PHOTOGRAPHER iPHONE APPS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT

Besides using my iPhone for timelapes, videos, and BTS photos at shoots, my iPhone is one of my biggest tools when it comes to my photography. I’m all about sharing knowledge, tools, and tips in the photography community so I’ve been wanting to write a blog about the apps and accessories I use that I can’t live without and that make my job as a photographer so much easier.

1. Release Me - This is my go-to app for model releases. It’s always with me so I never forget to have a release on hand. It can also keep releases organized by project, which comes in handy for shoots with extras like music video shoots. It allows you to take a photo of the model signing the release for reference, and keeps you from changing the contract after the model has signed without gaining their signature again to protect both parties and keep things legal. It’s $4.99 but well worth it.

2. The Weather Channel App - Before downloading this app I’d been using the weather app that comes with my iPhone. This app is SO MUCH more helpful for on-location shooting. Not only does it tell me the current temperature but what it FEELS LIKE outside which is so much more important when figuring what to wear and pack for outdoor shoots. It also tells you when the sun is rising and setting everyday, tracking its placement in the sky. It gives you a Humidity % which is helpful for your hair and makeup artist and it will also update you to what people in your area are reporting is happening, like rain or snow and you can personalize what notifications you receive. This app is free and definitely worth the download. 

3. Map-A-Pic - This is a location scouting app for photographer and filmmakers. And I cannot rave about it enough. When I’m traveling or exploring around outdoors and stumble across a location perfect for photos, I can easily snap a picture of it (or multiple pictures for one location), save the GPS coordinates, and easily pull it open later in the app and get GPS directions right back to the location. You can also add notes about the location like the name and contact information for the property owner so you don’t have to keep track of papers and business cards. The pro version of the app even tells you sunset, sunrise, and golden hour times for your saved locations on a specific date which helps so much for planning. Even better if you take a photo you can add it as a location after the fact and the app with recognize the GPS data in the photo to pinpoint the location where the photo was taken. The app is worth every ounce of the $3.99 they ask for it.

4. Light Setup - This app is a little bit more on the expensive end, but its definitely an insanely useful and cohesive tool for creating and saving diagrams of your light setups. I definitely wish I’d been using it sooner to remember exactly how I had set things up times I got creative with lighting. It has a vast amount backgrounds, modifiers, and model settings to chose from for creating your diagram like selecting specific colors of your seamless background etc. You can even toggle on and off the Information/Title/Notes for the objects in your export, so that you can save the information but maybe not export it in a diagram. You can also attach a reference image of your final shot so you can easily identify the setups you’re looking for when browsing saved setups. You can save your diagram to your phone or email a PDF. It’s also super helpful when sharing or posting your diagrams. Definitely worth the $6.99 I paid for it. 

5. Pinterest - I know this one is probably obvious and goes without saying, but it’s been essential for me making inspiration boards and sharing them with my teams. Also I save lighting diagrams I find on blogs, photos that inspire me, and model poses to reference on set. It’s helpful to have visuals when coaching models, and communicating inspiration to your hair and makeup team as it leaves less room for miscommunication. You can also add your team members as collaborators to a board so they can pin ideas to it as well. It’s free to download to access all your boards easily from your phone. 

6. Paypal Here - If you’ve got a business Paypal that you use to accept payments for photo shoots, Paypal Here and the Paypal Here reader are so handy. It makes it easy for me to accept credit card payments on the go from clients. Free to download.

7.  iExit - If you are someone who drives long distances or to other cities for shoots or maybe just the occasional long road trip to a specific shoot location, then this app is totally for you. It’s helpful to know what pit stops, gas stations, and restaurants are coming up, especially if those traveling with you on your team have specific diet restrictions because it will show you what restaurants are off exits even if they’re not on the exit sign, and you can find out what restaurants are exits ahead so you could easily place and order and have it ready for pickup when you arrive to save you time on the road. It uses your GPS location to find what interstate you are on and what direction you are traveling to show you upcoming exits in the order you’ll pass them. This app is only $2.99 in is a vegetarians best friend. 

8. Simple Transfer Pro - Not only does this app make wireless transfers between your iPhone and any computer so much easier, but it also allows you to transfer photos and videos you’ve previously taken on your phone and moved off of it back into your Camera Roll, which is essential for using editing features for slow motion videos and such.

9. iBooks - This one isn’t the app specifically but what I use it for… I download PDF versions of the user manuals for all of my cameras and equipment and save them in iBooks so that I always have them with me. It’s handy when I need to figure out a setting I’ve never used before or when I’m using older film cameras I’m still getting used to controlling settings on. I also make mood boards for bigger shoots with my team which I save to iBooks as well to be able to reference easily on set. 

Hope you find some of these apps helpful, if there are any apps you guys can’t live without I’d love to hear about them!

XOXOAmyLynn