‘Money Shot’ App Will Tell You When Conditions for a Photo are Perfect

Money Shot is a new photography app available for iOS that is designed to help photographers land the perfect photo of specific places: Just set a notification based on a location and the app will monitor the weather and alert you when conditions are prime.

Besides the notifications, the app also provides a variety of in-depth data points to help photographers get the best possible image while at that location including — for example — when an Aurora is active, when the Milky Way is visible, or if a meteor shower is expected.

Money Shot’s developer says that its app is needed because most photographers have experienced the situation at least once in their careers where the perfect spot that is ideal for a particular composition is found, but the weather just is not cooperating that day.

The developers say that their app solves this problem. When using the app, just snap a photo of the location, set a trigger for the desired conditions, and Money Shot will send a notification when everything lines up so you can get back to that area to capture the image.

According to the product notes, this app is a combination of several of the most popular landscape apps all rolled up into one. When a location is tagged, the Money Shot app will give photographers the time of golden hour, sunrise, sunset, the phase of the moon, a detailed weather report including hourly conditions for the next 12 hours, tidal charts, details on the next upcoming “light event” (auroras), sun elevation, and a list of pre-defined triggers. On top of all that, the mobile app includes a “photographer’s ephemeris” and the ability to set up a series of personal custom triggers.

While the app isn’t much to look at from a design standpoint, it at least should functionally be a powerful tool if it works as well as the developer claims. It also has some limitations, as many photographers will be quick to note that while it would be nice to know when conditions are ideal, it’s not always quick and easy to get back to specific photo locations. Some locations are miles away from civilization, which means while the conditions at that spot may be perfect when the notification comes in, that might not be the case by the time the photographer is actually able to get there.

Still, more information is always better than less when it comes to planning a shoot. The Money Shot app is free to download for iPhone and iPad, but the “advanced” features like frequent weather updates, meteor shower triggers, tide triggers, and the use of multiple locations will require a subscription of $1.99 per month or $14.99 per year.