Every landscape photographer has to have the right tools to capture the perfect shot, no matter how troublesome the light or zany the setting. There’s the cameras. The lenses. The gear. Now, there’s another tool that every landscape photographer must add to their arsenal: landscape photography apps.
Whether you’re looking to capture the perfect shot to headline your beautiful new online portfolio website, sell more landscape photography online or help boost your Instagram follower count, these 23 photography apps will ensure every landscape shot is absolutely killer.
Landscape Photography Apps for iOS
1. GPS Kit and GPS Kit HD
If you really get off the beaten path, so much so that you lose signal, then this is probably the one of the best photography apps for you. You can track your routes so you can find the same spot again and again, and monitor your friends so you don’t get split up. GPS Kit also boasts the most basemap options of any iOS app. It’s great for finding those hidden vantage points for the perfect landscape shot.
2. AyeTides
Perhaps you’re coastal and trying to snap some amazing pictures of the ocean…but you’re not certain of the tidal schedule. This landscape photography app will be your best friend. AyeTides monitors the tides and currents in over 12,500 spots around the world, and also offers offline functionality, so you can use it even if you’re not close to home. Don’t get caught with your camera in hand at low tide!
3. TideGraph
Similar to the photography planning app mentioned above, TideGraph can help you monitor the tides from your own phone regardless of your phone’s connectivity. This app boasts a more comprehensive interface as well as tidal information for any spot you may find yourself in. Catch that perfect high tide picture, wherever you are.
4. Focalware
This sunrise/sunset app is used by landscape photographers and filmmakers alike. Focalware allows you to monitor the sun and the moon based on your location and the time. So, if you want to snap the perfect picture featuring the clarity of natural sunlight or the mystery and allure of moonlight, Focalware can help you time it all perfectly.
5. SkyPhysics
SkyPhysics will also help you monitor the positions of the sun and the moon from wherever you are, online or offline. Boasting a super user-friendly interface, SkyPhysics is one of the best sunrise/sunset apps to take your sunset photography to the next level; it optimizes your photographing time by sharing where and when you’ll have your light.
6. PhotoPills
With the award-winning landscape photography app PhotoPills, you can plan your shot, monitor the spot over a period of time, check natural lighting changes, and share any details or plans with others.
7. TrueDoF-Pro DoF Calculator
Measuring depth of field is an exact art, and landscape photography app TrueDoF wants to help you get those measurements right. One of the best DOF apps for iPhone, It uses the most up-to-date algorithms to calculate depths of field—allowing you to take the sharpest pictures. The makers of TrueDoF claim it is the best DoF calculator app on the market. It’s even used by professional cinematographers!
8. LExp—Long Exposure Calcs
Long exposures are a super popular photography style, especially for stargazers. LExp offers to be the one-stop app to help you take that perfect long exposure shot. This landscape photography app helps you pick the perfect graduated ND filter, stack multiple ND filters, track the stars and moon, and a lot more.
9. Pocket Light Meter
No longer will you have to carry around an actual light meter! Just use this app instead, which allows you to gauge the exact right time exposure and aperture. The newest update of the Pocket Light Meter even allows reciprocity calculations.
10. NDTimer
The NDTimer is a timer which helps you time exposures, whether they be long or short, when you’re using one or more ND filters.
Landscape Photography Apps for Android
11. DOF Calculator
Similar to the iOS apps listed above, this app offers its users a super-comprehensive system that calculates hyperfocal distance, near focus limit, far focus limit, and depth of field.
12. DSLR Remote
Need to step away from your camera but still want to capture that perfect shot? The DSLR Remote allows its users to control their camera remotely through the app. You can do all the basic functions—like long exposures, interval snapping, time-lapse—plus more complicated photography stuff without having to carry around additional equipment.
13. Photo Tools
This landscape photography app is one of the best photography apps. It has all the photography tools you could need, rolled into one app. From a field of view calculator to a light meter to a sharpening radius estimator, this app has it all.
14. Tide Chart FREE
Here is another tidal-monitoring app for all you sea-lovers. This one lets Android users know when it’s high tide and when it’s low tide, along with how the currents are moving at any given location at any given time, so you can always optimize your photo ops.
Landscape Photography Apps for iOS and Android
15. StarWalk
This photography planning app is for those of you with your eyes—and lenses—on the skies. SkyWalk allows you to monitor the celestial bodies, by day or by night. You can track their orbits, find the constellations, and even identify all the stars in view.
16. Lightning Finder
Lightning Finder does just what the name suggests: it finds lightning! So, for all of you weather-chasers looking to snap a bolt pic, you can download this app and see where real-time lightning strikes are occurring in the United States.
17. Sun Surveyor
This landscape photography app allows you to monitor the sun and the moon. However, the cool twist with Sun Surveyor is that it allows you to visualize how the sun or the moon would illuminate or cast shadow on different buildings or structures from your vantage point at any given time. This advantage could help you plan your perfect urban landscape photo well in advance.
18. The Photographer’s Ephemeris
This guy features the most comprehensive and versatile interface of all the light-monitoring landscape photography apps. TPE allows you to monitor natural lighting for your pictures for any location at any time around the world, and has received some pretty rave reviews from National Geographic photographers.
19. Peak Finder
As far as landscape photography apps go, this one is pretty unique. Have you ever been on a mountaintop and wondered which mountain you were on, or which mountains were around you? Peak Finder can answer those questions for you. Just hold up your phone and this app will identify all the peaks around you by name, thanks to the wonders of geolocation.
20. VSCO
VSCO is one of the many great free photo editing apps out there. If you’ve snapped some photographs with your phone, or just on your digital camera, you can edit them with this editing app. VSCO is very user-friendly, so it’s great if you’re just starting out. Perfect for that little touch up on the go!
21. Adobe Lightroom CC
This photography app is pretty top-notch when it comes to editing. It brings things back to basics, using darkroom photography tricks to help the user optimize their images. This app is part of the Adobe Suite, so you know it’s quality. Fair warning, though: this app is pretty advanced, so practice makes perfect.
22. Google Earth
I bet you didn’t expect to see this app on this list! Well, believe it or not, Google Earth is a great landscape photography app. Want to check out a spot anywhere on earth from any and every vantage point? This is the app for you. The high-definition 3D map of the earth is pretty unrivalled, so you can eliminate any surprises from the equation with this one.
23. My Gear Vault
For all of those wandering photographers out there, it is imperative to know what you’re bringing with you so you don’t lose track of your expensive stuff. MGV keeps an inventory of all your equipment so you’ll never misplace that expensive lens again.
More inspo to improve your landscape photography business:
The Ultimate Guide to Building A Photography Website
The Best Free Online Courses and Tutorials for Photographers
Why Tethered Photography Can Help You Land the Perfect Shot