Landscape photography can be said to be one of the most complicated genres. Moreover, this genre requires the perpetrators to go out into the open in the midst of natural conditions that often change, both from weather problems to the position of the sun that determines the lighting of a location. In anticipation of this, you can do careful and detailed planning. This planning can also be made easily. At least you can do it with an only smartphone camera and certain applications. There are five applications that we recommend to be installed on smartphones as a tool for this. FileHippo has many recommendations for landscape photography apps.
Tips to Get a Perfect Landscape Photo
Before you know the apps that are very useful to get a perfect landscape shot, below are our tips to do a landscape photography.
- Use water as a reflection
If you take a picture at a location that contains water elements, such as a river or sea, then look for the angle where you can use it as a mirror. Reflection from water can add to the beauty of your scenery. This technique also helps you get a symmetrical photo and is nice to see.
- Change your point of view
You often fixated only on one point of view when at the shooting location. Maybe you decided to mount your tripod somewhere just because it was close to the object being targeted or because everyone was shooting from it. Try to experiment and explore other points of view. Try to walk a few hundred meters from the shooting location and try from a variety of shooting angles before you set up your tripod.
- Catch the sunset
Sunset has deep and romantic meaning. If you add it to a photo of your landscape, then surely your photo will be much memorable to the ones who see it. The great thing about sunset is that the sun will decorate your landscape with its warm yellow light. So, you will definitely create a photo filled with interesting colors and nuances. Sunlight is also softer during this “Golden Hour” and will make it easier to get the right exposure in the whole scene.
Best Photography Apps for Landscape Shot
To make you achieve a perfect shot, FileHippo will recommend some of the best photography apps for landscape shots. The apps are free to download. This will make your photography skill getting better.
- Weather & Radar
The application of weather forecasting is needed to find out if the shooting location is likely to rain, wind, brightness, duration, what temperature and what warnings are there. Well, one of the applications that will help find out this information is Weather & Radar. In this app, you will find sufficient accurate information about these conditions today, hourly, or forecasts for the next 8 days. This can help you prepare the equipment needed, as well as the light conditions there. For example when determining the type of camera body and the lens that must be carried, predicting a soft dusk light due to filtering clouds, or when looking for conditions when the location is bright without clouds at all. It would be such a waste if you already prepare the equipment but the weather ruins your plan.
- Photo Pills
This application is arguably the most complete to meet the needs of landscape photography planning. The information presented is complete, for example about the position of the sun and moon at certain times and the augmented reality (AR) feature to see the position of celestial objects. In addition, Photo Pills can also help calculate exposure, depth of field and take into account the parameters needed to make a time-lapse photo. All plans that you have made in Photo Pills can be stored or shared with others. Plus, this application is available both for Android and iOS. However, you need to buy this app. If you want to get it for free, you can check on FileHippo.
- Light Pollution Maps
This application displays maps of areas which are still dark without being affected by urban light pollution and which areas are already filled with light pollution. Indeed, not every landscape photo requires information about light pollution. But this application will be useful especially if you want to observe celestial bodies, stare at constellations, or take pictures of the Milky Way and stars. Because the activity can only be done if the sky is really dark. This application is available for free on Android or iOS. But with a note, the free edition has ads, has lower accuracy, and cannot store certain locations.
- Cascable
The next landscape photography app is Cascable. This application allows you to turn your smartphone or tablet into a remote camera that why FileHippo Download recommends this app. You can pair it with any camera, provided that the camera has a Wi-Fi connection. Furthermore, Cascable will provide the ability to move photos, view photos on a larger screen, control the shutter, and various other features. This application has better performance than the default remote vendor application.
- NiSi ND Calculator
This application is designed to help you determine exposure before taking a photo. You can enter the shutter speed value that you want to use to take pictures, then enter the ND type filter that will be attached to the lens muzzle. Then the calculation of the time needed to get the appropriate exposure will appear if you take a photo when the ND filter is installed.