The N9 seems to be able to send images and the S3 recognises it as an "Incoming beam".
The trick is to have bluetooth on on the Galaxy S3 before tapping the devices together.

Edit: And the S3 can send images to the N9! Again, just have bluetooth on.

Some tips:
* Have bluetooth turned on on the Galaxy S3 and the N9.
* When "Touch to beam" shows up on the S3, wait, till the N9 shows the NFC notification at the top, then tap it the screen on the S3.
* Turn off S Beam (and turn on Android Beam, Jelly Bean required).
* Use AOSP Gallery, the 4.2 gallery works fine. The stock gallery doesn't follow Android Beam guidance.
* When sending from N9, don't use the share button, just tap the device with what you want to share on-screen, for example, when a contact is open on the N9, tap the device with the S3 and wait for confirmation.