Pretty much everyone in the fashion photography world has heard the stories of Terry Richardson’s on-set shenanigans, which almost always involve someone getting naked (the model, him, or both), inappropriate sexual overtures, and outrageous comments. When a model finally came out on a blog and talked openly about how degrading the experience was, the story spread like wildfire around the blogosphers — and Rob Haggart at A Photo Editor gives us the play-by-play.

Photographer Charles Moore, an Alabama native who made striking images that helped define the southern Civil Rights Struggle, died on Tuesday. His work includes images of the integration riots at Ole Miss in 1962, the fire hoses in Birmingham in ‘63, a Ku Klux Klan rally in North Carolina in ‘65, and he was the lone photographer at the scene when King was arrested in Montgomery in 1958.

Dazed & Confused magazine released its March issue, a.k.a. the “Augmented Reality Issue,” yesterday. Certain pages of the magazine include QR codes that readers can hold up to their computer camera to start exclusive fashion videos, which can also be paused anywhere to reveal designer credits for the outfits. You can check out the details and a sneak preview of how the videos work here.

Miki Johnson: How did the idea for the Menuez Archive Projects arise?

Doug Menuez: After Stanford Library acquired my archive they began to preserve, research, and scan the 250,000 images from my Silicon Valley documentary project from the ’80s and ’90s. A few years ago they called and said their budget was cut and asked if I had any ideas for funding.

I was sitting on a couple hundred thousand model-released, timeless lifestyle advertising images that we’d often thought about doing something with, but I was always busy with assignment work. This was the catalyst. I was very lucky to meet an experienced and creative entrepreneur, David Mendez, and together we wrote a business plan around selling high-end stock to this growing niche in advertising. Amazingly, we managed to secure funding from investors despite the down economy.

MJ: Who do you imagine being the primary audience and/or buyers for the archive? What kind of imagery is it providing?

DM: Ad agencies seeking never seen before, intimate, emotionally-compelling moments from everyday life for high-end ad campaigns. We have been getting a lot of calls over the past few years as more big brand campaigns go to stock and creatives seek images that are more special and not so widely seen as what’s offered by the giant houses. We are a boutique and are bringing old fashioned research and service in our collaborations with creatives on their campaigns. You can search our archive easily, but you can also send your layouts and we will custom search and present the results to you.

We are including a lot of my personal documentary work that is released, and we just completed our first shoot in Miami, covering a wide range of stories, including a working mom, an afternoon with a Hispanic family, a teen house party, Parcours daredevils, an older boomer couple traveling, and much more.

What’s exciting is that we researched and found real stories of real lives, just as on any other personal project I do. These stories and images are therefore compelling and authentic, but also model released. We also have a variety of editorial material, some historical, some current, and we are selling limited edition prints of my fine art projects.

From the Menuez Archive Projects' first guest curated gallery, LOVE.

MJ: How does MAP fit in with your larger business plan?

DM: MAP is a huge breakthrough for me in that it allows me to develop all the work I’ve done over the years, and create revenue from material sitting in boxes. That new material from assignments and stock shoots will help me stay relevant and replenish the archive over time.

I have so many projects and images that it’s hard to finish any one thing. MAP will provide a platform to build on for the next phase of my career. That includes continuing to produce documentary projects, films, and books.

MJ: How do you plan to publicize your collection of images? Will they be indexed for online searches, for example?

DM: Yes, the images will be indexed through our own website, PACASEARCH and search engine optimization. We will also be using as many channels as possible to get the word out and are taking ads in Communcation Arts, doing direct mail, email blasts, Facebook and Twitter. But the most important will be our existing clients.

We have also partnered with my agents Stockland Martel to distribute a key selection of images and they have been very helpful getting the word out. Most of my advertising relationships go back years, and it’s nice to have a new resource to bring them to help them do their jobs. Our super-charming and talented sales and marketing director, Christopher Beauchamp, will be reaching out to creatives and art buyers directly to get feedback as we launch the site.

