Photographers have rediscovered Los Angeles with a vengeance this year.

A robust economy, smoother permitting process, and the perpetual search for new and interesting locations have brought about a huge increase in the number of still-photo shoots in L.A. County involving advertising, fashion, marketing and other materials.

There were 5,288 permitted shooting days in L.A. during the first six months of the year, an 81 percent increase from the like period of 1999, according to the Entertainment Industry Development Corp.

The EIDC tallies the number of permits per day, so that if a photo shoot takes place over a number of days, each of those days is counted.

One of the most important factors behind the current pickup in activity is the strong local economy, which has made businesses more comfortable with undertaking expensive advertising and marketing campaigns.

“There’s been a change in the way people do marketing,” said photographer Bobbi Lane. “They are looking for more creative interpretations in their corporate brochures, their Web sites and their advertising materials, which is a lot more fun to do than the more conservative stuff they were looking for a few years ago.”

These elaborate materials are typically more labor intensive and create more work for photographers.

According to Lane, it’s the more established companies, rather than the various Internet startups, that are generating the most lucrative business for local photographers. Whereas dot-coms have created a lot of new demand, they also have become extremely budget conscious lately, as their investors frown on extravagant marketing expenditures. Fast-growing, Old Economy businesses, on the other hand, have become more inclined to spend a little extra on marketing.

“With many Internet startups, they want to do things as cheaply as possible now particularly if they post the photos on a Web site, where the quality doesn’t have to be as good,” Lane said. “So, they create more work, but not more money.”

It’s been suggested that the increase in the number of permits for still-photo shoots may be partially due to commercial producers purposefully misidentifying the nature of their projects. Some producers have engaged in such tactics to escape the notice of striking Screen Actors Guild members. However, the number of photo shoots has been increasing since well before the commercial actors went on strike.

In March alone, there were 905 photo shoots, more than double the 424 such shoots in March 1999.

Aside from the strong local economy, another factor driving the surge in local photo shoots is that Los Angeles has once again become in vogue as a backdrop for spreads by overseas advertisers and fashion photographers.

“Five, six years ago everybody was going to Miami and a lot of business left town,” said Arnaud Gregori, co-owner of Paris Photo Lab & Imagine, which caters to many photographers from outside L.A. “Now, we’re seeing more of that coming back. People are getting tired of Miami and are looking for something fresh, and L.A. has a lot to offer.”

In particular European and Japanese crews, who have always been fascinated with the Southern California landscape, have started to return to L.A.

The return of foreign photographers also has been encouraged by a more streamlined permitting process. Rather than having to go through the process for each individual shoot, photographers can now take out an annual permit for a crew of less than 10 people. And they only have to call in to let the city know when and where they will be shooting.

However, for major shoots that require blocking-off streets and the presence of a police officer, photographers still need to go through the more detailed permitting process.

Despite the rapid growth in the number of photo shoots, not all photographers are in a celebratory mood. Smith, for one, points out that many local photographers are seeing their fees go down because advertising agencies have become very adept at having them bid against each other for assignments.

“I’ve bid on 60 projects so far this year, and I’ve gotten three,” said Smith, who specializes in automotive photography. “The ad agencies have been driving prices down by making studios bid down their fees.”

As a result of the more competitive climate, Smith is looking to diversify into other commercial photography areas and even into television.