If you don’t have an iPhone, these apps will also work on an iPod Touch updated to 2.x firmware (though some will require you to be located within a WiFi hotspot). If you don’t have an iPhone or an iPod Touch… you’re dead to me already. I’m kidding. But no, seriously, what are you waiting for?

Photography and the iPhone are, in many ways, a match made in heaven. Apple recognized this, and that’s why there’s a whole category in the iTunes App Store called “Photography”. Many of these apps are silly, novelty items – like Talk Bubbles, which adds cartoon-like chat bubbles over peoples heads. Dig deeper, however, and you’ll find some real treasures here.

PhotoCalc is one of them. It’s essentially a calculator and guide for photographers. You can calculate exposure reciprocity, depth-of-field and hyperfocal distance, and it has a flash exposure calculator. These are nice to have, but the real gem is that you can check what time the sun rises or sets. This app would be particularly handy if you tend to shoot with a lot of flash, and even moreso if you tend to shoot that way outdoors.

Speaking of outdoors, the iPhone comes packaged with a nice little Weather app from Apple that’s pretty handy to get a rough sense of the weather in the days ahead, but if you want a little more detail, well – it kind of lacks.

WeatherBug, which has been annoying me for years on the desktop PC, is a free and fantastic way to get that kind of detail on an iPhone, and includes a satellite map. It will also bring up weather cams if any exist for that area, so you can get an idea of the conditions outside on the fly, in case, you know… you don’t feel like going outside to check yourself. All kidding aside, it’s nice to be able to get cam views on areas that may not be local to you, and having the extra detail provided by WeatherBug can be invaluable when you’re trying to decipher which way a storm is headed.

Finally, if you’re concerned about the condition of the skies you’ll be shooting under, a great application is iCSC Clear Sky Chart, which shows you in an easy to read chart form whether you’ll have clear or dark skies overhead.

PhotoCalc, WeatherBug, and iCSC are all available in the iTunes App Store. PhotoCalc costs $2.99, but the other two are completely free.

The Apple Store has been down for a little bit, but when it came back up… it had Aperture 2 details, with a lower price point at $199 plus a redesigned interface with some new shortcuts. Let us know your impressions if you get a chance to use it.

Apple Releases Aperture 2
Major Upgrade Features Improved Interface, Faster Browsing & Enhanced Image Processing

CUPERTINO, California—February 12, 2008—Apple® today introduced Aperture™ 2, the next major release of its groundbreaking photo editing and management software with over 100 new features that make it faster, easier to use and more powerful. With a streamlined user interface and entirely new image processing engine, Aperture 2 also introduces new imaging tools for highlight recovery, color vibrancy, local contrast definition, soft-edged retouching, vignetting and RAW fine-tuning, and lets users directly post their portfolios on the .Mac Web Gallery* for viewing on the web, iPhone™, iPod® touch and Apple TV®. At a new low price of $199, anyone can easily organize, edit and publish photos like a pro.

“Many of the most respected photographers on assignment all over the world trust Aperture to organize, edit and deliver their images,” said Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Product Marketing. “With its simpler interface and lower price, anyone can take full advantage of Aperture’s power.”

“At the end of the day, it’s all about the quality of the image,” said Sports Illustrated contributing photographer David Bergman. “Even before I begin making adjustments, Aperture’s new RAW processing gives me better images with more visible detail and better color rendering than any other program I’ve tested.”

“I used to have so much stress about post-production on a shoot, having to juggle multiple applications to make sure they all worked,” said Bob Davis, PDN Top Knots Wedding Photographer 2007. “With Aperture that’s no longer a factor. I can do everything all in one application.”

Featuring a new, easier user interface designed to be more intuitive and accessible, Aperture 2 now lets users navigate between Viewer and Browser modes with a single key command. Screen real estate is maximized for images with an all-in-one heads up display that allows users to toggle between library, metadata and adjustment controls in a single tabbed inspector. The All Projects view, modeled after iPhoto’s Events view, provides a poster photo for every project and the ability to quickly skim through the photos inside, and the integrated iPhoto® Browser offers direct access to all the events and images in the iPhoto library.

Performance has been enhanced in Aperture 2 so it’s faster to import, browse and search large volumes of images. Embedded previews let photographers caption, keyword and rate images as they are being imported, and with the ability to export images in the background, photographers can continue working while images are processed to JPEG, TIFF, PNG and PSD file formats. Quick Preview allows users to browse RAW images in rapid succession without having to wait for files to load, and the Aperture library database has been re-architected to provide fast project switching and near instantaneous search results, even when working with extremely large libraries of 500,000 images or more.

Aperture 2 delivers powerful new imaging tools for getting the most out of each photograph. Apple’s next-generation RAW image processing is at the core of Aperture 2 offering uncompromising image quality and precision controls that let users fine-tune the image profile for each of their cameras. New tools for improving and enhancing images include Recovery for pulling back “blown” highlights, Vibrancy for selectively boosting saturation without adversely affecting skin tones, Definition, which offers local contrast for adding clarity to images, Vignette & Devignette filters for providing professional visual effects and a true soft-edged Repair and Retouch brush for quickly and easily removing blemishes, cleaning up sensor dust and cloning away problem areas.

Aperture 2 works seamlessly with Mac OS® X, iLife®, iWork™, .Mac and Apple print products, so any image in the Aperture library can be accessed directly from within other applications, such as iMovie®, Keynote® and Pages®, and even from within Leopard™ Mail. Now with .Mac Web Gallery support, Aperture users can publish their photos once to view them on the web, iPhone, iPod touch and Apple TV. Books in Aperture 2 feature new theme designs, layout tools, customized dust jackets (including full-bleed) and foil stamped covers.

Pricing & Availability
Aperture 2 is available immediately for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. Owners of previous versions of Aperture can upgrade to Aperture 2 for just $99 (US). Full system requirements and more information on Aperture 2 can be found at www.apple.com/aperture.