While I was photographing in Colorado last month I came across an iPhone app from bjango called Darkness. I heard someone recommend it in a twitter stream, mentioning that it is a great app for sunrise and sunset times. After taking a quick look at it in the iTunes store I immediately purchased it. Darkness does much more than provide sunrise and sunset times. In fact, Darkness is absolutely a must-have iPhone app for photographers.

The main application screen for Darkness

For starters Darkness is a world clock. It has a database of over 20,000 cities worldwide. Custom cities can also be added. Darkness also uses your iPhone’s GPS to provide you with information based on your exact location. You add cities to the application’s main screen by clicking on the plus sign at the bottom and searching for your city. You can also add as many cities as you wish.

The main screen not only shows you the time and date of your current location and favorite locations, but it also gives you a graphical representation of how much sunlight is left (just to left of time), as well as sunrise and sunset times and the current moon phase.

If this was it to the application I probably wouldn’t have gotten it. Knowing the sunrise and sunset times when out photographing is extremely important to me – but one can get that info for free from Weather Channel’s app. What really sealed the deal for me, making this a must-have, is the detailed info it provides as seen in the next screenshot.

A wealth of important information for photographers.

Lets say you’ve arrived at a new location to photograph early in the day and you are looking for a great composition for a sunset photo. You know what time sunset is at, but you are not quite sure exactly where the sun will be setting. Knowing where that sun will set can be important information wether you are a landscape, nature, wedding, portrait or commercial photographer.

By simply tapping on your current location on the main page you are taken to a detail page that not only shows you the sunrise and sunset times, but also the aziumth (the azimuth refers to the angle between due north and the point on the horizon the sun is currently over). Using either a compass or the built-in compass on the iPhone 3Gs you are able to now know just where that sun will set (or rise). The aziumth is also included for the moon as well.

When still viewing this detail page, holding the iPhone in landscape mode will provide you with a globe view of the current sunlight and darkness of the entire planet.

The application also provides you with the current azimuth and altitude of the sun as well as “noon”. Solor noon, as defined by Wikipedia, is the moment when the sun appears the highest in the sky (nearest zenith) compared to its positions during the rest of the year. Think of the noon time Darkness provides as the time of day with the least amount of shadows.

Civil, nautical and astronomical twilight times are also provided.

Moon details page

Tapping on the moon info from the main page will bring up the moon details page. Here you are presented with a graphical representation of the current moon phase as well as it’s azimuth and altitude, age, illumination and distance. Also viewable is when the next phases of the moon will occur.

Wondering where in the sky  the moon was 3 years ago that gave you that great light during your nighttime photo shoot, or when and where the sunrise will be during that upcoming photo trip next year? Simply tap on the calendar icon in the upper right hand corner of the application and set the time to any date you wish to view the solar and lunar information on that date.

I have found this application to be an invaluable tool on my iPhone. Not only has it helped me during photo shoots, but at art festivals as well. As many readers know I sell my artwork at fine art festivals throughout the Southwest. Since installing this application I have used it at my art festivals while setting up my tent. By knowing were the sun is traveling throughout the day I can plan in advance how much sunlight will hit my booth. Knowing this plays a direct factor in how I set up my booth, be it extra awnings to protect from the sunlight, or a different setup to let more light in from not having the direct sunlight. I have setup my booth in complete darkness at night knowing exactly where the sun would be the following day.

Darkness is visually pleasing, quick and responsive, and easy to use. Like I said before, it is a must-have iPhone application for any photographer whose spends part or all of their working day outside. Darkness costs just $1.99 from the iTunes store (and is currently at the time of this writing on sale for $0.99).