Project 4

Transform your phone into a powerful photographic toolbox

Your phone is in your pocket everywhere you go, including shoots, and it’s a powerful photographic tool that you should be making the most of. We don’t just mean using it to take a selfie on location, to film some behind-thescenes footage, or to just Google how to find that cheeky little menu setting.

Your phone – or indeed, any smart device including a tablet – can host a suite of software to make planning, getting and cataloguing your shots easier. By loading it with dedicated photographic apps, it can become a toolbox that’s as valuable as a speedlight, ND filter or anything else in your camera bag.

These apps can be as simple as swapping your physical ND filter tables, replacing them with calculators that tell you how long to keep your shutter open for a single or combination of stoppers. Or they can even be as complex and interesting as augmented reality visualizers that can superimpose the movement of the sun and moon in real time on the landscape right in front of you.

Whether you’re a studio-based indoor shooter or a location photographer who spends the day in the field, there’s an app that’s guaranteed to make your shooting quicker, easier or more productive.

From light meters to location scouting, to lighting diagrams, depth of field calculators, make sure that your phone is locked and loaded with these apps. If you’re a photographer, you should be using your phone for more than just for a quick Instagram post!