Best iPhone Apps for Photographers
From robust editing to niche informational apps, there are some pretty amazing iPhone apps that can up your photography game. I’ve selected a few that I’ve found to be incredibly helpful.
Lightroom
Don’t let its small size fool you — Lightroom mobile is an incredibly powerful raw photo editor and can deliver amazing results. If you have a camera that supports syncing photos to your iPhone, you can edit full resolution raw photos and have similar results as Lightroom desktop. View on iTunes »
The Photographer’s Ephemeris
This app will help you plan sunrise and sunset shots by showing you where the sun will be from any location, and if you’ll be obstructed by the surroundings or not. The Photographer’s Ephemeris was recommended to me by an employee at the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite Valley to help with working in the steep canyon walls. View on iTunes »
Magic Hour
This app helps you plan around magic/golden hour — the time of day around sunrise and sunset when the light is great for photography and cinematography. It is typically when the sun is between 6 degrees below the horizon to 6 degrees above. This sunlight is evenly dispersed and helps you create great pictures. View on iTunes »
Sky Guide
A must have for astrophotography — Sky Guide is so good that I don’t even use Stellarium on my laptop any more. If you’re new astrophotography, this tool can help you plan where to be and which way to look to see the milky way on a clear, moonless night. It will also point out other constellations. View on iTunes »
Dark Sky
Weather apps are a dime a dozen, but this one is simple and has a detailed timeline of cloud cover. If you’re shooting somewhere with a slow internet connection, having an native app can work much more reliably than loading a web site. View on iTunes »
Manual
I love Lightroom — but not as a primary camera; it takes far too long to get to the camera when you launch the app. When I need my camera, I want my camera. And unfortunately the built-in Camera app doesn’t capture raw. Manual is a quick-to-launch camera that captures raw DNGs and allows you to adjust basic camera controls like shutterspeed and ISO. View on iTunes »
