Games Pets Play

Brown, a model turned commercial photographer, repeatedly stresses one piece of advice in the narrative that accompanies her portfolio of 110 color pictures: commercial photographers should spend time, money and creative energy on numerous ""test'' photographs. Tests help the creative team to develop new ideas as well as a comfortable working relationship among themselves and with a variety of models. They also provide both tyro and veteran photographer with plenty of faces, locations and concepts to catch a prospective client's eye. And test images, though done at the creative team's own expense, can prove lucrative if they are filed with stock photography houses or used in portfolios and self-promotional materials. Photography Book Club main selection. (December)