MJ: How many people are dedicated to managing MAP specifically in your studio?

We have built a fantastic team. Dave Mendez, our president, is in charge of operations and will manage our growth. The legendary picture editor Karen Mullarkey (Newsweek, SI, Rolling Stone) is doing the edit with stock industry veteran editor Lindsey Nicholson — an amazing duo.

We have brought back Josh Dick, a talented digital tech, and as I mentioned, Chris is doing sales and marketing. We have an attorney, Matt Riportella-Crose, who is vetting all our releases and usage rights, and we have an assistant editor, Cristina Faramo. Our multi-skilled studio manager Tobias Hutzler holds down the fort.

MJ: Did you create your own stock site or work with an archiving and sales provider? How did you make that decision?

DM: We decided to leverage the leading European stock agency distribution channel and site provider, PictureMaxx, rather than start from scratch. Our core is built on Apple Aperture, which uploads to PictureMaxx. We looked at all the solutions and they offered the broadest package, including CRM and a European network of agencies already participating in their marketplace. We plan on expanding worldwide so that was a key part of the decision.

Another big decision was where and how to scan. We were lucky and have found a fantastic partner in National Geographic. Although a bit more expensive than our original plan to scan in India, the quality is outstanding and being close by allows film to go back and forth by hand.

It’s important to repeat that I am continuing to shoot assignments, so it’s critical that my assignment web site remains vital and relevant. For that we found a fantastic solution, as you know, in liveBooks with our custom site. That has been very rewarding and exciting and we will also keep building on that.

Today archive hosting companies typically provide storage space, online galleries, search and client features, a user-friendly back-end management system, FTP, downloading, and hundreds of other functions that are incredibly useful if properly understood. All of this is usually bundled into a package that might cost roughly USD 50 per month. For a photographer like me, who is constantly moving, I find the service indispensable.

Today the main player in this game seems to be Photoshelter. After transferring my archive to their servers a year ago, I can say with some level of confidence that they provide a superior service, strong customer support, and a huge variety of functions (without trying to do too much, the most important thing in my opinion).

So how exactly do I manage my own archive? When I complete shoots for newspapers, magazines, and corporate clients, I upload the images to my archive, so that I can FTP the images to clients, share the work with friends and family using public light-boxes, display work to potential new clients, and allow regular clients to search for stock images to license. That might sound like a lot of work — and it is. But make no mistake, this hard work pays dividends.

I particularly find the online archive a useful tool when working on longer-term stories or projects, because as work is completed it can be uploaded and shared for client or peer review. For example I recently photographed the construction of one of Shanghai’s tallest buildings. The building owners wanted to see a monthly edit from my shoots, a progress report, as we went. During the more than two years the project lasted, I was able to bring them up to speed with new imagery, as well as service the download needs of their staff in Shanghai and Japan. My archive created a seamless delivery system — no more burning disks, no more Fedex. The online, hosted, and managed archive is here to stay.

A close friend of mine challenged my position on archive hosting by insisting that my agency should take care of all that “back-end” work for me. A lovely idea, but full-service agencies are pretty much a thing of the past. (In my experience anyway; if I’m missing some full-service agencies still out there, please let me know.) The new trend seems to be the fully functioning, independent photographer who manages his or her own pictures.

Although my photographic work is represented by Corbis, they are far from a full-service agency. They don’t have an assignment division and rely on photographers to upload on their own. They don’t scan film, they don’t do captioning and key-wording, and they edit as they see fit. This is all actually a good thing, because it allows them to focus on the most important part of the process, selling my images.

Of course, that means a lot of the work agencies used to do is now the photographer’s responsibility. While that may be a negative for some, it’s a positive for me, because I get to control the quality, layout, and organization of my own work, and then share it anyway I like. It allows me to have a closer relationship with my editors and — for a young photographer like me who sometimes feels overwhelmed with a rapidly changing industry — this offers a very rare sense of control. Plus I can link to my archive just about everywhere, post public light-boxes online using social media, and fully integrate my Photoshelter archive with my liveBooks website, in the hope that editors and image buyers can find what they are looking for with ease.

