder updates instantly and shows the immediate result all the time. So you clearly can identify which timing is right for the result you want to achieve. It's totally WYSIWYG and instantaneous. ![autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly03](https://aboutgrau.com/user/pages/01.Blog/69.autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly/autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly03.jpg "autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly03")*Bluristic app, iPhone 17 Pro Max* An additional feature of the Bluristic app are certain anchor points that you can set and place on different areas of the image. The position of these anchor points is tracked and stabilized while you're shooting. So these parts of the image remain crisp and sharp while all the rest of the frame moves according to your camera movements. You even can add multiple anchor points for different parts of your scene. Such anchor points are useful if you want to track moving objects for example. But there's more, and some of those options and features are pretty unique to the nature of photographs that the Bluristic app is going to produce. First of all there are three different shooting modes, the Single Exposure mode, the Multi Exposure mode and the Track Afterwards shooting mode. The first two of them are probably pretty self explanatory. In contrast to the Single Exposure mode the Multi Exposure mode lets you layer independent scenes or captures on top of each other. Needless to say that the blending style of these "layers" can also be set, there are options like Additive, Negative or the default option Blend. The Track Afterwards shooting mode is pretty unique and clever, I've not seen that one in any other photo or video app. Basically the idea is that you first record your desired movement as if you would shoot a video. And immediately after hitting the stop button you can tweak and edit that clip by adjusting the beginning and end points. Pretty clever. Also the app is making use of the histogram and of the curve tool, but in a way that feels very dedicated to the kind of footage your shooting. So be sure to check out those tools as well. ![autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly04](https://aboutgrau.com/user/pages/01.Blog/69.autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly/autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly04.jpg "autumnleavesdontfalltheyfly04")*Bluristic app, iPhone 17 Pro Max* Overall the Bluristic app is a fully featured professional camera app for iPhone with all the unique sets of features you might need of want when shooting intentional camera movements or just long exposure shots. Yes, the interface is not yet updated to the latest and greatest Liquid Glass features of iOS 26 and iOS 27 and probably it never well. But given the app very dedicated and a very ambitious feature set, it's easy to forget such tiny tidbits. Honestly I'm just scratching the surface here of all what's possible with this app. Roxanne Bouche Overton is spending a huge part of her creative career exploring all the different sides and approaches of ICM photography. She has written [several books](https://roxanneoverton.com/books/) about this subject, especially about ICM photography. You can find references to and guides for the Bluristic app in more than one of those books. I've stumbled upon her work while listening to the wonderful [F-Stop Collaborate and Listen Podcast](https://www.mattpaynephotography.com/page/f-stop-collaborate-and-listen/#Episodes), Episode 494. So finding this app and trying to use it as a creative tool brought new life to my ICM ambitions. You should see my camera roll of the past few weeks since I own this app. It's now full of blurry, random shots that only slowly begin to make sense to me. But honestly, ICM has never been that easy, that approachable and that much fun! The [Bluristic](https://apps.apple.com/app/bluristic-pan-track/id879408799) app can be downloaded from the Apple AppStore, it's a one time purchase and costs roughly 6 USD. I hope it brings you as much pleasure as it does me. Hopefully this little series was able to get you in the right mood for grabbing your iPhone, getting outside and shooting for a bit. I'd love to see what you come up with, so don't be shy to get in touch and share your results. **Date:** 20261109 **Tags:** [software](https://aboutgrau.com/tag:software), [writing](https://aboutgrau.com/tag:writing), [photography](https://aboutgrau.com/tag:photography), [nature](https://aboutgrau.com/tag:nature) [ PREV](https://aboutgrau.com/blog/thosearentmountainstheyrewaves) --- ## Navigation - Parent: [Blog](https://aboutgrau.com/index.md) - Next: [Those Aren't Mountains, They're Waves](https://aboutgrau.com/blog/thosearentmountainstheyrewaves.md)