Several aspects of the electromagnetic contribution to surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) are revisited and analyzed in terms of known concepts and ideas in the field of photonic crystals. A qualitative understanding of some reported SERS phenomena can be achieved by this analysis of the complex energy distribution and spatial localization of surface plasmon resonances in SERS active media. A few of the outstanding issues in the electromagnetic contribution to SERS (like the overwhelming success of nonresonant excitation) can be explained within this framework and, in addition, new physical phenomena utilizing the stimulation or inhibition of the Stokes/anti-Stokes fields are proposed. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.