Photo Archivist/Editor Todd Strand today answers the questions “wait–do I work with that person on that book cover?” and “Hm. What kinds of interesting things might I find in a K-12 book publishing employee’s home…”

The staff of Lerner Publishing Group really does have a wide range of interests and talents, not to mention an assortment of artifacts in their closets and basements. You may ask how I know this:

On occasion we put out a call for props, locations, and even modeling for our books—our staff has been a great resource for props including medieval swords, military uniforms, musical instruments, replica human skulls, fossilized teeth of a Megalodon (an extinct species of shark that lived approximately 28 to 1.5 million years ago, during the Cenozoic Era), and many others.

We also sometimes ask employees to be models for photo shoots. It is always a pleasure to work with designers, photo researchers, and editors as models, as they have well-conceived and very intuitive ideas about of how to achieve the desired photographic result. It may be something as simple as the model immediately positioning themselves in the right place/pose relative to the camera (usually this is photographer’s role), or planning meetings to make sure the photo shoot runs quickly and efficiently.

The photos range from a designer who knows what an unconscious person lying in an alley should look like from a distance of 40’ directly above to Photo Editors that can correctly mimic a bugler in military uniform with military precision, fight imaginary dragons with a medieval sword, or be cuffed and placed in the backseat of a police car.

It is no coincidence we have used team members of Photo Research for models. Photo Editors at Lerner have a good understanding of what needs to be achieved visually—not to mention many have excellent photography skills of their own. It really does help if a person can work on both sides of the camera.

Below are just a few props and modeling shots of staff members we have done in the past. The models will remain nameless—at least for this blog post.

all images © Independent Picture Service