Photography Mode

Stop guessing when the light will be right.

One switch reframes the whole app around the shot instead of just the sighting. The same verified, predictive engine that powers opspoor’s live sightings now tells you where the sun will be, when golden hour actually starts, and which day this week gives you the best odds at the animal you’re after.

New to a long lens and not sure where to even point it? Start with opspoor’s free live sightings map to find the animal first — Photography Mode is what you switch on once you’re ready to plan the light around it too.

What changes when you switch it on

Every corner of the app starts working for your camera.

  • Golden & blue hour, counting down

    A live countdown on your dashboard so you're already in position before the light turns, not scrambling once it has.

  • Moon phase & astrophotography viability

    Illumination, moonrise/moonset, and a plain-language read on whether tonight's actually worth setting up a tripod for.

  • Likely active now, with real photos

    The Photography Guide page surfaces species that are actively likely right now near you — each backed by a real, recent sighting photo, not a generic icon.

  • Badges, leaderboards, bragging rights

    Shots taken in golden or blue hour get flagged automatically, feed the "Best Light" leaderboard, and unlock their own tiered achievements.

Only on opspoor

Two photographers plan the same trip. One checks the weather app.

The other opens opspoor, sees which of the next seven mornings actually gives the light and the species they want, and books around it. By the time the first one realises Thursday was the day, the light’s already gone — and so is the shot.

Inside Photography Mode

A closer look

  • Light ConditionsGolden/blue-hour countdown
  • Sun PositionBacklit/front-lit cones on the map
  • Photography Guide7-day best-shot forecast
  • Best LightLeaderboard & achievements

Part of Premium

Photography Mode comes with opspoor Premium.

R69/month, R599/year, or from R29 for a once-off Safari Pass that covers just your trip — no separate purchase, no extra add-on. Every other Premium feature (movement vectors, live intercept timing, full offline maps) comes with it too.

Don’t miss next week’s best light.

opspoor is live now on Google Play — free to download, with predictive light intelligence in your pocket. iOS is coming soon.

On iPhone? Get notified the moment opspoor launches on the App Store.