Are you looking for the best ways to get paid simply for taking pictures with your smartphone? If so, you have come to the right place. With our help, we can assure that you’ll unlock a unique and profitable opportunity – there were over 4 billion photos uploaded worldwide on phones in 2017 alone! We understand how overwhelming it must be juggling multiple responsibilities, such as managing finances and finding time to take professional-looking shots. That’s why we’ve compiled all of our research into this comprehensive guide – so that anyone can learn how to get paid to take pictures make money just from their phone photography skills.
In this article, we look at popular apps and stock photo sites where users can create income through uploading images they personally capture. Whether you’re an aspiring professional or just want some side income from your free time activity, here’s how individuals everywhere are monetizing their snapshots taken directly through their smartphones! So if you’re ready—let us show you what opportunities awaits by taking pictures with your phone camera!
The Scope of Smartphone Photography
In recent years, digital photography has seen a significant shift from bulky and expensive cameras to mobile phones. Smartphone camera technology has equipped everyone with the ability to take amazing pictures right in their pockets.
This rise of smartphone photography is transforming industries across the world and disrupting traditional photographers as well. With one-click access to photo editing software apps such as Instagram, VSCO, Adobe Lightroom etc., users can now easily refine their photos for professional quality results in no time.
It’s also easier than ever for creators to monetize their work & sell them online through various stock photography websites or building promotional platforms like starting a stock photography website or blog or creating unique photo prints on Etsy.
Potential Earnings: Making a Living from Your Phone’s Camera
Smartphone photography provides a unique opportunity for online entrepreneurs to make some extra money or even start a full-blown photography business. With apps, stock photography websites and digital marketplaces such as Adobe Photoshop and Shutterstock making it possible to monetize your photos, you can create the foundation of earning with merely your phone camera.
By building up a portfolio of pictures that others are willing to purchase, you could have an ongoing stream of passive income at your disposal. While you’ll need basic photography skills and certainly a good eye for aesthetically pleasing images in order to earn from your shots, using the appropriate tools such as correct lighting, background settings and careful editing will help ease this process considerably.
Additionally, iStock Photos (Getty Images), EyeEm, and Snapwire offer great potential earnings when selling on their platforms, which makes them ideal services if looking into revenue opportunities through mobile photographs.
Getting Started: Essential Equipment and Skills
- Having a high-quality smartphone camera is the first requirement to make money from your photos. Make sure you have experience with your phone’s settings and features for taking better photos.
- Editing software like Adobe Lightroom can help you adjust details of your images, enhance colors, or apply creative effects on them. It can help you take quality images without having to spend a fortune on expensive equipment.
- A large portfolio of photos is essential as it increases your chances of selling more images and making more money. Practice different types of shots so that you are able to show a wide range of images in your portfolio.
- Using a tripod or monopod is important for taking clear, steady shots without blurs, especially when shooting in low light conditions or doing time-lapse photography.
- JungleScout or Ahrefs may be useful for market research when pricing and selling online as they show monthly search statistics and trends which will help you meet the demands of your customers effectively with products priced correctly.
- Lighting accessories such as reflectors and diffusers will give an extra dimension to most of your photos. They will also prevent extreme exposure differences between shadows and highlight areas which would require expensive post-processing actions.
Top Apps That Pay You to Take Photos
From the photography marketplace of Shutterstock to event photography through Snapped4U, explore some of the top apps that put money in your pocket for taking amazing photos with your smartphone.
Quick Picks: Best Apps for Earning from Photos
Taking pictures with your smartphone can be a lucrative enterprise. Here are some of the best apps to help you start generating income through photography.
- Foap: This popular app allows users to connect with millions of potential customers, accepting photos from the major stocks such as iStock and Getty Images. It’s easy to sign up, and there are plenty of rewards for taking great pictures!
- EyeEm: This innovative platform has connected over 20 million photographers around the world and allows users to post their photos under a Creative Commons license, meaning they make money when someone downloads or uses one of their images commercially without having to copyright them first.
- Snapwire: Users can showcase their portfolio on this evolving site while earning instant cash rewards each time a customer approves one of their photos. How much you earn depends on how well you rank within different categories, so there’s always something new to learn here!
- Agora Images: The ultimate destination for professional photographers who are looking to maximize revenues from every sale — nothing less than 70% commission if closed before 7 days following submission!
