# Photographer's Ephemeris 3D — Mountain Light, Day and Night

> 3D light visualization for outdoor and night photography planning. (iPhone/iPad app by Crookneck Consulting LLC.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/photographers-ephemeris-3d/id1152829925 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Crookneck Consulting LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/366195673)
- Category: Photo & Video, Navigation
- Price: $11.99
- Rating: 4.20/5 from 245 App Store ratings · 50 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 39 MB
- Languages: American English, German (Germany), European Spanish
- Released: 2017-06-27
- Data updated: 2026-09-04
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/photographers-ephemeris-3d/id1152829925/reviews.md

## What is Photographer's Ephemeris 3D?

3D Light Visualization for Outdoor & Night Photographers

See exactly how natural light will fall on the land — day or night, anywhere on Earth. TPE 3D helps outdoor photographers plan their shots with realistic 3D terrain, sunlight, moonlight, and Milky Way simulation. Now with high-resolution map tiles, faster GPU-powered terrain, and improved controls for a smoother experience.

"TPE 3D predicted the light in the distance in the gap just before the right most hill very accurately." - OnLandscape Magazine

"This app has become an indispensable tool in my planning kit, I highly recommend it!" - David Kingham, Exploring Exposure

Watch a sunrise from the future in a rich simulation of sunlight, moonlight and starlight set against the actual topography of your planned shooting location.

Need to see when the arch of the Milky Way will rise between two mountain peaks? Need to see what time in the afternoon the valley will lose direct light in September? Watch the light unfold under clear skies hours, days, weeks or years before you're on location.

Visualize Light
- 3D terrain with realistic Sun, Moon, and Milky Way simulation
- Accurate moon phases rendered in-scene
- Symbolic Milky Way in Flying mode, high-resolution stars in Enhanced mode
- Ambient and overall lighting brightness tuned for clarity
- Night map colors automatically desaturated for legibility

Plan Your Shoot
- Continuous Sun, Moon, and Galactic Centre timeline with rise/set/transit events
- Daily and annual event lists
- Location search, decimal/DMS coordinate entry, and shared database with TPE
- Multiple map pins with saved “at pin” state remembered between sessions
- Tutorials linked directly to our YouTube channel

Control the View
- Fly smoothly around your scene, or zoom to focal-length equivalents
- Enhanced mode with maximum terrain and shadow detail
- Camera pitch, bearing, and direct elevation controls
- Reworked two-finger gestures for more precise navigation
- Higher default zoom near the camera in Enhanced mode (modern devices)
- High-resolution map tiles (512px) when not flying
- GPU-accelerated terrain loading for faster performance

If you like to plan your natural light photography to capture the photo opportunities others miss, TPE 3D is a must-have tool!

Note: TPE 3D is graphics-intensive — newer devices provide the best experience. Terrain resolution ~30m (1 arcsecond). Satellite maps and buildings are not included. Coverage 83°N–83°S. Internet connection required. Eclipse simulations not supported.

## Key features

- 3D terrain with Sun, Moon, and Milky Way simulation
- Realistic moon phases and star rendering
- Continuous Sun, Moon, and Galactic Centre timeline
- Location search and saved map pins
- Smooth 3D scene navigation
- High-resolution map tiles and GPU-accelerated terrain

## Chart rankings

- #191 in Top Paid · Photo & Video (US App Store)

## What do users think of Photographer's Ephemeris 3D?

Overall sentiment: mixed

**Pros**

- 💡 Invaluable for field planning
- 💡 Helps visualize star alignment
- 💡 Useful for planning night photography
- 💡 Great for scouting locations
- 💡 Simulates shadows accurately
- 💡 Worth the price for some
- 💡 Incredible for light simulation
- 💡 Precise lens planning
- 💡 Accurate visualization
- 💡 Exceptional tool for planning
- 💡 Good addition to TPE family

