Map Planner
Drop a camera pin anywhere, scrub a date and minute, and see sunrise, sunset, moon, and Milky Way bearings on the land.
Shutter Scout
Know before you go. Shoot like a pro.
One clear call before you pack the car.
Shutter Scout intelligently compiles science-backed sky, weather, seasonal color, light, tide, and space-weather data into clear prediction models for photographers. You get the decision, timing, direction, and field context without the noise.
The real app. Ready for the real field.
Inside Shutter Scout for iPhone. From the first forecast to the details that shape your shot.
Plan the photograph, not just the forecast.
The current release connects scouting, composition, live conditions, and field guidance in one working kit.
Viewfinder & Find the Spot
Preview your lens and landmark against real terrain, or work backward from the composition to a camera position with a checked line of sight.
Saved Plans & Alignment Windows
Keep place, time, lens and subject together. Check alignment windows against the skyline and save terrain and forecast packages before leaving signal.
Fall Color Map
Explore typical-year color across North America. Slide the date, play the season, or use PEAK WEEK to find promising areas. Tap a point for its estimate, then save the spot or plan the shot. Part of Pro.
Explore the fall mapAircraft Transits
Track candidate aircraft crossings of the sun or moon with live timing for the final approach.
ISS Tracker & Transit Chase
Plan visible passes and use corridor maps for rare sun and moon transit opportunities.
Eclipse Awareness
See solar and lunar eclipse visibility through 2040, with maps and field-planning context.
Winter Deep Sky
When the galactic core is away, get real imaging windows for Orion, Andromeda, the Pleiades, and the winter Milky Way.
Find the season. Then frame the color.
The Fall Color Map combines leaf-changing vegetation coverage, historical temperatures and terrain, checked against seasonal forest-camera and phenology observations. It estimates a typical year; frost, drought and wind can shift the season.
Explore the week
Move through the season in STAGE or see areas that usually peak around your chosen date in PEAK WEEK. Read the point card’s likely range and rough-estimate labels before planning a trip.
Choose a place
Tap for a local estimate, inspect nearby leafier forest when offered, save a spot, and open Map Planner on the selected day. PLACES on iPhone and Android searches by name and compares your saved spots on the selected date.
One field kit. Every condition that matters.
Tools for the decisions a photographer needs to make. Feature access and some controls vary by platform and version; the Field Manual explains the differences.
Plan the frame
- Intelligent Daily Report & Conditions Score
- Favorite Locations, Scout Nearby & Photo Styles
- Map Planner with sun, moon & Milky Way bearings
- Terrain-aware Viewfinder & Find the Spot
- Saved Plans, Alignment Window & Shot Alignment Finder
- Night Sky Planner with 25+ targets & NPF timing
- Live View AR, Choose Target & Sky Detail
- Milky Way Core & Winter Deep Sky
- Moon rise, set, phase & full-moon windows
- Sky Tonight with a photographic Milky Way & winter targets
- Hourly shooting planner & on-device ratings
- Lens Tools & offline trip packages
Track the rare moment
- Meteor Showers, honest rates & Meteor Watch
- Eclipse Awareness through 2040
- Comet Watch
- Planetary Conjunctions
- ISS passes & transit chase maps
- Live Aircraft Transits
- Darklight dark-sky locations
- Field Log history
Read the atmosphere
- Sky Today clarity, clouds, fog & radar
- Sky Cover layers & satellite imagery
- Smoke and atmospheric visibility
- Mountain Weather by elevation
- Lightning tracking & proximity alerts
- Active weather & space-weather alerts
- Tides, water temperature & beach reports
- Premium field-weather data
Chase the light
- Emberlight color score & Next Two Events
- Extended Emberlight outlook
- Arclight rainbow awareness & alerts
- Bio Blue bioluminescence score
- Interactive North American Fall Color Map (Pro)
- Typical-year color stages, PEAK WEEK & seasonal playback
- Fall spot estimates, save & shot planning
- Daily sunrise & sunset briefings
- Configurable Emberlight & meteor alerts
- All-clear status when nothing needs attention
- Favorite-location intelligence
Command the aurora
- Aurora Command real-time status
- Aurora Deep Dive
- Substorm Mode
- Interactive 3D Magnetosphere
- 27-Day Aurora Outlook
- Custom Aurora & Substorm alerts
- Chase Mode field cockpit
- Red-light map guidance
Stay ready in the field
- Signals alert inbox
- Ask Scout photography companion
- Custom alert thresholds & timing
- Red Light mode
- Home Screen widgets & iPhone Siri Shortcuts
- Morning & evening briefing alerts
- Units, voices, icons & preferences
- Searchable Field Manual
Take Shutter Scout into the field.
Available now for iPhone on the App Store and Android on Google Play.
Support from people who use the app in the field.
For app support, privacy questions, purchase help, or bug reports:
support@shutterscoutapp.com