At NYGal we know how hard it is to get that perfect Insta-worthy pic. It’s an everyday struggle of pose after pose, shot after shot, and often times your photograph (aka your BF or BFF) just doesn’t have the patience or stamina to handle the job!
So while digging around for solutions to this problem, we stumbled upon QwkPic, an on-demand photography app! After becoming a little obsessed with this app and how it could help us pop our Instas, we quickly reached out to one of the co-founders, Russell Lakely, to give us the total 411.
P.S. Promo code for NYGal readers at the bottom! Thank,s QwkPic!
How Did the Idea of QwkPic Originate?
I actually came up with the idea for QwkPic while hungover in a hostel lounge in Kreuzberg, Berlin and watching the movie Terminator in German. I was on a solo Euro-trip, and while traveling I wanted pictures of me in them, but having all my info in my phone, I didn’t want to hand it out to a stranger, and when I actually did, I ended up with 1 or 2 crappy pictures.
I wished I could just pay someone to instantly come to my location to take a variety of pictures for me. While I saw the benefit for customers, I was unsure of the financial incentive for potential photographers.
Then it hit me while watching Terminator. There’s that scene where that kid takes a picture of Sarah Connor and she gives him $5 for the polaroid. I thought if that kid was in a high traffic tourist/photo-op location, he could take just 10 pics an hour at that rate, and that would be $50 in one hour.
That’s when it hit me. If someone could make $30-$50/hr by simply taking pictures with their iPhone, that’s something a lot of people looking to make some extra cash would definitely be willing to sign up for. Thus, QwkPic was born!
Give Me a Quick Rundown of Your Team! Who Are the People Behind QwkPic?
We’re a small team based in Venice Beach, California. It’s me, my cofounder River Korn, our CTO Andy Moeck, and our community of freelance QwkPic iPhotographers all around the world. My co-founder and I came up with the idea and have developed and adjusted it to meet the needs and demands of our customers and our community of freelance iPhotographers.
So, How Does the App Work Exactly?
It’s super simple. You just open the QwkPic App and then you’ll see camera icons which indicate all the QwkPic iPhotographers in your area available right now for a photoshoot on-demand!
You just tap the “Request Photographer” button and the first QwkPic iPhotographer to accept will be at your location in less than 5 minutes for a quick, spontaneous, creative, and fun photo shoot or, as we call them, a “Qwkie.”
The pictures are instantly sent to your phone to review, select, and purchase and then you checkout safely and securely in the app. You can then share your pics with your friends, family and to all your social media accounts directly from the QwkPic App. You can have a Qwkie for as little as $5!
Where Can You Use the App?
Right now, you can use the app nationally in a few select cities (Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, San Diego, D.C.), at select U.S. landmarks/sites (Mount Rushmore, Las Vegas Strip, The Alamo, St. Louis Arc, Old Faithful, The French Quarter), as well as internationally (Paris, Barcelona, London).
In each city, we have designated QwkPic Photo Zones which are high traffic tourist sites and great photo opportunities where we recommend our QwkPic photographers to be stationed based on our data which has shown there to be the most session requests from our customers.
What Type of Clientele Do You Attract?
We attract all types of clientele, but right now our main customers have been young adult women out and about solo or with friends in hip and trendy neighborhoods such as Venice Beach or Williamsburg, which are both full of cool photo opportunities.
The appeal of having fun and creative photo shoots in front of great murals and sites, getting a variety of shots with the whole group including candid and fun shots has been really appealing to young women.
We have also encountered families on vacation who are looking for a variety of quality pictures at tourist hot spots. Our next step is to appeal to Insta-influencers, especially those up-and-coming ones who don’t have the big budgets to hire a professional photographer to follow them around daily which can cost hundreds of dollars. With QwkPic they can do high-quality photo shoots with our app for just $5!
Another big market for us has been having our photographers stationed at festivals such as Coachella, Stagecoach, and Lightning in A Bottle, where customers request our photographers to capture them and their friends enjoying the festivities.
What Makes This a Must-Have App for the NYgal?
QwkPic is a great app for the NYgal because now more than ever we communicate and share our lives via pictures. New York is one of, if not the greatest city that provides inspiration for spontaneous and creative photo shoots.
With the plethora of amazing murals, landmarks, bridges, scenic views and landscapes, QwkPic allows the NYgal to capture the beauty, grime, and essence of New York, in order to take her social media game to the next level.
When inspiration hits for a photo shoot when you’re out in the city, you don’t want to be without our app and miss the opportunity for an epic photoshoot or you’ll be sure to get some serious FOMO.
What Makes This Different From Other Photo Service Apps?
QwkPic is the ONLY on-demand photographer service where you simply tap a button for a quick, creative, and fun photoshoot on-demand. Our slogan is “your personal photographer in a flash” since everything with the QwkPic app is instant and on-demand: instant photographers, instant pics, instant enjoyment, instant satisfaction.
Other photographer apps claim to be on-demand, but you have to wait 30+ mins for a photographer, the minimum cost is $50+, and you sometimes have to wait days to get your photos. The QwkPic App is your personal photographer in your pocket that you can summon anytime and anywhere for a $5 photoshoot. Welcome to the QwkPic Experience!
Special NYGal Promo Code:
NYgals, listen up! Download the QwkPic app and type NYGAL in the promo code box to get 12 free pics! And…strike a pose!