**Cons**

- 🐛 Glitchy navigation
- 🐛 No satellite imagery
- 🐛 Difficult to navigate
- 🐛 Unclear current location
- 🐛 Moonlight too dark
- 🐛 Looks abandoned
- 🐛 Low resolution map
- 🐛 No shadows shown
- 🐛 Unsuitable for cities
- 🐛 Poor usability
- 🐛 Blurry map on zoom
- 🐛 Inaccurate map details
- 🐛 Difficult to understand
- 🐛 Original version easier
- 🐛 Place names incorrect
- 🐛 Nothing makes sense
- 🐛 Doesn't work
- 🐛 Mushy light simulation
- 🐛 Doesn't work as advertised
- 🐛 Unusable in cities
- 🐛 Poor map detail
- 🐛 Fiddly and difficult
- 🐛 No satellite view
- 🐛 Pin size scaling issues
- 🐛 Search buttons broken
- 🐛 Hard to use
- 🐛 Missing features
- 🐛 Search function broken on iPad
- 🐛 Locations difficult to find
- 🐛 Map material unusable
- 🐛 Buggy and slow
- 🐛 Tilt slider issues
- 🐛 Elevation slider issues
- 🐛 Map loses focus on zoom
- 🐛 Not easy to use
- 🐛 Confusing UI
- 🐛 Unresponsive interface

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Crashing issues
- Glitchy navigation since update
- Server for map stands offline
- App does not work anymore
- Annoying bug reported
- Unusable for iOS17.5.1
- Issues when connecting to TPE
- App crashes or spins after handoff
- Locating icon spins indefinitely
- Search buttons bring up grey screen
- Search pane rendered off-screen in portrait
- Map detail too poor for precision planning
- Pinching to zoom stops recognizing pinch
- Map starts moving around when zooming out
- App doesn't recognize specific locations
- TPE 3D crashes or spins
- 3D map loads then nothing, says locating

**Most requested features**

- Add satellite imagery
- Improve navigation and scrolling
- Clarify current location marker
- Brighter moonlight representation
- Open source the app
- Add VR connection to camera
- Improve map detail and labeling
- Better interface and controls
- Add spinner or cancel sync
- Make address search sufficient
- Improve user-friendliness
- Allow changing map material
- Improve tilt slider functionality
- Improve elevation slider functionality
- Add PC app version
- Integrate with TPE/Photographer's Transit
- Add instruction video for saving pins

## Recent user reviews (10 of 50)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/photographers-ephemeris-3d/id1152829925/reviews.md

### 4/5 — Amazing app but currently crashing

*2025-10-03*

Hoping issues can be fixed as invaluable in the field. Pleased not to have an active subscription for skyfire currently

**Developer response:** Hi - slightly confused by this: Skyfire is not included in TPE 3D. Are you talking about issues with another app?

### 1/5 — 환불요청합니다

*2025-09-22*

3D가 아닌 TPE Ephemeris 를 구입하고 싶습니다.

**Developer response:** 안녕하세요. 잘못된 앱을 구매하셨다면 Apple 지원팀에 문의하여 환불을 받으세요. 그런 다음 원하는 앱을 구매하실 수 있습니다.

### 2/5 — Glitchy since latest update

*2025-09-20*

Sept 2025 Update: 
Since the latest update, I’ve found navigation to be even more glitchy than before. Scrolling around the map in a given area, with a single finger, causes unexpected movements. This makes it difficult to use, teach, or recommend to students and colleagues.
————————-
I’ve used this app for planning and teaching night photography since it came out. It helps visualize the scene in terms of alignment of stars and large landscape features, but there are major drawbacks which make this app frustrating to use:

1. No satellite imagery. Regardless of the ‘complexity settings,’ there is no access satellite imagery. This is not only a disappointment, but unrealistic for a navigational/planning app. You can access satellite imagery with TPE, but not TPE-3D. This is a dealbreaker.
2. Navigating is impossible. The app is limited to a ‘zoom-out level’ that does not allow you to scroll to areas far apart. For example, in the original TPE, you can zoom out as far as you want to scroll to different states if need be for quick and easy browsing. This app won’t allow that. The only saving grace, which is by no means a real solution, is to go back to the regular TPE, pin the location, then export to TPE-3D. 
3. Your ‘current location’ is not clear. Select ‘my location’ and the app flys to a general vicinity, but there is nothing to represent where you are located. When you pair this with the illegible background map, it’s impossible to know where you are located.
4. Moonlight across the landscape is too dark to notice a difference. Sunrise or sunset light within the app is legible, but I would like to see moonlight represented much brighter. If you’re planning a shot with moonlight and you look at this app outside during the day, it’s impossible to see the change in moonlight across the landscape.

