What are you doing with your smartphone photographs? Maybe, you are keeping them as memories in your phone's photo albums. Maybe, you are putting them up against the best in photography contests. Or perhaps, you are someone who puts his smartphone photography skills to good use by making money from them on stock photography sites.

The obstacle is the skill level. It is hard because it is creative, and almost everyone is a smartphone photographer. But as many have already proven, you too can do it. So let's first understand who will buy your photos.

Who Will Buy My Photos?

It is cheaper for brands and companies to buy photographs from stock photography services than from professionals. This is because buyers look for photos with creativity and realism rather than the staged images from traditional agencies.

Stock photography can also get boring after a while, and stop saying those 1000 words you want them to. They may not be localized enough to reflect culture and festivals. They might not be timely enough to capture a breaking news event or even something as mundane as a college football match. Brands today often prefer user-generated images that are taken from everyday life. For example, babies, photos of family holidays, people working in natural settings, and so on.

Shutterstock Shot List

Traditional stock photography outlets are also looking beyond digital SLRs. Your camera doesn't matter anymore — anything with emotion sells.

Look out for calls from Adobe's Artist Hub, where leading brands ask for seasonal content. Shutterstock has its Contributor Hub and the Shutterstock Contributor app for contributors who want to discover what customers want. Any good stock photography site will buy your photos if they are good enough.

If you don't want to sell your shots, sites like Pics4Learning will gladly accept your smartphone snaps for educational use.

Sell Your Creativity With 7 iPhone Photography Apps

There are stock photography websites. And then, there are specialized photography apps with a community behind them. These apps are a single-window solution to taking a photo, automatically getting it authenticated, and then submitting it for sale.

1. Twenty20

Twenty20 Website

Many mobile photographers use Twenty20 (earlier known as Instacanvas) to explore photography and earn cash from their photos. The Envato-run photo marketplace counts brands like Google, Hulu, Vice, and Amazon among its subscribers.

Use the free Twenty20 iPhone app to join as a photographer. Those without an iPhone can use the website as there is no Android app as yet.

Twenty20 has a good explanation of the type of photos that get sold.

How do I sell a photo?

  1. Upload your high-resolution photos with detailed descriptions and keywords. This makes them easier to be discovered.
  2. Participate in Challenges around specific themes. A new challenge is posted every day for prizes that go up to $200.
  3. Submit your photos to the Signature Collections. These photos are nominated by the community with a final selection from the editors.

How much can I earn?

Twenty20 gives out a commission of 80%. A single photo can sell for $20, $40, or $80, depending on the size of the photo purchased. You earn 80% of the sale price on each buy.

Other price points depend on the kind of inclusion. There are several ways to make money from your photos on Twenty20.

Download: Twenty20 for iOS (Free)

2. Snapwire

Sell your photos on Snapwire

Snapwire is a connecting platform for more than 200,000 photographers and buyers looking for custom photos. Photographers follow Requests and Challenges from brands, creatives, and small businesses who need to license authentic custom photos.

Requests are open only to approved photographers of Shooter level or above. Challenges are open to all. Requests pay more than Challenges.

The crowdsourcing site follows a leveling system that rewards photographers based on their performance. It has seven levels: Explorer, Shooter, Advanced, Expert, Elite, Pro, and Master. Each has its perks.

How do I sell a photo?

  1. Follow the creative briefs of the challenges and requests. Upload your photos.
  2. Buyers nominate the best photos, and photographers are awarded points. Photographers are paid for their winning photos.
  3. Both buyers and photographers can like photos. Unsold photos can also become a part of Snapwire Marketplace for future purchases.

How much can I earn?

Snapwire pays out 100% of every photo sold on Challenges and 50% when your photos sell in the Marketplace. You retain the copyright to your photo.

Download: Snapwire for iOS (Free) | Android (Free)

3. Foap

Foap is one of the simplest places to sell your mobile photos. The iPhone and Android photography marketplace is one of the many corners of the web you can turn to for micro-jobs in your free time. Some of the world's largest brands like MasterCard, Hyatt, Volvo Group, Absolut Vodka can buy your photos.

The payout isn't terrific ($10 per photo if you win a mission), but the dollars can add up if you are a regular contributor. One of the benefits is that you can sell the same photo as many times as you like.

Foap has an excellent community portal. Here's a brief guide on how to sell well here.

How do I sell a photo?

  1. Follow the Foap Missions, which use specific topics to encourage contributions.
  2. Create a portfolio of your best photos for better exposure to buyers. Tag it well.
  3. Rate other photos even as you upload your own. Then, explore the photos that sell and the Foap community portal for insider tips.

How much can I earn?

Every photo is priced at $10. Foap pays out $5 each time one of your photos sells. The photographer owns the photos. Missions also offer larger prize purses starting from $100.

Download: Foap for iOS (Free) | Android (Free)

4. Alamy

You can even sell 360-degree images on Alamy's marketplace. Of course, the stock site accepts images, vectors, and videos as usual. You can sell your mobile photos via their Stockimo app, available only for the iPhone. The app hasn't been updated in a while, so you can upload them to the site and sell your photos. But the app is still the quickest way to upload abstract stock photos, quirky shots, or live breaking news from the streets to earn from your smartphone photography.