Shutterstock: An Overview and Pay Structure
Shutterstock is one of the leading contributors to photo stock services. Contributors can earn money based on how many times their photos have been downloaded. The amount paid per photo depends on several different factors, such as resolution and exclusivity level, but overall the more downloads a contributor’s work earns them the higher commission rate they will receive.
Shutterstock has implemented tiered payment systems, where contributors who reach certain download milestones get an increased download rate for each picture sold afterwards. Speaking of payments, Shutterstock offers multiple options, including PayPal and bank transfer, meaning that photographers are able to benefit from their hard work irrespective of which country they reside in or what currency they trade with!
EyeEm: How to Earn from Your Photos
EyeEm is an app that provides photographers with the perfect platform to monetize their talents. It allows users to sell their photos quickly and easily from their device, eliminating the need for a complex CMS (Content Management System).
All you have to do is scroll through your camera roll within EyeEm and select which photos you’d like to list on the marketplace! Not only does this provide a streamlined process of making money taking pictures, but it also incentivizes people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to make much use out of pictures taken at events or gatherings.
With EyeEm, these images can now have a purpose in addition to providing great memories.
Selling photos on EyeEm can be incredibly lucrative as well. Their marketplace offers buyers several options when licensing your photographs, resulting in royalties ranging from 20% up to 60%, depending on if they decide on one-time or extended usage rights to sell photos.
Snapwire: Earnings Potential and User Experience
Snapwire is an innovative way for photographers to make money while doing what they love. This online platform offers photographers the opportunity to earn extra income by taking and uploading photos that may be requested by companies.
Unlike other photo sites, Snapwire pays better than some of them, but it should also be noted that many people use it as a side hustle or extra source of income rather than relying solely on their smartphone camera’s earnings potential.
In fact, if you’re serious about making money with your smartphone photography skills, this could potentially be used as a full-time job once you get established there.
Agora Images: Maximizing Your Earnings
AGORA Images is the perfect app for photographers who want to make money while honing their skills. Not only does it allow users to take part in exciting photo contests with cash prizes, but it also provides users with an unlimited amount of free space so they can showcase their work and potentially earn extra income on the side.
Through direct selling or participating in #Request-contests feature, you’ll be able to earn money from your photos as well as valuable experience and recognition along the way. Selling stock photos directly through the app isn’t available yet, however there are other ways that you can still monetize your photography efforts such as taking pictures for property listings or attending events and snapping shots of people’s special moments via Snapped4U.
By leveraging all the features within Agora Images combined with getting creative about how else you can use your photos, you will come out a winner – financially!
Stock Photography Websites: A Lucrative Option
Join other stock photo sites and photography websites to sell stock photos, gain access to their vibrant community and benefit from potential royalties that you can earn from selling your photos.
iStock Photos (Getty Images): Pay and Benefits
iStock Photos, run by the reputable company Getty Images, offers a great way for online entrepreneurs to make money from their photographs. Still, photographs are available in two licensing options: exclusive and non-exclusive, with a 20% royalty rate starting at Getty Images.
They also offer simple subscription plans which provide access to millions of high-quality, stock photos, images, videos, and music that customers can use without any hassles. These images can be used in digital designs and websites, so having them helps save time and effort in creating good visuals for marketing campaigns or advertisements.
Furthermore, there are no additional costs to paying members since all services come under one umbrella plan charged once a month or yearly depending on which subscription you select.
Adobe Photoshop: Making the Most of Your Photos
We all know the potential of becoming a professional photographer through stock photography websites. With an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, users have access to loads of stock images, photo site assets and more.
The key is learning how to consistently produce high quality photos, with impactful marksmanship that customers demand. Adobe Photoshop not only provides powerful tools for editing, but also offers features catered for creating vivid images fit for stock photography websites.
Professional-level enhancing features like color correction and layering allow photographers to truly make the most of their entries when uploading them to these sites. Photographers can even explore more creative avenues by exploring HDR or tilt-shift effects, adding an extra dimension into their work, as well as editing videos sample photos or vectors without any hiccups.
Can You Make A Lot of Money with Stock Photography Websites? An Analysis
Selling stock videos and images under a royalty-free license is one of the best ways to make money from photos or illustrations online. There’s lots of potential for earning extra cash, with an increasing demand in the world of digital media and content marketing.
