:: INTERACTIVE PHOTO GUIDETaking photos with your iOS device is immensely useful and often produces good results. Nothing can quite beat the power of a DSLR camera, however, as much as many apps try. Switching to a full DSLR camera doesn't mean having to leave iOS devices alone, though, as there are plenty of great apps to make taking good photos even easier. We take a look at four apps ideally suited for helping photographers.
Triggertrap
It's not quite as free as the price suggests, given users need to buy a separate Mobile Dongle, but for those with a compatible camera, Triggertrap is an ideal tool for activating one's DSLR camera remotely. Even better, it offers plenty of options so that it's simple to initialize a long-exposure HDR shot, adjust the time-lapse or distance-lapse, as well as even trigger at the sound of a handclap. It's a very effective app.
Master Your DSLR Camera
Learning all about how to use a DSLR camera is an important part of capturing great images. Master Your DSLR Camera is a great, coffee-table-esque app with plenty of advice. With a mixture of text based advice, HD video tutorials and great imagery, there's a lot to take in. Fortunately, it's all clearly explained and easy to browse. Plenty of situational advice is offered too, courtesy of 25 common shooting scenarios via the app's cheat sheet section.
SetMyCamera Pro
Besides offering similar remote triggering facilities to TriggerTrap, SetMyCamera Pro also comes with plenty of ways to figure out the Depth of Field calculations required to take a great photo. Alongside that, it offers Shutter Speed recommendations, Field of View assistance and a distance unit conversion calculator. With plenty of functionality, it should make photographic calculations a lot simpler.
Photo Academy
A little like Master Your DSLR Camera, Photo Academy lends itself to quick consultations while out and about. There's plenty of detailed advice on how to achieve the best composition, as well as tips on specific subjects. Alongside that is a great guide to the best settings according to each topic, plus a glossary of important terms. Users wanting to track their experience can record their expeditions in the Shoot Diary, while also recording notes on how they feel they did and what settings worked best for them.
:: COMPREHENSIVE
This is no mere camera filter. No, Photo Academy is a massive cross-referenced database absolutely full of tips, tricks and techniques for almost any imaginable photo-op situation. Within reason, of course. Users simply have to choose a topic, then can browse through a number of sub-categories that range from how to handle different lighting situations to what equipment to use. Useful tips can even be bookmarked for later/repeated use.
Photo Academy also includes a "Photo 101" guide for total greenhorns, example photos and a Shoot Diary for more adventurous users. The Shoot Diary lets them keep track of almost all the details surrounding a particular image, including weather, time of day, location and, of course, the photo itself. Diary entries can even be posted online through Twitter, email and Facebook in order to document personal achievements (i.e. brag) or offer up pointers for other users. I'm honestly quite interested in seeing if and how a community forms around this app.
Again, this is no mere iOS camera app. This is a full-blown how-to encyclopedia of photographic knowledge. These tips apply to actual cameras, with aperture settings, shutter speeds and the like. Some of the basics can be applied to the little hole that sits in the corner of a given iOS device, but it's meant more for the real thing. Which is something that all amateur photographers are probably more interested in anyway.