With these current design issues, most of my clients try the app once, then never open it again. This app has a lot of potential, but I still prefer using Google Earth’s landscape desktop feature.

**Developer response:** I suspect you're encountering the new minimum height above ground level setting coming into play. This is intended to avoid inadvertently flying so close to the terrain that the map tiles become difficult to read. If you want the previous behavior, go to settings and reduce "Minimum flying height" to its lowest setting.

If you believe there are actual glitches in the movement when using a single finger gesture, please write to support@photoephemeris.com with details so I can investigate and try to address them. I've had no other reports of glitches as you describe.

### 1/5 — Kein Support mehr

*2025-06-05*

Seit Jahren keine weiterentwickelte Version und die Server für die Kartenständer sind offline :(

**Developer response:** Bitte sehen Sie sich die Versionshinweise zu Version 1.5 an, um technische Details zu erfahren, warum wir die App über einen längeren Zeitraum nicht aktualisieren konnten. Die Server waren jedoch nie offline.

### 1/5 — This app does not work any more

*2025-03-29*

Hey I bought the app in 2025 and it shows a low resolution map with no shadows. I am disappointed as I was late to the party as it seems. So don’t waste your money because the app is not serviced any more !

### 3/5 — Looks Abandoned

*2024-09-02*

This is a good and useful app, but unfortunately it look’s abandoned: It was last updated years ago. When I reported an annoying bug that should be easy to fix, I first got the usual denial, but was then accepted, but I was told they had other more pressing problems. Shame, as I said: a useful app for specialist landscape photography (where exactly will the moon rise over these mountains.), but I fear it will soon be incompatible with new iOS  versions. The developer should open source it for glory.

### 1/5 — Scheint auf dem Grafikstand von 2018 zu sein

*2024-08-27*

Für iOS17.5.1 jedenfalls ungeeignet und nicht mehr bedienbar

### 5/5 — Best

*2024-06-11, version 1.4*

Complex but exact need for professional. Good worth money .

### 2/5 — Stadt architektur nicht betrachtet

*2023-07-30*

Nutzlos in Städten . Benutzerfreundlichkeit ist dürftig . Schade da TPE eigentlich recht gut ist. Ohne das Städtenproblem wäre auch nicht mehr als 3 Sterne.

**Developer response:** Wie in der App-Beschreibung erwähnt, richtet sich diese App ausdrücklich an Landschaftsfotografen, die in bergigem Gelände arbeiten.

### 2/5 — Miserable Karte

*2023-06-23*

Ich komme mit der Anwendung nicht zurecht. Wenn man in die Karte hineinzoomt, wird sie so unscharf, dass man nichts mehr erkennen kann und man deshalb Nadeln nur sehr ungenau setzen kann. Die Beschriftung ist auch so rudimentär, dass man oft gar nicht weiß, ob man richtig ist (zum Beispiel fehlen Ruinen oder Aussichtspunkte). Innerhalb der Nadeln, also in der 3D-Ansicht, führen Unschärfe und mangelnde Beschriftung dazu, dass man sich eigentlich nur an den Himmelsrichtungen orientieren kann.
Fazit: tolle Idee, aber in der Umsetzung wenig brauchbar. Aber vielleicht checke ich die App auch einfach nicht.

## Frequently asked questions about Photographer's Ephemeris 3D

### What does Photographer's Ephemeris 3D do?

This app provides a 3D visualization of natural light on terrain, allowing outdoor and night photographers to plan their shots. It simulates sunlight, moonlight, and the Milky Way against realistic 3D topography, helping users predict light conditions at specific locations and times.

### What are the key features of this app?

Key features include 3D terrain with realistic Sun, Moon, and Milky Way simulation, accurate moon phases, continuous timelines for celestial events, location search, saved map pins, and smooth 3D scene navigation. It also offers high-resolution map tiles and GPU-accelerated terrain loading for performance.

### How much does Photographer's Ephemeris 3D cost?

The application is a paid app, meaning there is an upfront purchase cost to download and use it. There are no advertisements or in-app purchases mentioned.

