Today more than a quarter of all photos taken are taken on smartphones. No longer is the mobile phone just a communication device. Now users can take pictures with their phones anywhere, anytime without worrying about heavy equipment or camera settings.
As of this month
Dreamstime has started accepting both editorial and commercial pictures that are shot using a mobile phone. In addition they have launched a new monthly assignment (contest) for photographers called, "
Go Mobile!" that encourages
photographers to shoot pictures with their mobile phones. Photographers using their regular cameras may enter the contest but the pictures must have the “instantaneous look” of being shot with a mobile phone. Contest winners will receive $300 for the first place, $200 for the second place and $100 for the third place.
The subject matter can be anything that could be shot with a mobile – a street scene, a day at the beach with friends, a super concert, a surprise party, an unusual landscape, a celeb making an awkward face, election day facts, etc. Submission for the contest must also make use of mobile phone applications and filters that turn the common things we shoot with mobiles into uncommon shots fit for wider usage.
Dreamstime has also launched a new
mobile category on its site that will expand its market to thousands of new stock shooters, as well as current users.
According to Serban Enache, CEO and co-founder, Dreamstime, the new mobile category has the potential to reach an even wider range of photographers --- both amateur and professional --- who have the ability to create unique, one-of-a-kind images.
"This is the opportunity the stock photography industry has been waiting for," Enache said. "Most mobile phones today provide better quality images than most digital cameras did back when Dreamstime first launched in 2004. These days, top-end camera phone quality is up to par with many compact cameras. And because everybody seems to have a camera in their pocket, a lot of amateur photographers are becoming more educated, and thus becoming better photographers."
Enache noted that the new mobile category will allow Dreamstime to offer an even greater variety and wider range of photos than ever before. "Images taken with mobile phone cameras allow greater versatility. They also increase a photographer's chances of catching a great shot simply by being in the right place at the right time."
"Although we do not expect mobiles to replace the regular camera anytime soon, we expect mobile phone images to increase in quantity and quality in the future," Enache said.
Dreamstime currently has over 15 million images, 12 million unique visitors a month and more than 145,000 contributors.