Helpful hints from a veteran stock shooter who's been everywhere and tried everything

Not that the question needs to be asked, but why would anyone shoot stock abroad? After all, unless you're taking travel shots that depend on specific locations, what difference does it make if you're shooting in California or in Calcutta?

Well, I don't know about other photographers, but for me there are several reasons to shoot in foreign countries. For starters, I can get access to some locations and other resources that I could not in the United States. More importantly, travel rejuvenates me creatively and adds to the richness of my life...

Excerpts from a lively Q&A session at last year's PhotoPlus Expo, in which photographers talked directly with agents.

The discussion covered such issues as current stock pricing structures, submission guidelines, revenue percentage splits, diversification, new image marketing models and international emerging economies. Here are some highlights from the lively Q&A session...

Find out how this digital photography pioneer claw his way to the top of the greeting card industry with his inventive, whimsical and furry animal creations.

His chickens don't just cross the road, they blast along it as speed-demon motorcycle mamas, leaving a trail of feathers behind their black leather. A demure white rabbit shoots skyward on a red pogo stick. A cat can water-ski, ride a bicycle and, yes, even wield a chainsaw or a whip (the latter as a dominatrix in tall black boots and a merry-widow corset).

Sound kinky and silly, and impossible to shoot? Welcome to the animal antics world of John Lund (johnlund.com), a studio photographer and digital imaging pioneer whose zany creations have spawned an empire of highly successful greeting cards, books, calendars, posters and gift merchandise such as mugs, figurines, frames, magnets, jigsaw puzzles and stationery...