REVIEW: Easy Release by ApplicationGap (UPDATED)

Those who know me, know that I love my iPhone – I carry it with me everywhere (yes, there too). However, as a Photographer, I’ve not really been excited about the offerings I’ve seen in the AppStore. Sure, I’ve been contacted by some vendors to try their apps, but I was so underwhelmed that I didn’t feel it was worth spending the energy to write about them – until now.

When one of the members of my former photography club pointed out this cool app called Easy Release by a company called ApplicationGap, I immediately thought – hum, this could be good. Fortunately, I was right as this is the kind of game changing app that every photographer with a iOS or Android device will want to have!

Seriously, how many times have you been out shooting and found yourself ending up doing an impromptu shoot of a pretty girl, college kids playing volleyball, a couple in love, etc…? The rule of thumb is to shoot first and ask questions later, but one of those questions you SHOULD be asking is - “can you sign a release”? If you are like me you frequently discover “crap, I’m out of releases” or  “dammit, I left my releases in the other bag”. While you may have just scored a great shot for your personal collection, there’s not much you can do with it without that release so you are SOL!

Finally a solution

This problem has plagued photographers for as long as lawyers and photographers have co-existed, but now there’s a great solution – Easy Release. If you have an iOS or Android device, then you probably don’t go any place without that thing, so having a program that can conjure up a release on the fly is a godsend! Of course, when I first heard about it I immediately thought:

1. Yeah, but the contracts must suck
2. It’s going to be a pain to fill out all the data
3. It’s probably faster to just do it the old way
4. How am I going to get this thing off the phone?
5. It’s probably not flexible enough for my needs
6. It’s probably way too expensive
7. How are people going to sign it?

Good news, I quickly got answers to all my questions and the results were exactly as I wished they would  be! Of course, they have most of the answers right here on their web site, but I’ll enumerate my skepticisms along with what I discovered.

1. The contracts are very good and cover both adults and minors as well as property releases. They were better than the ones I use and better than the templates on iStockPhoto, etc…
2. The first time is a little cumbersome, but it remembers past data so it’s easier moving forward (especially if you work with a previous model). In the future it will also draw from the address book so it should get even better.
3. Perhaps the typing and signing part, but the nice thing is that you can do this on the fly and in the field. You can even send an email with a PDF of the contract right there on the spot, so your model can have their copy on their phone instantly – that’s pretty slick!
4. Easy – it creates a PDF that you can mail to yourself and/or the model.
5. Sure there’s some features I wish it had, but it has almost everything you’d want including localized contracts! I frequently work with Asian models, so having a contract in their native language is a BIG plus!
6. Get this – it’s only $9.99! That’s dirt cheap, because you know if it were on a computer it’d be like $99 or more! This is a no brainer impulse buy!
7. Simply put – with their finger! Yes, that’s right and it works much better than you’d think! Using a Pogo Stylus you can have a much better experience, but the finger method works much better than I thought it would. See below for an example (a little crude, but about the same as I give UPS and FedEx for package deliveries – WITH a stylus):

It’s more than a template

One cool thing I discovered when using this app is that it is much more than a template - it is actually smart! For example, for illustrative purposes I just chose the current date for my model’s age and it figured out this must be a newborn and that a parents signature would be required. I thought that was pretty clever, and I discovered other cases where it actually applies logic behind the scenes, so that helps limit some of the useless questions you might get from a simple template app.

Conclusion

The above animation was jacked from http://applicationgap.com/apps/easyrelease/

Overall, I’m very pleased with this app. It’s a dream app for photographers and definitely a MUST OWN. If you own a iOS or Android device then do not delay – get it today! It’s a fantastic value for what you get, and on an iPad it totally rocks!

I do wish they offered it for Windows Mobile phones, and easier contract editing would be a welcome addition. Better integrated support for TFCD/TFP, compensation, etc… would be a nice touch as well. Overall, I expect those features to come with time, so this app has my highest recommendation!

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• REVIEW: Imagenomic Noiseware for iOS
• Snapseed announcement article (with videos)
• Imagenomic Noiseware Discount & Tutorial
• Imagenomic Portraiture Discount & Tutorial
• iPad for Photographers 2nd Ed – if you own an iPad and care about photography this is a must own book
• REVIEW: Lightroom Magazine (Kelby Media) for iPad

Here's some other useful apps you might enjoy:

• Stuck On Earth - Free World Travel Guide - Stuck In Customs
• Pic Stitch - Big Blue Clip, LLC
• myZenfolio - Zenfolio, Inc.
• Eye-Fi
• KelbyOne
• Rick Sammon's Photo Sundial - Great Oak, Inc
• 100 Cameras in 1 HD - Stuck In Customs
• Trey Ratcliff's Wallpaper Menagerie of Curious ... - Stuck In Customs
• The Light Camera - Mark I - Stuck In Customs
• Photo Voyages of Trey Ratcliff - Stuck In Customs

Disclosure

I was provided a review copy by ApplicationGap. If you make a purchase using links in this article, I may make a commission.

