The stock photography marketplace space just got a little bit smaller with the announcement of a significant acquisition.

Shutterstock, one of the biggest sellers online of stock photography, has purchased one of its smaller rivals, BigStockPhoto.

Stock photography has become a booming business for photographers in the age of the Internet, and while most of the sites have been based in the United States, a new site has opened up with a more European slant to it.

It is possible to get some superb pictures to put on your Web site to entertain the visitors and encourage them to visit more often. And you do not need to break any copyright laws to do this.

BuyThisImage is an online sales partner for professional photographers. Photographers can put the BuyThisImage widget on their Web site or blog, and then site visitors can use the widget to streamline the process of purchasing prints of the photographs. As a photographer you can choose to offer a variety of different print sizes or specialty items with your picture on them and adjust prices for the items (although some basic price guidelines are pre-set by BuyThisImage).

Stock photography is quickly becoming a way for photographers on both an amateur and professional level to make some extra cash with their images. While some stock photographers take stock photos exclusively for a living, many others simply upload their pictures to stock sites to make a few extra dollars each month. If you’re interested in trying your hand at stock photography here are a few sites worth trying out.

Shutterstock is a website designed for amateur photographers to make a little extra spending cash for their photos by allowing them to be used by web designers, graphic artists, magazine editors and other editorial types in their respective publications.