Some photographers make a decent living out of stock photo websites selling their work on leading stock photography websites like Shutterstock, EyeEm, Adobe Photoshop, Snapped4U and Agora Images. But others are yet to see any significant return on their efforts!
Microstock photography offers insight into how much you can realistically earn from selling your photos on different platforms. On average, the earnings range between $0.02 -$0.25 per image per month depending on factors such as creative input, camera quality used and your portfolio size.
Other Ways to Earn with Photos
Explore opportunities to make extra money through real estate photography, event photography with Snapped4U, or create and sell prints or a book filled with your own unique photographs.
Real Estate Photographer: Making Money from Property Photos
Real Estate photography offers the potential to generate passive income, with many photographers cashing in on taking pictures of properties. With an increased demand for property photos from professionals around the world, real estate photographers can earn a substantial income by making their images available online via platforms such as Shutterstock.
Job opportunities are also increasing due to the rising demand – meaning getting paid for travel and location shoots is now within reach for many photographers too! Insurance companies often hire professional real estate photography teams to take pictures of homes or businesses that they offer policies on, so if you have experience in this field, this could be another avenue of strong financial gain.
All said and done, becoming a real estate photographer can be fun and lucrative side hustle – all it takes is some extra skill set and equipment knowledge along with effective marketing strategies & networking skills!
Snapped4U: Earning Through Event Photography
Snapped4U is an online platform that makes it easy for photographers to earn money through event photography. Photographers simply upload their photos onto the platform, and buyers can then purchase them with payment via credit cards or PayPal.
Photos are delivered as JPEGs directly to buyers via email, so there are no long wait times or extra steps involved in receiving your photos after a sale. With galleries available on the site, buyers have a great selection of event images to choose from, and Snapped4U applies pricing limits of $20 per photo, making sure everyone gets their fair share for shooting those special events and memories.
With hundreds of successful photographers already using the service, this could be an exciting side hustle opportunity for aspiring smartphone shutterbugs looking to turn their hobby into hard cash!
Sell a Photography Book: Monetize Your Expertise
Selling a photography book is an excellent way for online entrepreneurs to monetize their expertise in photography. Selling prints of your work is often time-consuming and requires you to continuously create additional content to sell images, but when selling a book, the profits can be much more lucrative as you only need to develop one product that can potentially be sold several times over! With the right tools and strategies, it’s possible to earn income from your existing library of works or easily generate new material.
There are multiple ways of creating and publishing a book online such as Kindle Direct Publishing or IngramSpark – both platforms allow authors control over pricing, distribution channels and accessibility.
Starting Your Own Promotional Platform
Discover how you can create your own unique brand and start earning from your photos—all from the comfort of your phone!
Start Your Own Website to Promote Your Pictures
Starting your own website can be an effective way to promote and showcase your pictures online. Building a photography website involves choosing the right website builder, selecting a plan, and finding a template that best suits your needs. In doing so, you’ll create an automated platform that makes it easier for potential customers to find you while also providing insight into current trends in the industry.
Starting a Photography Blog: Sharing Your Work and Tips
Starting your own photography blog is a great way to promote your work and get it seen by customers and potential clients. Skylum How-to offers expert advice which helps you manage a successful photography blog. Here, we’ll outline six key steps all photographers need to take when starting a blog:
- Choose Your Blogging Platform: There are many blogging platforms out there, but the most popular ones include WordPress, Ghost, Squarespace, and Blogger.
- Create Engaging Content: Quality writing about photography topics that are interesting to your intended audience is key when starting a blog.
- Optimize Your Post for Search Engines: Having titles and headings with relevant keywords is essential in helping people find your post on search engines.
- Utilize Social Media Marketing: Pushing content to Instagram or Twitter can help spread the message about your blog quickly and efficiently.
- Leverage Partnerships & Guest Writers: Tap into other well-established blogs by guest posting or finding like-minded partners who want to collaborate on topical content pieces.
- Monetize Your Photos: Making money off of photography is possible through things such as offering services like photo editing or paid membership programs that offer exclusive content each month.
Photography Side Hustles
Take advantage of your creative eye and technical know-how by tapping into photography side hustles such as teaching classes, taking event photos for Snapped4U, or creating a photography book to share your expertise.
