Courtesy of: MicrostockGroup *

Microstock photography, also known as micropayment photography, is a part of the stock photography industry. What defines a company as a microstock photography company is that they (1) source their images almost exclusively via the Internet, (2) do so from a wider range of photographers than the traditional stock agencies (including a willingness to accept images from "amateurs" and hobbyists), and (3) sell their images at a very low rate (from US$0.20 to $10 in the US) for a royalty-free (RF) image [wikipedia.org].

Through the years microstock industry has evolved. All of the major agencies now accept not only photos but vector illustrations and videos as well, although file formats and general requirements may differ slightly from site to site.

Some of the major microstock agencies are listed below:

• Fotolia
• CanStockPhoto
• VectorStock
• 123rf
• Dreamstime
• IstockPhoto
• ShutterStock

* MicrostockGroup forum and blog is run by Tyler Olson who works as a microstock photographer. Being so closely involved in the microstock community as a submitter, forum moderator and blogger, Tyler is able to keep updated in the constantly changing microstock marketplace.