Celeris – Photo Planner

Plan the photo. Find the moment.

Celeris is visual photo planning built around the picture you want to take. Choose your standpoint, direction and focal length. In a simulated camera view, see how your subject lines up with the sun, moon or Milky Way. Then find when the picture becomes possible – and take the plan outside.

Start free. Unlock the full version once, with no subscription.

A 3D WORLD BUILT FOR PHOTOGRAPHY
Terrain, water, real photographic landmarks, your own 3D objects, camera and sky share one view. Where terrain data is available, Celeris shows the real horizon. Forests, fields, rock and settlements colour the land; the sun and moon light it, cast shadows and change its appearance through the day. Twilight, haze and fog help you picture the shot. Fog and rainbows are simulations, not weather forecasts.

THE LANDMARK MATTERS
Castles, towers, bridges and rock formations can stand in the sky as surveyed 3D models. The curated collection keeps growing; you can also build your own objects from parts and place them on the terrain. Models cast shadows on the ground and each other. Model and terrain coverage varies by location.

FIND THE OPPORTUNITY
Set the frame from 10 to 1200 mm, in portrait or landscape, or make a panorama. Two controls find the next or previous time the sun, moon, Milky Way or a selected sky object becomes visible inside that exact frame. The real terrain skyline and the darkness needed to see it count too. A separate transit finder handles the ISS.

The month calendar reveals promising nights. Event search finds sunrises, the moon, Milky Way, eclipses and more; Location Finder compares viewpoints for sunrise, sunset and the Milky Way. Save the place, time, direction and lens as a plan with a rendered picture.

DAY INTO NIGHT
The time scrubber carries the colours of twilight and the sun's and moon's arcs. The 3D sky shows planets, stars, the Milky Way, zodiacal light and the ISS. The full version shows light pollution in the sky and on the map and finds nearby dark places. Find worthwhile nights for meteor showers; the full version draws their radiants and time-compressed meteors in the sky. Estimated meteor rates help with planning; they are not a guarantee.

OUT IN THE FIELD
AR lays the calculated sky over your camera view. Widgets show events and your next plan. On Apple Watch, see the night as a ring, your next plan, a compass to your standpoint, the moon and ISS, plus a sequence timer and watch-face complications.

START FREE. UNLOCK ONCE.
The map, 3D view, terrain, catalogue, your own models and plans are free to use, with planning limited to 48 hours around now. The full version opens more dates and features with a one-time in-app purchase. No subscription. One purchase unlocks it on iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Plans, places and your own models can sync across your Apple devices through iCloud. No Celeris account, ads or trackers. English and German.

The star catalogue uses HYG (Astronexus) and OpenNGC (Mattia Verga), both CC BY-SA 4.0; sources and licences are in the app.