There’s much to be said for being a big fish in a small bowl. The explosive growth in Las Vegas in recent years has created opportunities for the relatively small group of top-tier pros who live and work there. Jeffrey Green is a multifaceted photographer who has garnered a reputation for getting the shot efficiently and getting it the first time.

While there’s no shortage of aspiring fashion photographers today, few have garnered the praise of art directors, fashion editors and fellow fashion photographers as much as Michael Thompson. His work is original and captivating, and in his book, Images, every page shows a visual sensibility of an artist at the top of his creative game. 

A commercial photographer faces a host of challenges in running a profitable business, and those obstacles actually can be compounded as the photographer achieves more success. Whether it’s pressure from demanding clients, the technical challenges of mastering a large-scale digital workflow or simply fighting to keep the jobs from going stock, success can bring its own set of headaches. For St. Louis-based photographer Brian Kuhlmann, those challenges include the task of courting clients who are used to taking their jobs to New York or Los Angeles.

Opening Chris Rainier’s latest book, Ancient Marks, you find yourself absorbed by the black-and-white photographs that reveal an array of body modifications, including tattoos, ritual scarring and body piercings. As you turn each page, you’re enthralled by the myriad of ways people around the world modify their own skin, not only for beauty, but also to create a sense of connection, of community.