Meet Recon

Why Recon Exists

Nearly two decades in the field. One app.

Recon was built by Ben Weller, a Japan-based photojournalist whose work has appeared in National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Markets, Reuters, and Virtuoso. After nearly two decades shooting assignments across Asia, from travel features in remote prefectures to industrial commissions inside working factories, the planning side of the job had only become more complex: too many apps, too many open tabs, too much time lost to logistics.

The idea for Recon came while planning a six-day travel editorial assignment through Western Japan. Itinerary in a spreadsheet. Locations in Google Maps. Notes in one app, sunrise times in another, hotel confirmations piling up in his email inbox. Somewhere around the third hour of planning, the thought landed: there should be one tool that does all of this.

So he built one. Not as a developer, but as a photographer solving a problem. Then he kept building until what started as a tool became a system designed to reduce planning overhead, tighten logistics, and create more room for attention, judgment, and creativity. Every feature in Recon exists because it solved a real problem on a real assignment, and every feature has survived testing in the field.

Built for How You Actually Work

Brief to delivery, in your pocket.

Assignment Planning

Start with the brief. Build the day from there.

Assignments built around real working needs.

Recon starts where most jobs actually start: the brief, the schedule, the locations, and the pressure to get organized fast. Build assignments around clients, dates, briefs, and stops, then connect everything else to that structure.

Once the assignment is in place, locations, shot lists, field notes, expenses, and delivery records all stay tied to the same job instead of scattered across different apps.

• Store the brief, client, dates, and notes in one place
• Keep locations tied to the actual assignment
• Build the rest of the workflow from a real job structure

Assignments anchor the rest of the workflow

Core Features

Reduce the overhead. Keep your mind on the work.

Recon is a workflow app for photographers shooting on location. Most core features work without AI. AI features require your own Anthropic API key. Usage costs are minimal and billed directly by Anthropic. Weather features use a free OpenWeather API key.

Flagship Feature

Field Assistant — your AI co-pilot in the field.

Talk to your data.

Field Assistant is an AI advisor that sees your entire workspace — assignments, locations, gear, briefs, shot lists, expenses, and schedules. Ask it questions in plain language. It doesn’t just answer — it takes action.

Say “add a ¥3,200 taxi expense to the Osaka assignment” and it’s done. Ask “what should I be watching for shooting surfers around Kamakura today?” and it responds like a knowledgeable peer, using the location, weather, light, and your project context. Ask it to generate a shot list from a client brief and it gives you something you can edit and track.

• Reads assignments, gear, locations, and briefs for context
• Adds expenses, updates planning data, and generates shot lists through conversation
• Uses Claude Haiku for fast commands, Claude Sonnet for analysis
• Works from a floating button accessible on every screen

Accessible from every screen via the floating gold button

Flagship Feature

Light Map — see the light before you get there.

Every location. Every hour. One map.

Light Map plots all your assignment locations on a map and lets you scrub through time with a slider. As the time changes, each pin changes color based on light quality at that exact moment for that exact position. Gold for golden hour. Blue for blue hour. Red for harsh midday. Gray for darkness.

Small arrows on each pin show sun direction (azimuth), so you know where the light is coming from before you arrive. Tap any pin for the full breakdown — elevation, azimuth, and light quality name.

• Time slider scrubs from 4 AM to 9 PM in 15-minute steps
• Pins color-coded: golden hour, blue hour, good light, harsh, dark
• Sun direction arrows on every pin show azimuth
• Change date to plan future shoots
• Computed entirely on-device — works offline, anywhere in the world

Scrub through the day and watch the light change across every location

Flagship Feature

Import itineraries from CSV files.

Scout Location + Pitches

Research locations. Build story ideas. Develop pitches worth sending.

Scout Location and Pitches work together. One helps you understand a place. The other helps you turn that understanding into editorial possibilities you can actually pursue.

Scout Location

Tap Scout Location on the Dashboard. Use your current GPS position or search for any location worldwide. With an Anthropic API key, Recon generates AI-powered location intel built to help photographers think more clearly about a place before they commit time, travel, or attention to it.

Scout Location can generate context around a place, practical cultural notes, and less obvious editorial directions worth considering before you pitch or assign the job to yourself.

• What Is This Place — history, character, and why the place matters
• Cultural Notes — customs, access considerations, and practical observations
• Unexpected Angle — a less obvious editorial or visual direction worth considering

Location research designed for field photographers

Story Pitches

This is where Recon goes beyond planning.

Generate story pitches from saved location intel. Recon creates multiple editorial angles, each with a working title, a short hook, and a suggested publication fit. Instead of collecting interesting places and forgetting them, you can start building a pipeline of ideas while you are still in the field.

Use it to pressure-test a place before pitching it. Use it to find a stronger angle. Use it to turn location research into something publishable.

• Generate multiple editorial angles from saved intel
• Refine promising ideas before pitching
• Track each pitch through draft, pitched, accepted, or passed

Turn location research into pitchable editorial ideas

Privacy-First Architecture

Your data stays on your device. Period.

Recon has no server, no cloud sync, no account system, no analytics, and no tracking. All your data is stored locally as files on your phone. It never leaves your device unless you explicitly use an AI feature or export a backup.

AI & Setup

Simple to own. Simple to control.

Recon is a one-time purchase. Core features work without subscriptions or accounts. AI features require your own Anthropic API key. Usage costs are minimal and billed directly by Anthropic. Weather features use a free OpenWeather API key.

Built for the Field

Built for photographers who work on location.

Editorial, documentary, travel, commercial, industrial — if you receive briefs, plan shoots, manage logistics, and deliver files on deadline, Recon was designed for how you actually work. It doesn’t matter whether you’re shooting a travel feature in rural Japan or a corporate commission in Singapore. If the job takes you somewhere, Recon reduces the planning burden so you can focus on the work.

Under the Hood

Technical details for the curious.

Support

Recon Support

Questions, bug reports, or feature requests? Reach out at support@wellerpix.com.