On a final note, in my particular situation, having an archive based in the U.S. is a crucial part of my business plan. Because I live behind The Great Fire Wall of China, FTP-ing work out of the country is a nightmare, so it’s best that I only have to do it once. Once I upload to my archive, it’s an easy click of the button to share work with multiple clients. Plus I never have to worry about missing a deadline because it takes 14 minutes to upload one image to a server outside of China!

The Court of Human Rights declared Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 unlawful, Giles Turnbull reported Tuesday on the PhotoCineNews blog. Section 44, which became law in the UK in 2000, gives police officers the right to stop and search anyone, for any reason, inside a designated but undefined “area” and has been the source of frequent conflict between police and photographers. Despite the ruling, the law and its enforcement is unlikely to change soon, Giles says. Photographers are not turning down the pressure though, continuing the very successful I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist campaign, with a rally in London’s Trafalgar Square planned for later this month.

PDN reported Tuesday that the French picture agency Oleil had closed after 15 years. While agency closings are hardly uncommon these days, this comment from the Oleil website forces us to confront the full weight of what they suggests for the industry: “The press economic crisis has now made the production of photo-stories impossible.”

We can’t help but wrap up with a couple positive stories from liveBooks. CEO Andy Patrick has been appointed to the Board of Directors for Mohawk Fine Papers, an industry leader that is particularly dedicated to environmental responsibility. We’re also excited to announce the integration of Get Satisfaction with our support dashboard. Get Satisfaction’s dynamic support communities with easy social media integration have been sweeping the Web — if you’ve ever seen one of those vertical “Feedback” tabs on a website, you know what we’re talking about.

David Lynch by Nadav Kander (Courtesy Stockland Martel)

Kristina Feliciano: How do you find photographers? Through referrals?

Maureen Martel: Always. We’ve never solicited photographers. Except for Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, who we approached after viewing his work at Mary Boone Gallery. I think it was 1986. And Nadav Kander — I had met his studio manager at the time [in 1984]. And when I saw his studio, met him, saw his work on the walls, I had said very casually, “If you’re ever looking for a rep in the States, we would absolutely be interested in talking with you.” He was very methodical about how he was rolling out his career, and he contacted us nine months later.

BS: We’ve been in this industry so long that even if they didn’t come by referral, there’s some association through art directors or other people. We got John Midgley through Liz Von Hoene and Jeff Lipsky through Kwaku Alston.

MM: And Matthias Clamer also knew Jeff.

BS: But I knew of Jeff myself. You could see Jeff in all the editorials.

By Jason Hindley (Courtesy Stockland Martel)

KF: How do you know a photographer is right for you?

BS: Personality is huge.

MM: A huge, huge part. Application for the marketplace is also key. Key key, key key, key. If you can’t apply it, you can’t satisfy the client. You also have to be dedicated to the medium. Some photographers want to love them and leave them. They want to come in and make a lot of money, and leave.

People like Nadav [Kander, whom Stockland Martel has represented for more than 20 years] and Lauren Greenfield [whom they signed in 2003] — they are artists in their own right. But they embrace the process. And they’re not just in the mix to make money to be the carpetbag to pull into another business.

BS: The people we represent live and breathe the subject matter they shoot. Matthew Rolston is obsessive about style. Luca Zordan is kids. He’s a good photographer on landscapes, he’s a good photographer on adults, but he’s a great photographer of kids. Walter Ioss lives and breathes sports. Our philosophy is that it has to be the person’s very nature to shoot the subject they’re shooting. They’re not doing it just for commercial reasons. You say that and people might think it’s a real sales pitch, but if you look at our talent, it’s no surprise that they shoot the subjects they do.

MM: I want them to be passionate, really passionate about photography. That means that they have their own projects going. One of my big problems today in marketing people is that they are not producing enough photography because they come from an old school of “I will get paid to make the images I need for my book.”