REVIEW: The iPad for Photographers–Read This Book!

When I first got a copy of The iPad for Photographers: Master the Newest Tool in Your Camera Bag from the publisher I scoffed and thought “what kind of moron needs a book for the iPad?” — It’s probably one of the easiest devices in the world to use! My next thought was – why would I use an iPad for anything but showing my finished photos?

I was convinced this book was for suckers and I expected it to become a leveling tool for a bookcase or something. However, an interesting thing happened when this book landed on my bathroom countertop. I was waiting for my wife to finish up getting ready one day when I decided to look through the pages – I found myself getting hooked really quickly!

In no time I was downloading cool apps from the App Store like ShutterSnitch for iPad (iPhone) which could read my RAW files, and more that I’ll feature on this blog in the near future. I found myself getting excited when I learned that there were tools like Photosmith by C² Enterprises, Inc that could allow me triage my photos for Lightroom directly on my iPad and many others like these (not all inclusive):

Chapter by Chapter Review

Here’s my thoughts on the chapters in this book:

1. The iPad on Location – This is the chapter that hooked me and it’s the one you should read at the bookstore if you are on the fence about this book. Very quickly you’ll see how to get your JPEG and RAW photos onto your iPad from your camera wirelessly using the Eye-Fi or via USB cable to begin doing some really cool stuff.
   
2. The iPad in the Studio – This has some cool stuff about how to use your iPad as a remote camera controlling device as well as handy stands like the Pivot and Stump. There's even cool things like Air Display which MacBook Pro users are going to love. Collectively these and the recommended apps come together to really help you out with seeing what your shots look like on that sexy new iPad display before you call it a day during your studio shoot. This is super useful for those cases where the eye looks in focus at a glance on your LCD, but your iPad shows you it’s not.
   
3. Rate and Tag Photos – This is what it’s all about because honestly I’m going to do my real work on my computer. However, if I can dump my photos on my iPad before a flight then being able to triage them on the plane is a huge win for me. Photosmith will rock your world for that if you use Lightroom. Great stuff here – highly recommended!
   
4. Edit Photos on the iPad – While I use Snapseed on my phone and love it, I’m not going to use it for my DSLR photos. I found this chapter to be good info for people doing simple family or hobby work, but working pros can just glance through here.
   
5. Edit Video on the iPad – Same as above, but surprisingly you can do more than I expected with video. Good FYI info.
   
6. Build an iPad Portfolio- This was a chapter that I rolled my eyes at and thought would be lame, but in reality it was helpful. I knew most of the info in it, but as a photography instructor I know a lot of people will really appreciate this chapter. Definitely read it!
   
7. Share Photos – This is useful for those who want to quickly get their photos on their web sites. While that’s not typically how I work, if you are an event photographer or photojournalist where speed is of the essence then you’ll find this very useful.
   
8. Helpful Apps for Photographers – I’m a geek so this is just cool as there were some apps I hadn’t discovered yet. It’s clear that Jeff spends too much time screwing around on his iPad like me as he’s found some cool stuff here.

Prerequisites

In case you were wondering, this book applies to all versions of the iPad but the truth is that it was written for iPad 2 with updates for iPad 3. You’ll also want a Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit (or equivalent) and an Eye-Fi for the best experience.

Conclusion

If you haven’t got an iPad yet, or if you have an older one, I can’t recommend the new iPad enough. The display has more pixels per inch than my NEC PA Series photo editing display, so I long for a 24” version of the retina display for my desktop! Using EasyRelease is so much easier for my models than the iPhone version that I reviewed, and my printing 101 eBook never looked better. To me, it’s the must have tool for the modern photographer, and this book helps you make the most of it!

This is the most exciting new book I’ve read this year. I’ve been a huge fan of my new iPad and Flipboard (aka iOS Crack), but this book really transformed it from a time wasting toy to a business assistance tool.

I give this book my highest recommendation and that comes from someone who thought this book would be a waste of money!

Click here to buy your hard copy today or you can get the Kindle Edition for your iPad or Kindle Fire. If you don’t have it already, you can download the Kindle App for the iPad here.

Disclosure

I was provided a copy of this book by PeachPit Press for review. I contacted the author to thank him for a great book and to make arrangements to meet him since he lives in Seattle, but I have not met him or had any meaningful conversations with him up to this point. Now that this article has been released, I aim to change that.

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission.