We've come a long way from the days of eyeballing things with the SL camera. We have in SL plenty of helpful tools that make photography easier, cleaner and a little more interesting, at times. I am going to list the huds/tools that I have heard others mention, plus the ones that I personally use.
VR Creations Golden Ruler Hud. This is one hud that I personally believe every beginner in photography should start with. It helps teach you the Rule of Thirds, the Golden Ratio, and the Phi ruler. If you are wondering what those are, those links I have placed in that sentence will take you to different blogs, dedicated to RL photography, that explain what they mean in photography. Basically, those rules help guide you in what to focus on and how to balance your photos. As for the more experienced photographers here in SL, it's a great tool to help you improve if you are looking to bring your photography up to the next level. The cost is 199L for it but it is lindens well spent, in my opinion.
Amacci Neck Pose. This hud can be used for yourself or for others. It comes with 31 poses for your head, which can be used in conjunction with any pose that you are using. I personally use this one quite frequently. I found it invaluable, especially with hair that is going through things or if I want to change up a pose that I have but want the head positioned a little differently than what it is set at.
Fate Hand Poser Hud. With the advent of bento, we now have the option of moving our hands around, creating more realistic and visually pleasing poses with them. With the Hand Poser, you can control your hands and also others hands, as long as they are wearing Bento hands. I do use this hud and it took a little while before I purchased it, since it comes with a price tag of 695L, but I am glad I finally took the plunge. It gives more customization in regards to how your hands look, if you wish to grasp something, you can have your hand look like it is actually grabbing that item.
Foxcity Skin FX. This is different face lights that you can use, to create different types of looks, atmosphere, or effect in your photos. I paid only 100L for it and it is fun to use. This is one I do have and do occasionally use in my photos when I'm photographing my avatar.
LeLutka Axis Hud Face. I personally do not have this myself, yet. This is for use with mesh bento heads and from what people who own it have said, it covers Lelutka, Genus, and Catwa bento heads and I have heard that the LAQ heads also work with this hud. It allows for up to 4 people to be controlled by the hud, including yourself and it opens up the ability to customize your expressions to your personal tastes in your photos. It's a fantastic tool for bloggers and photographers but does come with a steep price of 1500L for the hud.
Lumipro. This is a big name product that is used by many photographers, for their lighting and posing needs. It can adjust up to 10 people with the hud and it contains projectors for creating amazing shadows and has a large eye management system included. I tend to view this hud as a larger investment for the photographers who are getting very serious into their craft. It is on the much higher end of cost and I do suggest researching it well before buying it.
Anypose Expression hud. This is an expression hud for only those who are still using system heads. It will not control the expressions/animations for bento mesh heads. With that said, if you are using system eyes in your bento mesh head, there is an eye management section that will still work for you. I do use this one since I do use system eyes in my bento head. It is created by the makers of the Anypose pose stands, so you know it's well made. It's free.
Anypose pose stand/BVH pose stand. There are two different versions of this stand. Both will let you create poses or adjust poses, but the higher-priced one, at 4500L, will let you not only create your own poses, but it will also allow you to make them full perm so you can sell them. The basic version is 1500L and it's solely for your use only. There is also a free version of the stand, so you can test it and see what it does, which I do recommend doing before purchasing it.
No list really is complete without mentioning the Firestorm viewer phototools. Many photographers swear by them and I honestly would be lost without them in my bag of tools. I was recently shown a series of videos that were made by one of the photographers on SL, who explains the different tools and shows how they work. I recommend viewing them, even if you have been using them for a while since the videos are nicely informative and go through the different options.
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