The next thing is how organized they are or the people around them are. Think of all the assets that are moving: the estimating, the presentations that have to be done. You have to be very nimble. Or if you’re not nimble, you have to have people around you who are. So we’re not only looking for a great photographer — we’re looking for everything around that great photographer.

By Jeff Lipsky (Courtesy Stockland Martel)

KF: What if a photographer’s business is a mess but their talent is fantastic. Would you take them?

MM: It depends on the mess. If they are really a mess, we can get them to the level where they are functioning business-wise, but that won’t be enough. To be a superstar, it’s not just talent. It’s business sense.

Also, we are very clear: We’re not the muse. We don’t want to be. They have to come with a muse or their own inspiration. They have to do personal work. Personal projects, editorial outside of the advertising arena so that we can take that work and package it and bring it to our communities.

KF: You recently signed still-life photographer Jason Hindley, who was one half of the duo Giblin & James. How did you find him?

MM: He had come to us before when he was in Giblin & James. He knows us, and he knows us through Mark George, his rep in London, who we are close with. He wanted to be associated with us. He’s now independent, so he came back once again.

KF: What kinds of questions did you ask Mark about Jason?

BS: I asked him how difficult it was selling one member of a partnership. I asked him how original Jason’s work was. Because you really have to show a brand new body of work and sell him as an unknown. You can sell a little bit of the past reputation, but I’m beginning to feel you just have to frankly sell him as a new talent. Because it’s too convoluted what that partnership was or wasn’t.

KF: How will you market Jason? What potential have you identified that makes him attractive to you?

BS: Technically extraordinary.

MM: Humor.

BS: Whimsical. Conceptual.

KF: What about people coming to you? You must have…

BS: All week long.

KF: What don’t you like to see from people who are approaching you for representation? What turns you off?

BS: When they don’t know who we are in the first place. When they reach out and they haven’t done their homework. They don’t know who we represent. Some people don’t follow up. It’s surprising the people who send elaborate mailings and don’t follow up. And I really don’t like the letters that say, “I want you to turn me into a star. I’m ready now.”

MM: X-rated presentations are really a turn-off. We have had several keepers.

BS: Like nude yoga. Of themselves. “Here’s me.” [Laughs]

The Players

Producer Susan Shaughnessy

Client: AstraZeneca
Product: Crestor
Agencies: Digitas Health and
Saatchi & Saatchi Healthcare Communications Group
Photographer: Jayne Wexler
Artist Rep: Kevin Schochat
Producer: Susan Shaughnessy/SKS Productions
Location: Los Angeles
Total people on set: 30

1. Making the Call

The ad agency had three photographers in mind for the shoot, and the photographer Jayne Wexler was considered a favorite. The agency called her directly, and Jayne called her rep, Kevin Schochat. Together they talked about the concept, dates, and availability. Next, Jayne and Kevin considered which producer they wanted. Usually, the photographer or the rep has a relationship with a producer. Sometimes the ad agency has a relationship with a producer, and they will recommend one. In this case, Jayne decided she wanted to work with me.

2. Crafting the Estimate

Campaign layout

"Then and Now" concept

There were three bids submitted for this job, and the estimating process took more than a week, including several rounds of back-and-forth with the agency. We were trying to meet the agency budget, but we were the only team estimating traveling expenses, so our costs were higher. The agency was very fair and understood our numbers, but it took time to get the estimate and photographer approved.

I typically work with my favorite program, Excel, for bids, as does the rep. I turn my document into a custom-designed PDF, so it looks like a neatly presented document with my logo and client info on it. Excel allows you to make changes quickly and frequently, which is so useful when estimating and making revisions.

3. Getting Approval

During the estimating process, I have a crew in mind. Typically they are on hold from the beginning, especially the stylists. Once the agency awards the whole job and the money, then I book. I review the costs, rates, and expectations with each person, to confirm we are all clear. Sometimes the rates, expenses, and layouts have altered during the estimating process, so it’s essential to clarify at this point.

In this case, the casting and location line items were approved first, and then days later the rest of the job was approved. We began right away with a creative call between the photographer, agency, and myself to review layouts, casting specs, and location needs. I hired Eastside Studios in L.A. to cast, and I began researching locations with my coordinators.

Then stylists, photographer, producer, and agency have creative calls. These calls solidify the wardrobe direction and the prop needs. From there I can build a firm schedule, and manage expectations and deliverables for the team. As soon as the job is approved, the rep and I submit a request for the advance, to receive the appropriate percentage of the expenses up front. This money will get the job rolling and secure locations, studios, and all immediate out-of-pocket expenses.

4. Building the Crew

Wardrobe stylist Gillean McLeod, wardrobe assistant Lauren Burns, and photographer Jayne Wexler

When assembling a crew, I consider the photographer, the project and style, the budget, and the personalities that fit with the requests. It’s also important to have crew members who can work closely together to support each other. The wardrobe stylist and prop stylist know each other, work together often, and were able to help each other styling vintage clothing and props.

With Crestor, because everything was being shot in L.A., I suggested and hired the crew for Jayne. Jayne brought her first assistant, Piero Ribelli, with her, but I introduced Jayne to Mark Gordon, digital tech, along with Ubaldo Holguin and Joe Klecker, who were local photo assistants we used in L.A. Based on temperament, professionalism, and personality, I knew they would fit great with this team.

Having team members who know each other and work well together adds another layer of efficiency. Photographers often get in a groove with certain stylists, and definitely photo assistants and digital techs.

Often the crews stay the same, but sometimes we’ll add or lose somebody because of availability. Like Jayne in New York, we’ll have almost the same crew every time we work with her. For every photographer I work with, I specifically craft a crew that seems appropriate for them, based on their personalities, needs, styles, how fast paced they are, and what they expect in terms of styling.

5. Scouting Locations

On location: The painter's studio

For Crestor, we had a big assignment in a short time frame. We needed an authentic painter’s studio, a park that looked like it might have the Eiffel Tower in the background (to be handled in post), and options on a French café and cobblestone street. All in L.A.

Scouting the painter’s studio was tough. We needed a studio space that was authentic, but more of a hobbyist painter versus a professional painter. The space needed to be big enough to hold a crew of 30 people, and it could not be too messy or too high-end. We also needed daylight, so we needed windows. We ended up at a real painter’s studio, but cleaned it up, pared it back, then propped it to our taste. We commissioned real paintings that were made to feel not too professional, but pleasing to many.

Since this job required me to work from N.Y. during pre-production, I needed solid production coordinators and scouts on the ground in L.A. Nima Ghedami is one person who can make things happen faster than anyone else I know in L.A. He helped by calling scouts and friends, and found painter’s studios for us to review online.

Michael McClellan scouted and permitted Griffith Park for us, handling the paperwork and fees. He also scouted various other parks and painter’s studios. We also needed to find options for a French café. Michael and Nima scouted the café for us, but the idea was finally killed, and we stuck with two days on location and one day in the studio, shooting on white at Pier 59 Studios.

I do a lot of the research for location scouting, but ultimately I send someone like Michael to take pictures and upload to a website that allows the photographer, agency, and me to simultaneously review the locations.

Logistically, shooting on location in L.A. can be very easy, but sometimes you need a site rep, you need appropriate insurance, you need money up front, and the contracts can be very detailed. On Crestor, the paperwork was fairly straight forward; we negotiated directly with the painter’s studio, and Michael handled the park permit. With the painter studio’s, I made sure that the building was aware of the shoot by passing out flyers ahead of time, making sure our electrical needs were in line with the studio requirements, and ensuring we had parking nearby. We also made sure all the equipment, catering, and props could fit in the elevator

6. Casting Talent

For this project, which was based on a previous T.V. shoot, we had to capture the concept of “Then and Now” — meaning we had to hire the talent for the primary roles, then find teens to represent those people 30 years ago.

We cast during two days with casting director Doug Mangskau at Eastside Studios. He provided links to the talent each morning for the agency, photographer, and me to review. Each day we made our selects and commented on what we felt was missing. We also added a link of comp cards for the agency to review, which added to the in-person casting days. Eventually, we made selects for the painter, the younger version of the painter, and the younger version of the couple at the park with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

7. Styling and Props

Wardrobe selection

Prop options

Because the concept involved a “Then and Now” theme, we needed to prop and style talent and locations that looked contemporary, and another with a vintage look. There was a lot involved to coordinate themes, colors, and believability. The props that conveyed “then” included vintage bags, cameras, and maps. The hair and makeup stylist brought in a mustache and wigs. The wardrobe was all rented from from vintage stores. It was very believable. The props for the painter’s studio included: custom paintings, easels, paints, paint brushes, boxes, and used clothing from actual painters.

8. Transport and Amenities

Good maps, planned parking, and orchestrated transport are essential for a smooth shoot. In the production book (details include: the call sheet – client/agency/crew/vendors names and phone numbers; hour-by-hour pre-pro and shoot schedule, locations/maps/directions, talent and wardrobe specs, weather, sunrise and sunset times, nearby conveniences – Starbucks, Target, FedEx, and favorite restaurants), I try to provide as much info as possible. The coordinators also help by handing out maps, setting up signage, and emailing maps and directions ahead of time.

L.A. can be tricky in terms of traffic. Scheduling early drives against traffic can work to a producer’s benefit. Being able to get online from wherever you are seems to be required these days – the agency essentially wants access to all of their work back at the office, and often we need to email samples of the photos to people who couldn’t make it to set. Also, having a digital tech who can take the photo and place it in a layout for agency preview is a real need.

The importance of good food and coffee also cannot be underestimated. Neither can: a clean bathroom, helpful assistants, efficient cleanup of garbage, flexibility, understanding, dinner reservations for the agency, and on-time car service.

9. Shoot Day

Mark Gordon's G10capture digital tech cart

Arrive 8 a.m., set up lights, breakfast, wardrobe, and props. Model arrives at 8:30 and gets wardrobe approved, then goes into hair and makeup. The agency works with Jayne on lighting and angle, modifies props and crop, and gets camera and digital all working in sync. Mark Gordon, the digital tech, comes with his own DJ set-up, so there’s always good music happening.

The model stands in for Polaroids, frame gets signed off on, wardrobe approved. Final touches, then shoot. The shoot day continues for hours, changing wardrobe, altering props, changing hair.

Once the model nails the emotion, and we get multiple shots, they are edited and approved by the agency, and a select is emailed to the director, who can’t make the shoot. Once everything is approved, we let the model go and shoot the set elements alone, (the props, the backgrounds), which will be manipulated in post.

Lunch inserts itself around 12:30-1 p.m. Usually we all stop and eat, at least for half an hour. Then back to work. We wrap by

Wardrobe ready, talent on set

5 p.m., using an hour to edit images and back up all digital files. At the same time, the crew cleans, empties garbage, packs props and wardrobe, and loads everything into vans.

Before I leave, I walk through the space with the owner/site rep and ensure nothing is damaged, broken, or out of place. Anything moved gets put back in place — we often note its place ahead of time by taking pictures when we arrive. I’m the last to leave.

The check is written if anything additional needs to be paid for. Maps or directions for the next day are reviewed and dinner reservations are confirmed. Call a rain day if needed. For the Crestor shoot, we bought weather insurance instead of calling a weather day, but the day ended up perfect. You just never know!

Who: Susan Shaughnessy, Producer

What: Manage people, schedule, communicate, delegate, problem solve, have fun, take responsibility; write checks; provide deliverables/links to casting, scouting, and visuals that need approvals; take care of photographer; organize everything; insure everything; handle travel, catering, transportation; create production books; answer questions, ask questions, provide confidence; do due diligence; be flexible; stay on budget, get overages approved as needed; work closely with art buyer-producer/agency, accept praise on behalf of crew.

Where: Brooklyn is home, but I produce anywhere

How: www.sksproductions.com

Who: Jayne Wexler, Lifestyle and portrait photographer

What: I find a producer if the budget allows one. Go over the layout, all the details, and shot list. Discuss the casting with the producer. If a location is needed, we find a scout and start scouting. On shoot day my assistants and I set up lights. Then they usually get the set ready and shoot a digital-Polaroid for me to see. In the meantime, I discuss the details with the prop and wardrobe stylists and the hair and make-up artists. Once we are set up and I’m happy with my lighting and composition, we start shooting. After the shoot we edit the images and choose the best selects for the job, then we either make a website or send a disk or hard drive to the client with jpegs. Depending on the size and complexity of the retouching, the client will either retouch in-house or I will use one of my retouchers. Then there is the billing, which can take as long as the production.

Where: I live in NYC — “Nolita” — been in the same apartment for almost 23 years! My studio is on Vandam Street, west of Soho.

How: www.jaynewexler.com

Who: Kevin Schochat, Photographer’s agent

What: When a request comes in, I  go over the specifics of the job with the creative in charge. I then work closely with the photographer and producer to prepare a detailed photography estimate. I negotiate all fees and rights for the photographer. Once the job is awarded, I follow it closely to make sure everything is running smoothly and we are staying within budget. I also go to the shoot, if it is local, to see how it is progressing, meet the client, and deal with any last minute questions or changes. After the shoot, the photographer and I usually review the invoice together. Then I contact all the key people involved to make sure they are happy with the results and thank them for their business.

Where: New York City

How: www.kevinschochat.com

Who: John Robinson, Prop stylist and set designer

What: Once a concept has been approved by the client, I get the sketch or comp that the agency created for the ad. Then I create detailed sketches of what the set will look like. We also shoot images of all props options and provide images or samples of all textures, wallpapers, and fabrics that will be needed to create the image. Once prop selections are made, we purchase or rent them, then begin building the set. Once everything is collected and built, we go into the studio beforehand and assemble the sets. After the shoot we take down the set, return rentals, send purchases to the client, and salvage and store anything that may could be useful in the future.

Where: Just outside of Austin, Texas, plus an apartment in Manhattan. I work as a local in L.A. and N.Y., and I’ve done shoots in Vegas, L.A., San Diego, Austin, Chicago, Montreal, and N.Y. this year.

How: www.johnrobinsondesign.com

Who: Gillean McLeod, Wardrobe stylist and costumer

What: I talk to the art director and photographer, and we look at the comps, then I shop for clothing in stores and costume houses. There is usually no time for a fitting, so all is done the day of the shoot. When we’re done with the clothes we bought, I either donate it or send it to the client. The rest is returned immediately after the shoot.

Where: I live and work in Los Angeles, but try to work away as much as possible since I love traveling.

How: www.gilleanmcleod.com

Who: Stephanie Daniel, Makeup artist and hair stylist

What: Prior to the shoot, I discuss with the photographer the desired look of the model, do the necessary research to achieve it, and get approval from the photographer/client. On the day of the shoot, I style the hair and makeup of the models to achieve the desired effect, then make sure their looks stay in place by touching them up between shots. Once the models are done, I’m done.

Where: I live in Santa Monica and work all over L.A. and N.Y.

How: www.stephaniedaniel.net

Who: Michael McClellan, Location Scout and production support

What: As a location scout, it is my job to interpret the art director’s and photographer’s vision. By using sample photography or sometimes just text, I set out to find the perfect location, then negotiate with the owner once the location is approved. After the initial scout, I load everything onto a website for clients to view and make their picks. I am a production coordinator and produce many shoots myself.

Where: Based in L.A.

How: www.madactive.com

Who: Nima Ghedami, Production coordinator

What: My job basically entails doing whatever the producer and the production staff need me to do. This could include finding studio space, arranging meals, or getting coffee. Production is mainly a problem-solving endeavor, and my job is to provide support so the production can move seamlessly.