Take Portraits: Capturing Moments for Clients
Portrait photography is one of the best ways for online entrepreneurs to get paid to take pictures on their phone. It provides a great opportunity to make money while also capturing meaningful moments and memories with your camera.
By offering portrait photography services, you can take advantage of your smartphone’s cost-effectiveness and accessibility to offer clients an affordable, high quality camera experience that will stay with them forever! You don’t need any special equipment or skills either – as long as you know how to use the features of your phone’s camera, you’re set! With some practice, it’s possible to earn quite a bit from portrait photography if promoted properly through social media or other marketing tools like Foap.
Fetch Rewards and Taking Pictures of Your Receipts
Uploading your receipts with Fetch Rewards is a quick and easy way to start earning rewards right away. This cash-back app pays users for taking pictures of their receipts, letting them quickly snap a picture of the receipt and submit it through the app within minutes.
With an intuitive, integrated camera tool in place, it makes taking pictures hassle free and efficient – plus it’s fun! You can collect points as soon as you upload each receipt to the app, so spend more time enjoying life instead of worrying about tracking purchases! Not only that, but when you earn enough points, you can redeem them in digital gift cards, which offer tons of different selections of items perfect for online entrepreneurs like yourself.
So get up and running today – Fetch Rewards allows everyone to take advantage of this simple yet lucrative method for earning rewards with minimal effort required!
Understanding the Earning Potential
We will explore how much photographers make to sell pictures and how smartphone photography can help you sell photos online bring in extra income.
How Much Do Photographers Make to Sell Pictures?
The earning potential for photographers who sell their photos online can vary greatly depending on the platform they use and the complexity of the photographs. For example, Foap allows users to upload images directly from their phones and pays $5 per photo sold from a marketplace; Shutterstock offers commissions ranging from 15% to 40% for each downloadable picture, while Getty Images contributors receive 20% of every sale.
On average, however, according to industry data published in May 2019, the median hourly wage for all types of photographers was estimated at $19.31.
This could change drastically with experience level – senior news cameramen may make up to thirty times more than someone just starting out in photography – so it’s important for aspiring camera pros to have an understanding of what they can earn before getting into this line of work.
Taking Photos as a Fun and Lucrative Side Hustle
Taking photos on your phone is more than just a hobby – it can actually be an excellent way to make some extra money. Smartphone photography has become increasingly popular in recent years, and there are plenty of opportunities available for those looking to monetize their work.
With the right equipment and skillset, you could potentially earn enough from your photographs to make a living or supplement an existing income stream.
The earning potential varies depending on which platform you choose, but if done correctly, taking pictures can be highly lucrative. For instance, when selling images through Shutterstock, contributors have the potential to make anywhere from 15% up to 40%.
Other promising apps such as Agora Images allow photographers to also submit photos of their best shots for Photo contests where they can win cash prizes – with amounts ranging from $50-$2000+.
Concluding Thoughts and Advice
Understanding the potential of your phone’s camera can open up a range of opportunities to make money. We’ve provided an overview of various sources for monetizing techniques that you can leverage from smartphone photography.
With the right strategies and tools, there is no limit to how much income you can generate with your creative photos.
What You Need to Take Professional Photos
- Insurance: Investigate local insurance agencies to determine if they’re looking for photographers to cover events and activities.
- Camera Gear: Use the right camera gear and smartphone lens attachments to capture stunning shots in any condition.
- Tripod Stand: A tripod stand provides a stable base for crystal clear photos regardless of movement or jostling caused by being handheld.
- Composition Techniques: Learn the fundamentals of composition, like leading lines, filling frame with subjects, placing objects within the rule of thirds etc., to create unforgettable images that attract buyers.
- Proper Lighting : Understanding and using good lighting is essential for achieving truly professional-looking results from your pictures taken with a smartphone camera .
Final Advice for Aspiring Smartphone Photographers.
Aspiring smartphone photographers should invest in a reliable phone with excellent camera capabilities, resolution and lowlight performance if they want to take high-quality photographs.
Professional photographers recommend making the most of natural light and experimenting with different angles and compositions to capture sharper images. It’s also important to find your own niche like product photography, portrait photography or documentary photography – this will help you establish yourself as a professional photographer in that field.