Devil's Island from our 2025 Snap-to-WOW workshop on Madeline Island
Rad A. Drew Photography
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Rad A. Drew Photography
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Devil's Island from our 2025 Snap-to-WOW workshop on Madeline Island
We're looking forward to seeing you at Asilomar! Here are a few things you may want to set up or bring. This is a resource list, not a shopping requirement. Bring what you already have, and choose the optional accessories that match what you’d like to explore.
Please also read the basic From Snap to WOW Materials List on the Madeline Island School of the Arts website. It covers the core apps and equipment for our workshop. The recommendations here add a few options you may want to consider.
Here’s a list of some of the apps we’ll be teaching and demonstrating. Feel free to download them ahead of time, if you wish, or you can always learn more about them at the workshop and download and purchase them there, once you decide the ones you want to work with.
Please update your iPhone to iOS 27 if it is available for your model. Check Settings > General > Software Update, and allow some time afterward to get familiar with any changes. Download and open the apps below before traveling, too.
Please get the full BimoStitch app, not BimoStitch Lite. We’ll use it to stitch overlapping photographs into panoramas.
Even Longer gives us more control for long-exposure photography. Some features may require an in-app purchase or subscription; check the App Store listing before deciding.
Slow Shutter Cam offers options for making photographs with motion blur, light trails, and low-light effects. It’s another app to explore if you’re interested in long exposures. Use a tripod or other stable support for the best results.
Slow Shutter Cam in the App Store
Average Camera Pro combines a series of photographs into one image, essentially in-camera multiple exposures. We'll share ways to make creative multiple exposure with this unique app.
Average Camera Pro in the App Store
Snapseed is a free photo-editing app from Google with tools for adjusting light and color, making selective edits, working with RAW files, and adding creative effects. We’ll use it during the workshop, so please install it and open it before you arrive.
Lightroom Mobile is a powerful editing app I use regularly. I recommend the paid version because the free version lacks many of the tools I want to show you. If you already have a qualifying Adobe Lightroom or Creative Cloud subscription, check whether mobile access is included before buying anything else.
Adobe Lightroom in the App Store
AI Gahaku offers a quick way to explore painterly treatments of photographs. You can decide which paid features, if any, are useful to you.
Photo to Painting AI Gahaku in the App Store
Photomator offers a range of editing tools, including selective adjustments and image enlargement. It is another app we can explore creatively.
Topaz for Mobile offers AI tools for enhancing, sharpening and enlarging photographs. Its fee structure has evolved and is unclear to me at the moment. I’ll try to learn more before we meet at Asilomar, so please review the current terms before subscribing.
Topaz for Mobile in the App Store
If you would like to make iPhone infrared photographs with your own equipment, you’ll need a 67mm filter mount and a separate 67mm 720nm infrared filter. The filter included with some NEEWER kits is not the infrared filter.
Choose the mount for your phone size. The FH-05 is the Pro Max/Plus version; the FH-07 is the standard/Pro version. Check the listed compatibility before ordering.
NEEWER FH-05 for Pro Max and Plus
NEEWER FH-07 for standard and Pro
A note about cases and the iPhone 18: NEEWER has always recommended using its mount without a case. On iPhone 13 through 17 models, I’ve found that the mount works well with Apple’s Silicone MagSafe case, and I recommend keeping the phone protected. NEEWER has not yet listed the mount as designed for the iPhone 18 models. On my iPhone 18 Pro Max, the earlier Pro Max mount fits perfectly without a case, but I prefer to keep the case on. With the Apple Silicone case, the fit is adequate rather than perfect. The mount remains secure, does not leak light, and is giving me good infrared results. I recommend using the case and adapting to that less precise fit. Please test the combination on your own phone before relying on it.
I recommend the Hoya R72 in the 67mm size. Select 67mm on the product page; the infrared filter is a separate purchase.
The Apple Silicone case is the case I use with this mount. Select the case for your particular iPhone model. Fit with other cases may vary.
Apple Silicone cases for iPhone 18 Pro Max
For most of the iPhone photography we’ll do, you will not need a tripod. If you want to experiment with long exposures using Even Longer or an app such as Camera+: Pro Camera & Editor, you will need a steady support. A full-size travel tripod gives you the most flexibility, but a pocket tripod can also be useful when there is a suitable surface to set it on.
My full-size choice is the Peak Design Travel Tripod. You do not need that particular model; bring a tripod you already own if you like it.
I have also used this compact pocket tripod:
This NEEWER pocket tripod is another possibility, but I have not ordered or tested it and cannot yet recommend it from experience:
NEewer pocket tripod, untested
We’ll be visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium one day during the workshop. To help reduce reflections in the glass, we suggest wearing dark clothing that day, ideally black pants and a black long-sleeve shirt. If you don’t already own these, just bring something dark to wear.
A portable battery is useful during long days. I use both Techsmarter Rugged models below. Carry power banks in your cabin bag, never checked baggage.
This is the simpler choice if you are flying. Techsmarter lists the 30W model at 74 Wh, below the standard 100 Wh airline approval threshold.
Techsmarter Rugged 20,000 mAh 30W
This offers more capacity for road trips and long days. At about 111 Wh, it is above the standard 100 Wh threshold. FAA rules allow power banks in the 101–160 Wh range only with airline approval (and a limit of two such spares); an airline may set additional restrictions. I recommend leaving this one at home if you are flying unless you have confirmed approval.
FAA guidance on lithium batteries
This is the FL23HB100 kit with the substantial holder that spans the phone and a square fill light, rather than a small conventional spring clip. Its light helps when the phone blocks light from a close subject. I’ve made some of my favorite iPhone macro photographs with this setup.
APEXEL FL23HB100 macro lens and fill light kit
I want to share two qualifications. My own light recently failed and I’m discussing a replacement with APEXEL. I’m also finding that the built-in Macro Mode on my iPhone 18 Pro Max is much improved, so the accessory may be less useful for owners of the 18 Pro phones. The additional light and different look of the lens may still be useful. For older iPhones, this remains an especially interesting option.
Rad Drew Photography, LLC · RadDrew@gmail.com