Techy Salesclerks

I've been working on a small article for my website... How to pick a digital camera. Well, I've got to the part about actually going into the store and discussing with a salesclerk your different options. But then I got writer's block and don't know where to go from there.

I was just thinking about techstores - anyone ever notice how crowded RadioShack stores are?! I mean these stores are everywhere in North America, so they must be doing something right... but every radioshack i've seen has been small, cramped, and stacked with boxes of gadgets. The salesclerks are always overworked and have no intention of helping you out except to ring you out, and try and sell you warranties for batteries. How do they stay in business?

Talking about salesclerks - do you realize how sucky most techstore sales people are? I like to categorize them into four, uh.... categories.
1. The old dude who doesn't know diddly squat and knows it. He just happily helps ring in your purchase and that's enough for you,

2. The young dude who knows some stuff - but this is usually at most equivalent to the knowledge a tech-savvy friend of yours may know. You may as well have asked your friend the same questions and saved yourself the hassle of being nice to this guy. Usually, his knowledge is due to him reading flyers every weekend,

3. The one sales clerk who graduated from engineering but couldn't find a job so ended up in sales at BestBuy. He knows his stuff... he'll ask you what your needs are, evaluate them, and then take you to the gadget that can help. He is rare to find, and if you find him - keep him! Get his cell number, pager, and buy him drinks and dinners, cos you need him (at least if you're a tech freak).

And the worst salesclerk in most stores is #4... the person you really don't want helping you, but everyone else is busy so you give him a try anyway, hoping he might be able to give you one little piece of helpful advice... of course he never does:
4. The middle-aged dude who doesn't know diddly squat, but thinks he knows something, and worse he thinks he can con you into believing he knows a thing or two. Any time you ask a question, he'll grab the box of whatever gadget you're looking at, look at the back and then read out the specs hoping that this will convince you he knows what he's doing. "uh, you realize you're reading out the box dont you buddy?!! I can do that too!!!"
Unfortunately, this type of salesclerk is the most common (go figure)!

Photo shoots

Just finished a small photo shoot for a teen rock band in Toronto - Ivey Mike. They're a small group just starting out, and they wanted some photos for their 'press kit'. Not sure what a press kit is but it didn't matter to me... I just like taking pix :) I'll put the photos into the Project's portfolio soon.

I had a couple of days to prepare for it since there was a bit of time pressure to get the photos done by mid-week. It didn't make sense to rent out any lights or anything since it would be expensive and just too much hassle for the job, so I decided I'd try and make do with my one SB-25 flash and see what happens. The other issue I had was Nikon had a call-back for the battery I used on camera. So I had just posted the battery to Nikon a couple of days before, and was sitting around waiting for them to post a replacement back. Fortunately, after a little scrounging around I found the adapter that allows 3 regular batteries to be used in the camera instead of the special rechargeable one I should have used.

Then I ran around a bit to get a remote cord to attach the flash to the camera with so I could move it around a scene rather than leave it on my hotshoe. I managed to find one and picked it up a couple of hours before the shoot! But it turned out to be a lifesaver as it made a huge difference. We ended up shooting in the halls of their high school - Earl Haig, which had typical flourescent tube high-school lighting. The flash did a great job though and I liked the end results - hopefully the band will like them too. I've put a couple in my Portraits portfolio.

Other than that, my buddy just bought the Canon Rebel XT. Ok, apart from the fact that it's Canon (the bane of all Nikon users), I told him - no I begged him not to go with the Rebel, and instead go with the 20D. As usually happens with all my friends, my comment was casually acknowledged and then he went and the did the exact opposite! It's a Canon anyway, so I can't blame his lack of logic ;)