Travel Apps for the Adventurous Photographer
We love handy apps. When you find that one addition to your phone that actually makes your life easier, it’s exciting! Apps are especially useful when traveling and if you’re a photographer – here is a list for you.
The implications of these travel apps aren’t just for traveling photographers but anyone that takes pictures or uses smartphones and digital cameras during their travels. Here are our top apps for anyone overcome by a wave of wanderlust. May they come in handy.
1. Spot: explore the best places
This app is great for discovering new places for photoshoots and generally places to go in a new city. You can also contribute to the community by posting your pictures taken in a specific location. As others do the same, it becomes a gold mine for looking for the perfect location in a new city. It’s also a great way for you to track the locations you particularly liked.
Compatible with: iOS
Cost: Free
Image credit: iTunes Apple
2. Scene Scout
You can quickly forget your favorite spots and locations when in a new place. Scene Scout helps you keep track of different scouting sessions and the details from each place. You can share them on social media and easily to remember the things you saw and liked about specific locations. If you’re working on bigger projects, you can easily share these details with other photographers that weren’t on the scene with you.
Compatible with: iOS
Cost: Free
Image credit: Borrow Lenses
3. PhotoPills
You’ll agree that some apps are worth an investment in the long run. PhotoPills is your savior when you need a fresh perspective and new photo shoot locations. It’s convenient if you want to plan a shoot ahead of time, as it shows the locations of the sun and the moon at any place, time and date. It even utilizes augmented reality to show you what the images will look like at those times. The only trouble is learning how to use it and make the most of it but if you think it’ll be handy, by all means spend the $10 if you’ll be using it frequently.
Compatible with: iOS
Cost: $9.99
Image credit: Digital Photo Magazine
4. Pocket Light Meter
Professional photographers make it a point to always have a light meter on them, but if you don’t, your phone will do just fine. The app measures the lighting conditions using your phone’s camera and helps you adjust the exposure settings (shutter speed, ISO, aperture) to see how it will change your image when you tweak the main settings. Many photographers claim that it’s very accurate and just as handy as an actual light meter.
Compatible with: iOS
Cost: $10.99
Image credit: cinema5D
5. PlanIt! for Photographers
Another app to help you with lighting. It’s ideal for photographers that shoot a lot of landscapes, nature shots and photograph at night. The app also shows you where the sun and the moon are located in any location in the world. Once you drop a pin, the app shows you if there is anything blocking your subject, such as mountains and the best times to capture stars and other objects.
Compatible with: iOS and Android
Cost: $9.99
Image credit: iTunes Apple
6. PhotoBuddy
This is an app designed to help you calculate precise camera settings such as exposure, depth of field and angles. It’s an irreplaceable app on trips. It also has an extension for your Apple Watch which helps you calculate the perfect exposure and DoF on your wrist as it syncs with your phone. It’s also been modified to control some Sony cameras by sending the information to your camera.
Compatible with: iOS
Cost: $1.99
Image credit: iTunes Apple
7. TouchRetouch
An app to get rid of unwanted objects in photos. What can be more marvelous than a Photoshop substitute on the go? You can get rid of unwanted elements, blemishes and other distracting objects from images in a one-touch quick fix.
Compatible with: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Image credit: iPhone photography school
8. VSCO
Instead of making this about the million photo editing apps out there, here’s one that is proven to be popular amongst photographers. One of the perks of VSCO is that it has a really easy interface. There’s also the option to share your work within the app and lots of free filters. To top it off, you have great control over things like contrast, exposure and general color correction for images on your phone.
Compatible with: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Image credit: PetaPixel
9. Snapseed
We couldn’t leave you with just one editing app and no options! Snapseed has a wide range of tools for editing – from basic to advanced ones. It’s often compared to Photoshop but for your phone. It’s also easy to use and is very intuitive, making it easy to master and grow used to.
Compatible with: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Image credit: iPhone photography school
10. Over
If you’re feeling a sudden wave of inspiration and want to add an additional layer to your photography in the form of words, Over’s got you. You have access to 25 different fonts that can help you add personality to your images. It’s quite inspirational and a great occasion to do something different to your photographs on the go.
Compatible with: iOS
Cost: Free
Image credit: Past Book
11. Fragment
Going for something more trendy and unusual? Fragment is an editing app that will get the artist in you excited. You can create different geometric photo effects over your images. There’s shapes and patterns and different designs you can apply to your images.
Compatible with: iOS and Android
Cost: $1.99
Image credit: Past Book
12. GIF Cracker
Sometimes a picture perfect moment turns out to be a video perfect moment. What better way to share that with the world than a GIF? The popular format is a great one to experiment with and the GIF Cracker app can help you quickly turn videos from your trip into GIFs. This is particularly useful for photographers on trips because sometimes still images just won’t do.
Compatible with: iOS (GIF Maker available for Android)
Cost: Free
Image credit: Giphy
13. Google Maps
Yes, captain obvious over here but it’s necessary. Google Maps now supports offline mode, making navigation in new cities easier even when you don’t have wifi or international roaming. The last thing you want is to get lost, and Google Maps is a definite must when traveling even if you want to get around uncharted territories.
Compatible with: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Image credit: Telegraph
14. Google Translate
We’re not done with the obvious ones! Although everyone knows they can pull out their phone and attempt at translating, it doesn’t apply to countries with completely different symbols and letters. For this reason, Google merged Word Lens into Google Translate so that you can scan some text on a sign (for example) from your phone camera and it will translate it in real time for you. You do need Internet though.
Compatible with: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Image credit: AR News
15. Later
Many photographers try to keep up some social media activity when on trips, most likely on Instagram. If you are one of these people, Later could be a game changer. It’s basic function is to help you schedule posts on Instagram by sending you reminders. The big idea though, is to help you keep up a cohesive account. You can see how images will look on your feed by rearranging them and setting up a time schedule to make sure your Instagram will look just like the Later mockup of your account.
Compatible with: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Image credit: Think Maverick
16. 1Password
As you’ve guessed, this is an app for storing all your passwords. It’s really convenient but more so it’s useful when traveling for several reasons. You can securely backup your important documents – like ID, credit cards, passport etc. It syncs with Dropbox so you can access them at any point when you have Internet. The worst nightmare for travelers in general is losing something this important, in which case you’ll have photocopies of everything.
Compatible with: iOS
Cost: Free, fees apply to extra features
Image credit: iDownloadBlog
17. Lenstag
If our ‘worst case scenario’ scenes didn’t scare you, imagine losing your gear or having it stolen. Hopefully, you’ll never have to experience that but just to be on the safe side, you can use Lenstag to register your equipment. If something is lost or stolen, the person that happens to search the serial numbers of this equipment will know it’s stolen. This app is also working with the issue of illegally bought goods.
Compatible with: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Image credit: iTunes Apple
18. Easy Release
Model releases are a simple must nowadays. Instead of carrying around the papers with you, Easy Release helps you do it directly from your phone. There are 12 available languages, which is handy when traveling, and leaves you with one less thing to worry about. What is more convenient than having all the paperwork safely stored on your phone?
Compatible with: iOS and Android
Cost: $9.99
Image credit: iTunes Apple
Did we miss anything? What apps do you use when traveling? Let us know in the comments section below.
