Bait and Switch Camera Scam

Friends often ask me what digital camera they should buy for themselves, when I offer my advice, some will research prices online. They will often see a few suspicious stores that offer surprisingly low prices (BroadwayPhoto.com for example) and will ask me about it. I decided to do some homework and find out how and why these retailers had such low prices (for example, a Canon 1ds Mk3, which normally sells for around $8k, a suspicious retailer like Broadway Photo will offer the camera for under $6k!!) and if there was a scam involved...

This is how I discovered about the bait and switch online scam. You order a camera from one of these online camera retailers for a suspiciously low price. When you click the buy it now button, you are requested to call the retailer to confirm your order. When you do so, they will try and sell you a bunch of accessories and warranties you didn't want. If and when you refuse their extras, they will often send you a suspicious non-US (product you cannot get a warranty on in the US market) product, or a used product. Of course, the horror stories and scams vary, but this is the general idea.

Just keep this in mind when you see a surprisingly low price on a camera product from a retailer you have never heard of before!

Here are 2 interesting videos discussing the "bait and switch" scam:

Congrats to the Grand Adventure 2008!

Congrats to Scott and Steve who shattered the world record and travelled around the world in a [amazing] stock AgustaWestland Grand helicopter in 11 days and 7 hours and 2 minutes.

Thanks to Carnegie for the screen capture.

An acoustic concert at my place!

Omar, lead singer of Crash Boom Bang, and Stacy Clark rehearse at my house before performing a duet on stage the following evening. They sound awesome! They are on tour together this August. Footage taken with my Canon G9 point and shoot.

Stacy Clark
http://www.myspace.com/ilovestacyclark

Crash Boom Bang
http://www.myspace.com/crashboombang

Sorry for the lack of updates

I have been slacking (aka. working like crazy)! So while I put together some new posts, enjoy this video of puppies sleeping:

Puppy lullaby

Crash Boom Bang

Did a shoot with my very talented friends of the band Crash Boom Bang  to promote their new album (produced by lead singer of the Plain White T's, Tom Higgenson) coming out later this year. They just redid their myspace page and are adding some new music. Check it out!

http://www.myspace.com/crashboombang

Owning a Land Rover is fun

As you may or may not know, I am the proud owner of a Land Rover product. Sure its very pretty, sure it has a big storage area, sure it is horribly inefficient on gas, but did I mention it is rated the worst in reliability according to J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Vehicle Dependability Study?

Oh the emails I have been getting from friends today after seeing this come out.  Don't get me wrong, I love it and it great for hauling clients and gear to and from shoots, but yes, it does happen to give me fun warning lights on occasion and pieces of trim do have a tendency to just fall off.

See the study results below:

So I was on Fox last night...

Fox news was there while I was photographing 2 pilots hoping to fly around the world in their stock helicopter to break a speed record:

"The Grand Adventure is about breaking a record. Pilot Scott Kasprowicz and co-pilot Steve Sheik will fly 20,000 nautical miles, crossing every meridian on the globe, in an effort to break the current record for circumnavigating the globe in a helicopter. What's more, the helicopter is a factory-stock Agusta Grand with no mission-specific special equipment on-board.

The current record was set in 1996 when Ron Bower and co-pilot John Williams flew a Bell 430 around the world in 17 days, 6 hours, 14 minutes and 25 seconds. The team traveled 20,508 nm with 165.1 total flight hours.

For Kasprowicz and Sheik, The Adventure is not just about setting a record, but about doing it without the aid of specialized equipment, chase planes, or other extraordinary assistance—it's about pushing themselves and the aircraft to the limit."

You can check out their website for more information and even track their journey!:

http://www.grandadventure08.com/

PS. Click the "watch the video" button on the top of the Grand Adventure website to see the short behind-the-scenes video my production company (8112 Studios) did for them.

My first visit to the Playboy Mansion

Hey gang. Did I mention that the entire 8112 Studios gang (that's my/our video production company) took a weekend off last month and flew to LA to attend a Playboy Mansion party?

All I can say is, the Mansion is life changing. You go through the gates, and you walk out a different person.

The Infamous Playboy Grotto

The above photos are the only ones I will post and the last mention I will make of this party on my blog (aside from the bragging rights that I am hanging out with the 2007 Playmate of the Year, Sara Jean Underwood). Ha ;)

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Seether photoshoot

Hey gang. Just an update. You can catch my photos of the amazing rock band Seether on the front page of iTunes today. They were really cool guys!

DJ Enferno Album Cover

Shot this album cover for my friend DJ Enferno. He is currently on tour performing on stage with Madonna.

Check out his work:

http://www.myspace.com/djenferno

Sharam Photoshoot - Get Wild

Photographed amazing world-famous DJ, Sharam, in the Nevada desert (Red Rock Canyon) for his upcoming album "Get Wild.

Check out his myspace: www.myspace.com/sharamdish