Project six: Photo apps Let there be light

Mike Harris explores Sylights, the app that allows you to design lighting diagrams so you’ll never forget your favourite setups

- Mike Harris

Where to get Sylights

A HANDY TOOL

– Sylights is available on iOS and can also be accessed via web browser. It’s currently free and boasts a respectable 4.1 star rating on the App Store.

Even seasoned studio photographers may occasionally have a hard time remembering their favourite lighting setups, especially if they’re thumbing through their back catalogue and want to recreate a studio shoot from the past. That’s where Sylights comes in.

You can access the program on a computer via your web browser (www.bit.ly/2F4icaf), but it’s perhaps most convenient as an iOS app. Sylights is a lighting diagram tool, which allows you to make and share simple lighting diagrams, quickly and easily.

You simply drag and drop all manner of studio items, from backdrops and softboxes to product tables and ring flashes, onto a square grid. Items can be flipped, rotated and resized in order to make your bespoke diagram. This is a great way to build up a collection of your favourite setups for future reference, convey your vision to other photographers or workshop students, or theorize and plan future shoots when you’re away from the studio.