This is the first part in a multi part blog article about the Ipad as a photographers toolkit. I’ve been a convert to the Ipad platform for a couple of months now. I used to love my Acer NetBook on the road, it was the perfect tool for being out and about doing landscape photography.
Surfing the net, doing research and tying that back into where to go next based upon the results. If you’re away from home doing landscape photography over a couple of days and being at the mercy of the weather meant that if you didn’t have up to date information you may be in a situation where you are under grey cloud, in pouring rain and really wishing you could go somewhere else, with the right tools you can make that informed decision on the go and it may only be 20 miles between you and glorious sunshine, but you have to be able to make that call. With my trusty NetBook and a wireless internet connection I was able to make that call easily.
The downsides associated with the NetBook was only have around 2 hours of life, even running Ubuntu instead of Windows 7, a small screen and restrictive resolution. This combined with badly coded applications not fitting on the screen properly makes the NetBook annoying at times.
With my switch to the Ipad I thought I would check out apps out there and see what applications are available on the platform to assist with the being out on the road doing photography.
My first step for doing a landscape shoot is research, research, research and then a bit more research. The things that I am normally looking for are:
- Weather forecast for the period you’ll be out shooting.
- Weather websites would normally be my first port of call. I normally use a combination of BBC Weather and the Met Office
- Weather map showing movement of clouds in the area.
- Weather websites again (see above).
- Review the lay of the land before you get there. Understand if you are going have to climb a 1 mile 1:1 hill to get to the shooting location before you arrive on site.
- Google Earth to review topographical lay of the land
- Google Streetview to assess parking locations and a general idea of the local topology.
- Tide information – for coastal shoots you should always know the tides, to get that perfect shot and to ensure you keep yourself safe and sound.
- The BBC Website is a great source of UK tide information.
- Direction of the Sun/Position
- Stephen Trainor’s “The Photographer’s Ephemeris”. Driven by Adobe Air, this is the perfect tool to establish the position and visibility of the sun from your shooting location.
- Places of interest
- Using Google Maps or Google Earth, I turn on photo’s to identify areas with a dense number of images. This normally means there is something of interest to take a look at.
- Where do I go next?
- If you’re out and about, having a list of shooting locations you can escape to if the weather does turn is a life saver. There is nothing worse than feeling the day is a washout because of the weather. In the UK this can change very quickly from sunny clear skies to overcast and grey, but a short drive to another location may mean the fun can continue. Google Maps with Images enabled (data/images come straight from Panoramio makes choosing locations while running from weather that bit easier.