Scoopshot Pro Connects Photo Buyers with Pros Photogs Around the World

Scoopshot is trying to transform the way companies purchase photos and the way freelance photographers find work. In August, we reported that the startup had launched an app that allows smartphone users to easily sell their photos from their phone. Since then, the company has paid out more than $300,000 to participating photographers, and reports that over 60 of its users have earned more than $1,000 by selling their phone photos (one user has earned more than $23,000)

Now, the service is setting its sights on a different group of photographers: professional freelancers. It has launched Scoopshot Pro, a service that connects photo buyers with photo makers for commissioned projects.

The service, which Scoopshot calls an “international crowdsourcing network,” is essentially a directory of freelancers located around the world. Each photographer can create a profile on the service that contains 9 photos representative of his or her work.

Photo buyers (e.g. media outlets, ad agencies, companies) who need a specific photograph can then browse through the directory and find a photographer that suits their needs.

Scoopshot CEO Niko Ruokosuo states that this is an efficient solution that benefits both photo buyers and makers:

Finding a quality photographer in the right location, who you can trust to take the pictures you need quickly, is a big challenge for many companies today, including media and ad agencies. Often publications will resort to flying a photographer out to the scene, or settling for a compromise and using an untested local photographer or buying a stock photo. Not only can this be expensive it can be incredibly time consuming to complete all of the necessary admin and arrange payment.

Searching and finding the photos you need from millions of stock photos can be frustrating as well, and you can end up acquiring a photo used by many others. With the launch of Scoopshot PRO we’re offering a faster and easier way to acquire bespoke content. By joining our network, freelance photographers can get more work, make more money, and cut out the hassle of completing supplier forms and chasing up unpaid invoices.

Using the service’s web platform, buyers can contact photographers to receive quotes, brief them on assignments, and commission them for a project. They can choose from four licensing options ranging from single-use to perpetual licensing.

In return for this matchmaking work, Scoopshot takes a cut of the photographer’s fee that’s considerably less than the 60-80% charged by stock photo companies (somewhere in the region of 25%).

Scoopshot reports that more than 2,000 photographers have signed up for the service thus far, including freelance photojournalists located in conflict areas such as Gaza.

If you’d like to get started, you can create a portfolio if you’re a photographer, or commission a project if you’re a buyer.