Turn those double taps into dollar signs

For most of us, who are not destined for “Insta-fame” but still believe the masterpiece of a photo we just posted should receive more recognition than the 12 “likes” it did, then mobile stock photography apps are seriously enticing.

And think, at the exact same moment, a designer, sick of shifting through countless and sometimes extremely odd stock photos, could be envisioning an image that almost exactly matches what you have just posted to your somewhat unappreciative followers.

This is where mobile stock photography phone apps come in and they look to not only change the game of amateur photography but stock photography as well.

Currently Snapwire is the standout app and describes itself as;

 “a platform that connects a new generation of photographers with brands and businesses around the world. Photographers get access to real-time, paid photo Requests and Challenges. Photographers can also sell photos directly from their own portfolios and in our growing stock photo Marketplace. Snapwire is your home for selling all your creative photography.”

It works like this; anyone can post a creative request, either through the app, or website, choosing the skill level of a photographer based on their budget. In turn the photographers then upload to match the request with the option to ask the requester further questions.

The buyer then nominates finalists and eventually purchases the winning image under a royalty-free license. Photographers who are nominated as finalists receive reward points which increases their photographer “rating”.  And the photographer with the winning image receives 70% of the sale price as well as keeping the copyright.  A picture perfect deal if you ask me.

Other companies heading into the realm of mobile stock photography are Twenty20 which also allows photographers to shoot more authentic photos and upload from their phones. Foap also specialises in the camera phone to company, including a Foap Missions feature similar to Snapwire’s request function to help brands direct the photos they want.

Most recently, Getty Images quietly released Moment, a similar app to Snapwire that lets mobile users directly upload to Getty and respond to requests, however at the moment it can only be used by existing Getty Images and iStock contributors.

The future of stock photography looks to be exciting and one can only hope that shifting through unexplainable and completely unusable images like the ones below, is a thing of the past, and they will soon become deeply buried deep in the what can sometimes be a very strange place which we know as the internet.