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Five Photography Apps You Need to Download Today
Nowadays just about everyone has a cellphone in their pocket, purse, or camera bag. As a photography pro or hobbyist, you can use your phone as a great tool to help plan your photos, capture the perfect shot, edit that shot to perfection, and then share it. Here are five amazing apps that I have grown to love and really wouldn’t want to live without.
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1 – Really Good Photo Spots
This app is fairly new in the field. Brought to us by Improve Photography, this app was released in 2017 and has been my go-to for any trip I take. I love to hop in the car and go see what I can find. If I have an excuse to take the long way to my destination so I can hit a good photo spot, even better. This is just the app to point me in the right direction.
The idea is simple… the app uses the tech inside your phone to locate you and then tell gives you a list of great photo spots located within a 75-mile radius. You can also do a search of a specific area. The app began with a pre-researched number of photo spots, compiled by the Improve Photography team, but works with users to rate and create new spots to add to the list.
Each location is rated from 1 – 5 stars based on user ratings. Once you pick a spot, click a simple button and your phone will navigate you right to that location. After you’ve been there, go ahead and mark the spot as “visited” and go ahead and add a photo. All around, this is a unique and fun way to narrow down some locations that you might not know about otherwise.
My favorite part is that you can get the app and try it out for FREE! You can continue to use it for free for as long as you like, but you have the option to pay a $9.99/year fee which allows you to save trips, use the app offline, and remove ads.
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2 – The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE)
What is an Ephemeris? Don’t worry – I had to ask, too. Wikipedia says, “In astronomy and celestial navigation, an ephemeris gives the positions of naturally occurring astronomical objects as well as artificial satellites in the sky at a given time or times.” You can see their full explanation here.
Wondering how this applies to you? Here ya go… In short, you can use the TPE app to do so very many things, all related to the sun, the moon, and the stars. I use the app almost exclusively to plan my night photography around the phases of the moon and to plan sunrise and sunset shots for location, time, and camera angle.
If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that I love to take photos of Big Red, our local Lighthouse. I pull up a saved search that drops a pin on a map in the app and then choose the date I’d like to shoot. The app then shows me the angle at which the sun (and the moon) will rise or set on that date. If I see that the weather is pointing toward a gorgeous sunset, then I can pull out the TPE app and scope out the best location to line up my shot.
Not just for landscape photography, TPE is also great for portrait photography by helping predict golden hour and sun angles for specific locations. It works anywhere there’s a cell signal. So if you’re out traveling, you can bring up your location, pop a pin into the map and see what angles you’re working with.
The TPE has a retail price of $8.99, and is worth every penny! Among all of the expenses you may pick up in your photography journey, this is a small one that will make a big difference for you! YOU CAN SEE ALL THE DETAILS BY CLICKING HERE.
3 – Lightroom CC
Adobe Lightroom CC is an excellent choice for editing on the run. But what I love most and use it for the most is to operate the onboard camera on my iPhone. You do have some manual control on your iPhone, but shooting from within the Lightroom app allows you to control your ISO, shutter speed, and white balance, just like you can with your DSLR.
Of course, As much as I would love to have my DSLR on me at all times, the reality is that sometimes I just have to leave the house without it. >GASP!< With Lightroom CC, when I encounter that unexpected “perfect shot” and want to capture it, I have my phone right in my pocket and can pull it out and go for it with professional-looking results!
Double bonus – once I have the shot, I can pull it right up on the app and edit it to my heart’s content with almost the same amount of control that I have on my computer at home. My favorite part is that the Adobe CC app is included in the monthly Adobe Subscription price of $9.99 per month.
You can see all the information on an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription here
You’ll want to keep your phone super safe while out shooting! I can’t imagine life without my Lifeproof case. This is the one I use (and it is available in other colors):
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4 – Circular
This app is a new discovery for me. You can take any photo you’ve captured and create a circular special effect with it. There are so many options here you can create almost any artistic image from a basic shot.
You can go wild and crazy or you can simply add a few minor adjustments to your photo. You can even offset some of the effects and add them into only a portion of the photo. Quick, artsy, on-the-run fun for a reasonable $2.99 in the App Store!
For more info on Circular+, go HERE
5 – Instagram
Now that you’ve had so much fun planning what photos to take, journeying to the perfect location to take them, and then editing them to artistic perfection, you’ll want to share them. Instagram is where it’s at! It is the largest social media platform on the market that is dedicated to photo sharing. Over 800 million users can’t be wrong!
Instagram is a free download and it’s made for your phone! In fact, you have more control using it on your phone than you will on a laptop or desktop. Sign up for your free account, and then get busy sharing! You will have the option to crop and add several filters to your photo if you desire, or post your photo just as it is.
By the way, don’t forget the hashtag when you share your photo! Instagram has now added the ability for you to follow hashtags in addition to following other users, so go ahead and find that hashtag that speaks to you and follow along!
Instagram is FREE and you can find out more info HERE
Congratulations! You have now explored five of the most amazing apps on the market for your photography fun! Go out and get shooting! Oh, and don’t forget to add your phone to your camera bag. It is one of the most important things I pack in my camera bag!
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