First of all the disclaimer: I was given free codes for both the Photo Assignments app and the Photo Assignments for iPhone app by the author.  I will write a fair and balanced review of the software however.

I have been doing a Photo 365 project for a year and over 4 months now, and when I looked at the images at the end of the first year I noticed that I really went back to certain areas more often than I should have. I wanted the Photo 365 project to make me think in a more creative way, not just taking the same picture of the same purple flower 4 days in a row, because it’s the only thing I can think of that looks photogenic on my afternoon walk. I even went as far as to join a photography meetup group just for their weekly assignments, though it didn’t last long.

This is where I think the Photo Assignment app (app store link) and iPhone Assignments app (app store link) shine.

 

Whether you are taking on a 365 day photo challenge or just looking for inspiration the Learnphoto.ca Photography Assignment Generator App is perfect for you. While most photo apps out there let you DO things to the photos you have taken (add text, borders, effects, etc) this app is all about IDEAS for shooting.

I’m going to put this review into two parts. First, what the app does and second, the aesthetics of the app.

The Assignment Apps

App Functionality

Both of the apps do essentially the same thing, a list of ideas to draw on when you need inspiration, with details and examples.  There is a list of categories ranging from composition, techniques, landscapes, people, as well as camera settings.  Each one either opens up into another list of possibilities (for example under Creative Thinking you’ll get items such as Photo Story, Photographic Alphabet, and others).

Each will then give you a longer description of the assignment with example images (which open up larger with descriptions).

   

Essentially that’s it.  Don’t think I’m being dismissive here, there’s a fair amount of content for the different categories, example images, and so on.

The difference between the Assignments app and the iPhone Assignments app is that the techniques section of the Assignment App are possible on your DSLR (allowing for different lenses, manual control over shutter speed, white balance, etc etc), while the iPhoneography version has a Camera+ Tips and Instagram Tips section in leu of the Camera Settings section.  These both have a tutorial on the different facets of both these two apps (fairly simplistic in my opinion, but there really is only so much you can do with the iPhone camera).

 

 Other Bits

Both apps have a random button which will (unsurprisingly) take you to a random assignment (cool for when you’re not feeling inspired) and setting up a daily reminder and will send you a random assignment at 9am every morning.  A nice twist on other apps which will just give you a reminder.

The App Look & Feel

I don’t like the feel of this app, I’ll say this right at the start. It is (I believe) a “PhoneGap” app, which is basically a toolkit that allows programmers to create apps in essentially HTML and Javascript, embedded in a webpage.  The big downside of PhoneGap is that the app doesn’t feel like a native app. The whole app “scrolls” when it shouldn’t, it’s slow switching screens and overall has some rough edges which you’d associated with a web app and not a native app (mostly I believe, due to the limitations of phone gap and not the programmer).

Other issues I’ll quickly list out:

• Doesn’t scale to the iPhone 5’s “tall” proportions
• Image popups are using the standard web “light box” popup which looks out of place and creates some touch targets that are hard to hit in places
• In some locations the UI elements are being cut off slightly… Potentially rage inducing in your snobby designer friends

The question is, can one look beyond the UI and enjoy this app for what is is?

Conclusion

While I ragged on the app for the design and look in a very snobbish way, what the app does is the biggest key, and the apps success.  If you need to have a jolt of creativity, this app does provide a lot of ideas for shots.  I like that it goes into SLR specific techniques, and that it’s substituted in the iPhoneography version with app tutorials (though they are a bit light).

Should you get them?  Yes, they’re total cost is $4, less than the cost of a decent latte.  Will you need them?  This depends on you.  If you find yourself stuck for creative ideas but have a burning desire to shoot pictures this will help give you a jump-start on something like (clicks random button) a Collage or (clicks button again) Reflections.

If you find yourself always shooting the things you love already?  This won’t do that much for you.  Though if you’re feeling in a creative rut and want to branch out and don’t really know where to go?  Maybe it’ll give you an idea.  If you’re only doing portraits, you might give (click) Flower Macros a shot to juice your creativity in a different direction.