Sun Surveyor: bringing augmented reality to photographers

About Sun Surveyor

Sun Surveyor was created by Adam Ratana in 2011 to help photographers more effectively plan shots ahead of time. It includes powerful prediction and visualization tools wrapped in an easy to use mobile interface.

Industries: Technology
Location: United States

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As an amateur photographer, Adam Ratana needed to find out when the sun is going to rise or set at a particular landmark on a particular day. Traditionally, photographers would need to travel to a particular destination at the exact time and day to view the rise of the sun and moon to plan and determine the best time of day for a shoot.

Google Maps Platform Results:

  • Photographers can plan and visualize the location of the sun and the moon anywhere in the world to get the ideal shot
  • Sun Surveyor overlays the path of the sun and moon on any Street View location anywhere in the world so users can see the exact location
  • 360° photospheres to plan shots

500,000+ application downloads

"The Maps SDK for Android, which includes Street View, was particularly helpful. It allowed me to overlay the path of the sun and moon on any Street View location anywhere in the world… Our users are taking remarkable photos as a result, and what started as a hobby for me has turned into a business — thanks to Google Maps Platform."

Adam Ratana, Developer, Sun Surveyor

The result was Sun Surveyor, an iOS and Android app that uses Google Maps Platform to visualize the location of the sun and the moon anywhere in the world. The app makes it easy to figure out when the natural lighting will be just right — and get the ideal shot. Sun Surveyor uses augmented reality to overlay the paths of the sun and moon on a camera’s view, so users can see where in the sky they’ll be at a specific time and place. Photographers can use it to plan their shots ahead of time, and businesses can use it to gauge things like how best to align solar panels to make the most efficient use of the angle of the sun.

Tell us your challenge. We're here to help.

Contact us

About Sun Surveyor

Sun Surveyor was created by Adam Ratana in 2011 to help photographers more effectively plan shots ahead of time. It includes powerful prediction and visualization tools wrapped in an easy to use mobile interface.

Industries: Technology
Location: United States