A. Cope
Stranger things have happened.
Today I went to a trade in event for old unused camera gear at the Camera Company on Madison's east side. The services were being provided by none other then one of my favorite online retailers for gear, KEH.com (out of Marietta Georgia). I went in on lunch, not anticipating that I would have much of a wait as it was still in the first hour of the event. Boy was I wrong, it took me at least five minutes to find a parking spot in the strip mall; but for lunch time I figured this to be quite normal. Unfortunately as I walked into the Camera Company with my D90 and a bag full of lenses, I was taken back by the countless people sitting in chairs waiting. At the door was a ticket dispenser, and as I started to walk towards a display case to look at a lens; I was scolded by an old man who spoke sternly "take a number!"
As I weaved my way through the maze of people and grabbed a number (F16), and then went to the back of the line. It was obvious that I was going to be unable to claim a spot. I asked an employee and how late they would be accepting tickets for the event and was a little upset to find that after 5:00 p.m. they would stop. I was scheduled until 5, and with a little traffic was going to be pushing my chances in coming after work. I again went through the maze to find myself out the door, still with my bag of camera gear and a wallet with nothing but my F16 tag in it. I paced nervously the next 1.5 hours of my shift, and when I called at 4:30 and asked what number they were on; to my surprise they were at F28. Sadly my number had been passed on, but I was informed that there was no one waiting at that time. So fast forward to 5:00, I shifted out and bolted for the door and was at the shop in no more then five minutes.
I came in, with the heavy bag over my shoulder and my 5D Mark II on my neck. I was met with a smile by a few people behind the counters and a friendly hello from a man leaving as I was entering. Standing in the light I looked at the table, and saw a young man with a beat up box full of old film camera's at the table. I wondered inside, why had I not brought anything like that? I was in fact bringing my whole Nikkor collection (minus the defective D2h and my FE), the switch to the Dark Side would commence today. At least that's what I've been telling myself since I started shooting Canon 6 months ago. The man at the table unloaded the camera's from the box, and sadly found that most of the 35mm was worth little to nothing in trade in value. But as I was called over to the table by the KEH representative, the man with the box of cameras looked over at me.
With a quizzical look on his face, he exclaimed "I know you!" and I spoke to him, "You are Austin" as I'd seen his face on photos here and there on Flickr. Still looking a little unsure of who I was, I told him I was the "local paparazzi." He smiled and a few others in the room chuckled, as he informed me that he loved my work. I sat down next to him and shook his hand, and then proceeded to put my Nikkor gear out on the table. A few people gathered around to see what I was giving away, as I felt like a celebrity of sorts. A gal behind the counter asked me if I had finally gone Nikon, silly Heidi "I'm actually joining the dark side finally, I'm going Canon." A few bewildered faces looked on as if I were a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. As a lifelong Nikon fanatic, and now switching sides it was hard to do. Alas this is not the story of the man in this portrait, as I told Austin it only seemed reasonable to snap his photo for my 100 more strangers project.
He agreed, and once I had traded off the gear I found him at the counter waiting for me to claim my keep. After receiving my voucher, he asked me how I would like him to pose and where. I learned that Austin ha worked at the Camera Company for almost 2 years now, both as a sales consultant as well as an instructor for beginner photography classes. A couple quick adjustments to my settings and after firing only two frames, I knew that I had a worthy photo for inclusion in the project. As with most strangers, I have included more back story then may be needed. Check out the 100 strangers group for more! Not to mention you can check out Austin's photostream here on Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/austincope/. In theory he is stranger number 66 but I am numbering him number 65, because I've yet to do a write-up for a couple of strangers I met last weekend.
065/100
A. Cope
Stranger things have happened.
Today I went to a trade in event for old unused camera gear at the Camera Company on Madison's east side. The services were being provided by none other then one of my favorite online retailers for gear, KEH.com (out of Marietta Georgia). I went in on lunch, not anticipating that I would have much of a wait as it was still in the first hour of the event. Boy was I wrong, it took me at least five minutes to find a parking spot in the strip mall; but for lunch time I figured this to be quite normal. Unfortunately as I walked into the Camera Company with my D90 and a bag full of lenses, I was taken back by the countless people sitting in chairs waiting. At the door was a ticket dispenser, and as I started to walk towards a display case to look at a lens; I was scolded by an old man who spoke sternly "take a number!"
As I weaved my way through the maze of people and grabbed a number (F16), and then went to the back of the line. It was obvious that I was going to be unable to claim a spot. I asked an employee and how late they would be accepting tickets for the event and was a little upset to find that after 5:00 p.m. they would stop. I was scheduled until 5, and with a little traffic was going to be pushing my chances in coming after work. I again went through the maze to find myself out the door, still with my bag of camera gear and a wallet with nothing but my F16 tag in it. I paced nervously the next 1.5 hours of my shift, and when I called at 4:30 and asked what number they were on; to my surprise they were at F28. Sadly my number had been passed on, but I was informed that there was no one waiting at that time. So fast forward to 5:00, I shifted out and bolted for the door and was at the shop in no more then five minutes.
I came in, with the heavy bag over my shoulder and my 5D Mark II on my neck. I was met with a smile by a few people behind the counters and a friendly hello from a man leaving as I was entering. Standing in the light I looked at the table, and saw a young man with a beat up box full of old film camera's at the table. I wondered inside, why had I not brought anything like that? I was in fact bringing my whole Nikkor collection (minus the defective D2h and my FE), the switch to the Dark Side would commence today. At least that's what I've been telling myself since I started shooting Canon 6 months ago. The man at the table unloaded the camera's from the box, and sadly found that most of the 35mm was worth little to nothing in trade in value. But as I was called over to the table by the KEH representative, the man with the box of cameras looked over at me.
With a quizzical look on his face, he exclaimed "I know you!" and I spoke to him, "You are Austin" as I'd seen his face on photos here and there on Flickr. Still looking a little unsure of who I was, I told him I was the "local paparazzi." He smiled and a few others in the room chuckled, as he informed me that he loved my work. I sat down next to him and shook his hand, and then proceeded to put my Nikkor gear out on the table. A few people gathered around to see what I was giving away, as I felt like a celebrity of sorts. A gal behind the counter asked me if I had finally gone Nikon, silly Heidi "I'm actually joining the dark side finally, I'm going Canon." A few bewildered faces looked on as if I were a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. As a lifelong Nikon fanatic, and now switching sides it was hard to do. Alas this is not the story of the man in this portrait, as I told Austin it only seemed reasonable to snap his photo for my 100 more strangers project.
He agreed, and once I had traded off the gear I found him at the counter waiting for me to claim my keep. After receiving my voucher, he asked me how I would like him to pose and where. I learned that Austin ha worked at the Camera Company for almost 2 years now, both as a sales consultant as well as an instructor for beginner photography classes. A couple quick adjustments to my settings and after firing only two frames, I knew that I had a worthy photo for inclusion in the project. As with most strangers, I have included more back story then may be needed. Check out the 100 strangers group for more! Not to mention you can check out Austin's photostream here on Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/austincope/. In theory he is stranger number 66 but I am numbering him number 65, because I've yet to do a write-up for a couple of strangers I met last weekend.
065/100