Funny Observation

[maxalmon]

Over the last few days I've noticed that when I'm out and about in public places with my camera and gear, people treat me different.

As an experiment, I puton some dark sunglasses and just watched people watching me. Granted a 700 with battery pack and 24-70 sigma is a little more obvious than a coolpix, people will open doors for me, people stare at me, they point, they ask a lot of questions, some stupid, some not...

People strain their eyes trying to read the name/make of my camera, almost like camera envy...weird. Even caught one guy stalking me, tried tying his shoes so he could bend down to read the camera make, then followed me for a few stores (I was watching him thru window reflections) which is odd because my camera came with this obnoxious strap that says NIKON D700 in huge letters and it's hanging from my neck,

I've actually gotten two jobs by simply walking around a shopping district, 2 older ladies walked up to me and asked "are you a photographer" and then wanted to know if I'd take some holiday photos of their pets.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

and then wanted to know if I'd take some holiday photos of their pets.

Please tell me that's not really a market segment that can be tapped into?

 

[JerryPH]

Boudoire shots for women over 60? Most definitely an untapped market!

 

[Overread]

when in zoos I notice that lots of people will stop (even holding back kids) so as not ot walk infront of the camera - of course they all assume that at some point some big flash or sound will come from the camera- the shot will be taken and I will move on, allowing them to move again.
Nope - I could be in one spot for ages - so I have to wave them through.

Only problem is when out with family they take advantage of that - they crowed infront of me after the big (professional!) lens clears everyone else out of the way!........

 

[maxalmon]

Please tell me that's not really a market segment that can be tapped into?

I'm going to go walking around today and put this therory to a test, figure the dog park is a good place to start and then the public shopping districts. I even scored a job at a local boutique as I was just walking around inside of the store doing some actual shopping, walked up to counter, sat my camera down, payed for my candle and the owner said "wow, thats a huge camera are you a photographer" I said that I'm turning it into a business as I just retired, then I asked her if she needed some photographs for her advertising. I told her, let me take 2 or 3 photos inside the store right now and I'll bring them back to you on disk at no charge. I took several good photos and brought them back to her the next day, she was totally shocked and really happy. I simply handed her the disk, told her to enjoy the images and if she needed any more to call me. Called me couple of days ago and I'll be doing some interior shots of her store and some product shots for her Dec advertising. $150 for an hours work.

 

[Ejazzle]

Dont even try and tell me that when you guys are walking around somewhere and you see an slr you don't stop looking at it till you figure out what mind of camera it is... LOL

 

[dEARlEADER]

if u really want to freak em out slap on a fong diffuser...

 

[JerryPH]

Different places react differently. I walk around with a D200 w/battery grip (95% the same as your D700 w/battery grip physically) and a 70-200 lens with a SB-800 on top and barely get glanced at the whole day of shooting in the city.

 

[dEARlEADER]

Different places react differently. I walk around with a D200 w/battery grip (95% the same as your D700 w/battery grip physically) and a 70-200 lens with a SB-800 on top and barely get glanced at the whole day of shooting in the city.

that's because they steer clear of you after they read your shirt and see loose wires and battery packs hanging out of your cactus triggers....

 

[roadkill]

LOL!

 

[usayit]

that's because they steer clear of you after they read your shirt and see loose wires and battery packs hanging out of your cactus triggers....

hehehe

That was funny.

 

[kundalini]

.... and then wanted to know if I'd take some holiday photos of their pets.

*replies*
"Yes, but you'll have to move the cat". :lmao:


(old reference to Johnny Carson and Zsa Zsa Gabor)

Yes, many will say "Who?"

 

[manaheim]

that's because they steer clear of you after they read your shirt and see loose wires and battery packs hanging out of your cactus triggers....

Oh 10 points.

I always really enjoy figuring out this general behavior, but I've also noticed it has dropped off a bit over time. My personal theory is that I'm more used to what I'm doing so I probably attract a little less attention than I did when I first started. People absolutely react more to you if you react to them reacting to you. (if you can follow that...)

In other words, people are constantly looking at me, making commments to their friends, trying to figure out what I'm up to, etc. If I look at them and give them an expression that gives them some kind of an opening, they tend to do more... ask questions... etc.

If I just look at them and smile briefly and/or say something like "Hi, don't mind me... please walk right through," then they tend to move on their way. You can tell they want to get more engaged with whatever I'm doing, but since they didn't get the opening, they don't.

It's an interesting behavior and very fun to experiment with, as I see you are doing, max. BTW, I'm sure the D700 being a bit bulkier AND having the batt pack on it, is going to attract even more attention than my piddly little D300.

 

[Joves]

Please tell me that's not really a market segment that can be tapped into?

Actually yes it is a great segment that can be tapped. Some people are insane about their pets and, will pay good money for pet portraits. I know people who pay hundreds of dollars to get their horses massaged. My one aunt being one of them. She and her husband have no children and, the horse is her baby. But remember that pets can be a pain to shoot.

 

[chrisburke]

pet christmas pictures are HUGE around here.. a lot of photographers offer it, and all of the pet stores contract local photographers to come in for 3 days a week and do "pets with santa" pictures... i wont touch it with a 10 foot pole.. might be more frustrating than infant photography... i've only done one portrait session where the family wanted their dog in the shot... and it was impossible because the dog was terrified of me (my guess is my size... 6'5 280... ) i'll try to never do that again.