Where: West Hollywood

Who: Piero Ribelli, Photo assistant

What: Before the shoot, I help the photographer decide the logistics, location, time of the day, and set ups. The day of the shoot, I set up lights and cameras with the other assistants, help the photographer stay focused on the images that the client needs, and socialize with the clients to make them feel comfortable. After the shoot, I usually help a bit with editing and reassure the photographer that all went well.

Where: Manhattan

How: www.pieroribelli.com

Kira Pollack, former deputy photo director at the New York Times Magazine, has been named the new director of photography for both the print and web versions of Time magazine, starting on October 5th. The New York Times Lens blog has an article highlighting Pollack’s career and a slide show showcasing some of her most memorable projects for the magazine.

Former Getty director of entertainment Frank Micelotta this week announced the launch PictureGroup, a new entertainment stock agency. The company has also created a strategic alliance with the Associated Press whereby they each will distribute content through the others platform.

Daryl Lang at PDNPulse raised a good point about the shifting style of news magazine photo editing in response to David Hume Kennerly’s reaction to his cropped photo of Dick Cheney in Newsweek magazine. There’s some good discussion on the PDN post as well.

Starting this week, iStockphoto will offer legal protection of up to $10,000 to any customers who buy images from the company. Customers looking for additional protection can purchase up to $250,000. Other stock companies, including Getty Images, who owns iStockphoto, offer similar protection, but it seems particularly pertinent in a space with less oversight and downloads by more media-law novices.

Aerial view of Lake Natron in Tanzania, spotted with a flock of flamingos. ©Art Wolfe

I’ve talked and written about how photographers need to look beyond the stock agencies to market their images. There are a host of pros and cons to these alternate business models, but the need to drive traffic to your website is always the tallest hurdle. No single approach will do. Instead, you need to attract attention, and keep it, by projecting your brand across a range of media platforms and by creating mutually beneficial collaborations. Here are some tips for how all kinds of photographers can do that.

1. Collaborate

Once you have a collection of images, see if you can create an association with other photographers to market a particular class of subjects. Photoshelter makes that easy with their Virtual Agencies, but there are several ways to accomplish the same thing. By grouping your work with that of other photographers, all of you can offer a wider selection of similarly themed work to potential buyers. My work is available alongside images from Thomas Mangelsen and David Doubilet at WILD, our virtual agency.

2. Organize

If each photographer does a good job of file naming and keywording, a buyer is more likely to find your image collection. Online galleries also allow you to display a larger selection of your work than an editor at an agency would allow. This is not an invitation to self-indulgence, however; show only your best or most saleable work.

3. Prioritize

I steer clear of microstock. If you can produce what the market demands in high volume, there is money to be made there, but it tends to encourage “treadmill shooting,” a mentality of “generate content” instead of creating art. Forgive me if I stick to Rights Managed and Royalty Free.

The sun sets over the southern Atlantic ocean as 10,000 nesting pairs of black browed albatross settle in for the brief summer night. ©Art Wolfe

4. Contact

Once your collective is up and running, or even if you decide to fly solo, contact all your existing clients with the news. Buy and use lists of prospective clients, like those provided by Agency Access and other services.

5. Connect

Social networking is all the rage, but it’s best to think of it as a means to an end, not the end itself. You can join Facebook and LinkedIn, post galleries on Flickr, keep a blog up to date, and Tweet incessantly, but if you aren’t using them to forge strong links with people in the real world, that’s all time that could be better spent.

6. Participate

Participation is the really important thing. Join groups, comment on blogs, provide content for free — for example, a blog post like this one. These are all good ways to establish links and forge partnerships with perfect strangers (although Miki and liveBooks are hardly strangers).

7. Research

Most importantly, make your presence know in the arenas your customers troll. Photographers tend to post where only other photographers will find them. Instead, ask your customers where they look for information and find ways to become a part of those groups and sites.

Think of yourself as a market researcher and get inside your customers’ heads. Then make your website a magnet by sharing those things that appeal to your customers most. Again, free content attracts visitors and brings them back. If you have good content and have done your research, visitors will eventually become customers.