6 Must-Have iPhone Apps for Professional Photographers

If you’re looking for a roundup of the best apps for filters/composite images/HDR/etc., then you’ve come to the wrong post. These are the iPhon...

If you’re looking for a roundup of the best apps for filters/composite images/HDR/etc., then you’ve come to the wrong post. These are the iPhones apps (and even some cross-over for you Android users!) that professional photographers are using either to prep for the day of a shoot – with a DSLR camera, mind you – or to help run their businesses more efficiently.

The list includes everything from tools to help determine the best light throughout the day, to organizing your model releases, to keeping track of your tax deductions. Need to know when the sun is setting on that one street corner in London? There’s an app for that. How about setting auto triggers to your DSLR? Yep…there’s an app for that. See our top picks below.

Helios Sun Position Calculator – $29.99

Forget trying to guess the best time of day to get perfect natural light – this app uses your iDevice’s internal GPS and compass to predict the path of the sun throughout the day wherever you might be shooting. The app’s software has a database of over 30,000 locations worldwide, so you can enter a shoot prepared. You can even email yourself or your client a day plan of the sun’s path from the app.

Easy Release – $9.99

If you ever find yourself wishing you had stuffed a few printed model or property release forms in your pack, then this app is for you. The app lets you easily collect all the data and signatures needed right on your Apple or Android phone, and then email a PDF and JPEG to yourself. The standard language is widely accepted, and you can also add your own.

Trip Cubby – $2.99

Did you know you can file for a tax deduction with the appropriate automobile expense records? Trip Cubby simplifies the process of tracking your mileage over time, and is actually designed with IRS compliance in mind.

Rego – free

If you’re constantly on the move and scouting out locations, this app helps you keep track of all those places — and have a personal database of great shoot spots. The app uses your iPhone’s GPS to find your location, then you can add your own photos and notes. Then if you plan to return it syncs up with Google or Apple maps to route you there.

Triggertrap – free

This app lets you trigger your DSLR from your Apple or Android phone, and supports 300+ different cameras models from Canon, Nikon, Hasselblad, Sony, Sigma, and more. There are a number of different creative modes to do some really cool automations – for example, use the Star Trials mode to set a series of 3 second exposures with a 200ms gap between them. You let it do its thing, and the photos are captured for you. The Distance-lapse is also pretty cool – if you’re in a moving vehicle you can set it to take a photo every number of feet/meters, rather than seconds, and then create a series of seamless photos for a timelapse video.