p.1 #1 · IMO, an essential photography app got a major update 2 days ago
FWIW, other than being a paying customer I have no affiliation with this company and have received nothing in return for posting this.
This is just a quick FYI post for those here who use planning apps.
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As someone who shoots landscapes almost exclusively there are a ton of Android/IOS Apps out there, but two that I have found that are indispensable are Photopills & Planit Pro.
PhotoPills is more of a swiss army knife. An an all-in-one field toolkit best for on-location adjustments. Want to know when and where the Milky Way will be rising. PhotoPills will give you all that basic info and if you're on location the AR function will superimpose where the Milky Way, Planet or Star will rise relative to your current location on your phone screen.
OTOH, Planit Pro is a heavy-duty pre-visualization tool best for off-site planning from home. For instance, I'm planning to shoot a Milky Way Panorama in Anza-Borrego sometime in early March/April (2027). Planit Pro allows you to pick a spot like say the
'Scorpion Sculpture' and use the VR function to see exactly how the shot will look months in advance.
There is a lot more to Planit than I've explained but that's the basic jist of the app. Anyway Planit has just released a new app called 'Planit Earth'. Its currently available in the Playstore and will soon be added to the App Store. The link below is to a short feature video that I found on Instagram.
BTW, there is a 99 cents 7 day trial for Planit Earth through their website. There is also a Windows version that can be downloaded through their website.
p.1 #2 · IMO, an essential photography app got a major update 2 days ago
If I understand correctly, this is for nightime landscapes with stars. Would it inform you that the best time to visit a place would be mid-November or something like that? Is there any use during the daylight hours? I can never figure out when to go.
p.1 #3 · IMO, an essential photography app got a major update 2 days ago
EB-1 wrote:
If I understand correctly, this is for nightime landscapes with stars. Would it inform you that the best time to visit a place would be mid-November or something like that? Is there any use during the daylight hours? I can never figure out when to go.
EBH
Hey EB-1, I'll try to answer as best as I can but the best app "explainer" IMO are the Planit Pro youtube videos.
On Youtube search for "PlanIt Pro Short Video Series (Updating)".
The first item that shows up should be a Planit Pro Playlist. Said playlist has 42 videos that explains all the features. FWIW, the app is intimidating at first but after you learn the basics you can kinda figure things out for yourself. I would highly recommend watching the videos first though because, as I said, the app at first glance can be intimidating.
As for the app itself, you can use it for Sun or Moon (and a host of other things, as the videos will explain). Say you want to capture a shot of the Sun atop the Empire State building. Or perhaps you want to shoot the setting sun aligned through a pier. You enter your position with a PIN and app will give you a menu of days & times that the sun will be in your required position. Again, the videos can explain it much better than I can.
As for when to go. In my OP I mentioned wanting to shoot a Milky Way Panorama featuring the Desert Sculptures in Anza-Borrego.Desert Park. Using the app I can drop a pin at my location (Scorpion) and then see nights and times when the Milky Way will align with my target. In early March Planit is showing that the MW won't be visible until early morning (4am). By cycling through the days/months I can figure out on what nights core will become visible earlier in the evening. (11-ish) and plan around that day.
Its a powerful app for setting up shots that only happen a few times a year.
p.1 #4 · IMO, an essential photography app got a major update 2 days ago
I'm a very heavy user of PlanIt Pro and I downloaded (and paid for) PlanIt Earth without knowing anything about Earth other than there was a Mac version. I believe in the developer (Wenjie) that much. The PlanIt Pro is incredible for planing precise compositions with moon, sun, and other objects (like comets).
Where PlanIt Pro and Earth excels over something like PhotoPills is that it (1) uses 3d terrain maps, (2) connects to a library of existing 3d models of buildings/structures or you can create your own, (3) creates a preview of what you would see in your viewfinder. So you can easily plan an alignment shot with, for example, the sun/moon at the top of a building, the side of the building, or even appearing in a window in the building. It does all the trigonometry in the background including elevations of your position, subject position, mountains in the background, etc. It will draw a simulated viewfinder and render to scale the subject and moon.
There is also a search function that lets you figure out what dates in the future, the alignment will occur.
PlanIt Earth is going to be the successor app to PlanIt Pro. It has most of what's in PlanIt Pro (some things are missing like rainbow position) and it has some upgrades like better terrain rendering, lighting on the terrain, aerospace (like the ISS), and there's probably more (this is what popped out to me after using it for a day).
For now, the primary benefit for me is being able to use it widescreen on a desktop Mac (I don't need terrain lighting or the aerospace alignments). It's a lot more convenient to do the planning on a large widescreen monitor than the phone. Also being able to tab out and search for other information I might need.
p.1 #5 · IMO, an essential photography app got a major update 2 days ago
Thanks for posting this sbay. I was hoping someone would chine in and explain the app better than I could/did.
Completely agree on the desktop versions. Being able to formulate a plan from a desktop then being the able to sync the plan to my phone, I suspect, will greatly improve the/my user experience.
Also agree on the developer (Wenjie). I've dealt with him a couple of times and he's been prompt in response and very easy to deal with.
BTW, "Earth" even has a tide/wave function. As someone who toils the coastline of So Cal (San Diego) the tide function is really helpful in determining when & where to go. Using that function along with beach webcams (hdontap) takes a lot the guesswork out of knowing when to go.
sbay wrote:
I'm a very heavy user of PlanIt Pro and I downloaded (and paid for) PlanIt Earth without knowing anything about Earth other than there was a Mac version. I believe in the developer (Wenjie) that much. The PlanIt Pro is incredible for planing precise compositions with moon, sun, and other objects (like comets).
Where PlanIt Pro and Earth excels over something like PhotoPills is that it (1) uses 3d terrain maps, (2) connects to a library of existing 3d models of buildings/structures or you can create your own, (3) creates a preview of what you would see in your viewfinder. So you can easily plan an alignment shot with, for example, the sun/moon at the top of a building, the side of the building, or even appearing in a window in the building. It does all the trigonometry in the background including elevations of your position, subject position, mountains in the background, etc. It will draw a simulated viewfinder and render to scale the subject and moon.
There is also a search function that lets you figure out what dates in the future, the alignment will occur.
PlanIt Earth is going to be the successor app to PlanIt Pro. It has most of what's in PlanIt Pro (some things are missing like rainbow position) and it has some upgrades like better terrain rendering, lighting on the terrain, aerospace (like the ISS), and there's probably more (this is what popped out to me after using it for a day).
For now, the primary benefit for me is being able to use it widescreen on a desktop Mac (I don't need terrain lighting or the aerospace alignments). It's a lot more convenient to do the planning on a large widescreen monitor than the phone. Also being able to tab out and search for other information I might need.
