Royalty-free stock photography is becoming a huge market these days. And king amoung such royalty-free stock houses are the so-called "micro-stock" photography houses, such as iStockphoto and Fotolia, among a host of others.

At these stock photography sites you can find fair to pretty damn good to real damn good photography for a buck; yes, that's right, for less than a cup o'Joe down at McD's you can snag yourself a few photos to dress up your web site, your next presentation or create a custom card for your significant other (trust me, this last one scores huge bonus points and will get you laid. Ah, double bonus!)

These microstock houses are creating quite a stir among professional photographers who believe people that contribute to microstock are too eager to sell their photos for "next to nothing" and that it hurts the industry when people sell so cheap.

I suppose there's a good point there; however, I know of many people, who are not "pros" but very talented amateurs, that are making enough coin each month to pay for a new car or two, or pay for that new deck or hot tub. I mean, would you kick a grand or a grand and half a month to curb? Neither would I. Meanwhile, there are some (very few, granted) microstock shooters that are making $10,000 or more per month. And like any venture, the best rise to the top; the mediocre, well, they stay mediocre.

I'm just starting to dip my toe into the microstock explosion. And, truth is, you can help me out if, when you're looking for a cool photo and don't know here to turn, click on that Fotolia banner in the right there. It'll take you to their web site and if you happen to buy an image or two or three, well then, I'll get a cut. I don't get anything for you just clicking that banner and yes, it's totally cool if I pimp my own Fotolia banner. I have a few photos on that site myself as well as on iStock, but like I said, I'm just getting and I have been making sales, despite my abysmal lack of photos I've uploaded for sale.

And this brings to mind another kind of "micro" phenom that's hitting the art world: the nascent Daily Painters movement. This is a group of dedicated painters that crank out small (for the most part), original paintings and sell them pretty darn cheap, either on their web sites or via eBay. I have no idea how many "daily painters" there are; I know the quality of their artwork varies greatly--some of these paintings I wouldn't hang in my bathroom--however, some of the painters are extremely talented and you can pick up an excellent work of art at bargain basement prices.

My best friend, Dave Darrow, is one of these "daily painters" and he's also helped start the "Daily Painters Guild." You can find a link to their web site in the left hand column of this blog. If you click that link you'll see a bunch of paintings from the Guild members and you might even be tempted to score yourself a nice piece of artwork... and no, I get nothing out of sending you their way, except the satisfaction that perhaps I'll have pointed you in the direction of Darn Good Art. And that never hurt anyone... even if you decide to hang it in your bathroom.