Alamy pays you every month if your photos get sold, and earnings cross $10.

How do I sell a photo?

  1. Caption and tag your photos before you upload them via the Stockimo app.
  2. A live feed of customer likes signals the popularity of the uploaded photos.
  3. Approved photos with a rating of 2 or more (out of 4) go on sale to advertisers, designers, publishers on the marketplace.
  4. Photos are open to peer review and comments from other users.
  5. Take part in contests on the site.

How much can I earn?

Photographers earn 50% from each sale. The sale price for photos can vary though the average license fee is $30. Students get 100% of the proceeds if they

Download: Stockimo for iOS (Free)

5. Contributor by Getty Images

Getty Image is one of the largest stock photography sites on the web. With that name comes high expectations of quality. You have to become a Getty Contributor first to sell photos and videos on Getty or iStock. All applications for photos, videos, and illustrations go through the Contributor app from Getty Images.

How do I sell a photo?

  1. Download the Getty Contributor app for iOS or Android.
  2. Submit three to six images or videos via the app and wait to be confirmed as an official contributor.
  3. Depending on the requirements, the service will publish your photos on either Getty or the iStock site.

How much can I earn?

Your photos can end up on either Getty or iStock, so your earnings can vary. Getty pays a higher premium of 20% for royalty-free still images and 25% for royalty-free video clips.

On iStock, royalty rates start at 15% for photos and 20% for videos and illustrations. Exclusive contributors can expect to earn between 25% and 45%. Exclusive contributors cannot submit the photos elsewhere, but they earn higher royalties here.

Download: Contributor by Getty Images for iOS (Free) | Android (Free)

6. EyeEM

EyeEM is a creative filter photo app first and a stock photography site second. The EyeEM Marketplace is an offshoot of the community behind the app. You can use the EyeEM camera and its 24 filters to shoot and upload the photos to the Marketplace. You can also upload any other photo from your camera roll.

EyeEM has an option called Open Edit, which helps you learn editing tricks from EyeEm's top photographers. Notice the Open Edit icon on some photos. You can also reap benefits from EyeEM's Tutorial Archives.

How do I sell a photo?

  1. Follow requests and upload photos.
  2. Take part in community photo competitions for prizes and exposure.
  3. Participate in these Photo Missions and Learn & Shoot Missions via the app.

How much can I earn?

Prices start from $20. Revenues are split 50/50 between the photographer and the company. You can sell the same photo to different clients. The non-exclusive rights also allow you to use and sell the photos anywhere else.

Download: EyeEM for iOS (Free) | Android (Free)

7. miPic

miPic is not a stock photography site. But think of it as a place where Etsy meets a standard stock photo app. With the miPic app, you can upload your best high-resolution photos and turn them into prints on different products like wallpapers, phone cases, and even face masks. The platform handles manufacturing, delivery, and payment.

It works like a print-on-demand service that allows photographers and designers of all kinds to earn money. Customers can buy the original photos or have them turned into printed merchandise.

How do I sell a photo?

  1. Download the app and sign into miPic.
  2. The team checks uploaded photos and designs for quality.
  3. The photos and designs are printed on products or exhibited for visitors to pick from.

How much can I earn?

Commissions earned on the sale of photos or the product are credited to PayPal via the miPic wallet. The fee you make depends on the print size and the product purchased. The earnings can be between 12-20% of the product's sale value.

Download: miPic for iOS (Free)

What About Instagram?

The Instagram Community (in Figures)

Let's not forget the smartphone photo community that started it all. Though there is no direct way to make money on Instagram, some time and effort can yield beautiful results. The secret sauce is in "engagement" — more followers on Instagram could open up opportunities, even among the billions of photos on the social network. I will keep it brief, but look at the two platforms below:

Mobile Prints: Use your Instagram photos on MobilePrints.com to make and sell framed prints, canvas prints, greeting cards, and more. Buyers can use the Pixels.com app for iOS and Android to visualize the artwork before purchase.

The Mobile Media Lab: A creative agency that sources photos from influential Instagrammers worldwide. It connects brands to the right Instagrammer for specific campaigns.

Learn from these tips on how to get noticed on Instagram. Number #3 on the list is the one to remember always: use only your best photos.

Honorable Mentions of Other Crowdsourcing Photography Apps

The business model of the seven stock photo apps is similar. Every photo submission is based on assignments, themes, and contests. Here are a few more that deserve attention:

What Are You Doing With Your Smartphone Photos?

Smartphones can take great pictures; you have to focus beyond selfies and work on your creative eye. The bad news is that the number of photos uploaded each day outstrips the number of people buying them. The good news is that people are earning a decent amount of money from their smartphone photos instead of letting them become memory bytes for the future.

Pick the right app or more than one app, and try your luck. An app like Foap might be suitable for a smartphone photography beginner. Snapwire might demand a keener photographic eye. But, even if you don't sell a single photo, rest assured your photography will get better by the day as you combine learning with crowd wisdom.