### What are the system requirements for this app?

The app is graphics-intensive and newer devices provide the best experience. It requires an internet connection and covers latitudes from 83°N to 83°S. Satellite maps and buildings are not included, and eclipse simulations are not supported.

### Who would benefit from using this app?

This app is ideal for photographers who specialize in outdoor and night photography and want to meticulously plan their shoots. It's particularly useful for capturing unique light opportunities, such as specific sunrise/sunset angles, moon phases, or the Milky Way's position between landscape features.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.5.2 — 2025-10-15

v1.5.2
- Bug fixes

v1.5.1
- When at pin, tapping the "fly up" button moves the camera upwards while keeping the same direction of view (with an optional setting to cause the camera to move backward from the pin)
- Bearing and pitch gauges are now interactive - pan left/right to change compass bearing, up/down to change camera pitch
- Adds user setting to limit over-zooming maps

v1.5 
This update makes TPE 3D smoother, sharper, and more reliable:
- Crisp high-resolution map tiles (512px) in enhanced mode on newer devices
- Faster GPU-powered terrain
- Better gesture controls for easier navigation
- Smarter handling of memory and thermal events
- Tutorials now on YouTube
- Plus bug fixes, UI polish, and behind-the-scenes updates

Please send your feedback and suggestions to support@photoephemeris.com - we'd love to hear from you! If you're enjoying TPE 3D, a review on the App Store is really helpful, and lets us keep improving the app.

### 1.5.1 — 2025-09-10

v1.5.1
- When at pin, tapping the "fly up" button moves the camera upwards while keeping the same direction of view (with an optional setting to cause the camera to move backward from the pin)
- Bearing and pitch gauges are now interactive - pan left/right to change compass bearing, up/down to change camera pitch
- Adds user setting to limit over-zooming maps

v1.5 
This update makes TPE 3D smoother, sharper, and more reliable:
- Crisp high-resolution map tiles (512px) in enhanced mode on newer devices
- Faster GPU-powered terrain
- Better gesture controls for easier navigation
- Smarter handling of memory and thermal events
- Tutorials now on YouTube
- Plus bug fixes, UI polish, and behind-the-scenes updates

Please send your feedback and suggestions to support@photoephemeris.com - we'd love to hear from you! If you're enjoying TPE 3D, a review on the App Store is really helpful, and lets us keep improving the app.

### 1.5 — 2025-08-28

This update makes TPE 3D smoother, sharper, and more reliable:
- Crisp high-resolution map tiles (512px) in enhanced mode on newer devices
- Faster GPU-powered terrain
- Better gesture controls for easier navigation
- Smarter handling of memory and thermal events
- Tutorials now on YouTube
- Plus bug fixes, UI polish, and behind-the-scenes updates

Please send your feedback and suggestions to support@photoephemeris.com - we'd love to hear from you! If you're enjoying TPE 3D, a review on the App Store is really helpful, and lets us keep improving the app.

### 1.4 — 2019-09-20

- Support for iOS 13 and Dark Mode
- Performance improvements
- Updated SDKs

Terrain processing performance has been improved along with timeline scrolling (improved rendering performance under changing lighting conditions). We're saying goodbye to iOS 11 support in this release.

If you're finding TPE 3D useful in your landscape photography planning, a review helps us developing and working to improve the app. If you have any feedback or questions, please write to support@photoephemeris.com.

### 1.3.5 — 2019-05-16

- Search is now much better at finding specific addresses
- Search results show different icons to distinguish place names, addresses and manually entered coordinates (TPE 3D will parse decimal degrees and DMS formats)
- Fixes search UI on iPad Pro 11"
- Updated SDKs and libraries

Please send your feedback and suggestions to support@photoephemeris.com - we'd love to hear from you! If you're enjoying TPE 3D, a review on the App Store is really helpful, and lets us keep improving the app.

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## More apps by Crookneck Consulting LLC

- [The Photographer's Ephemeris](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-photographers-ephemeris/id366195670)
- [The Photographer's Transit](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-photographers-transit/id668449546)
- [Insolation AR](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/insolation-ar/id1585187309)

All apps by Crookneck Consulting LLC: https://appshunter.io/developer/366195673

## Related topics

[tpe](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/tpe) · [photo ephemeris](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/photo-ephemeris) · [ephemerides](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/ephemerides)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-04.*