At the Big Box Stores: a departure from my altered book lessons

Last week my friend Sally and I headed to five of the Big Box Stores. These store names should be familiar to those who live in the US, but may not be to those who are visiting my blog from other countries.


The first store on the list was Lowes, a home improvement store. I wanted to shop in the garden center because I was in need of potting mix. I found lots of wonderful items that would have looked lovely in my yard, but because of my self imposed ban on buying anything that is not a necessity, I was not there to buy anything except the soil. All they had left were two bags and they were both broken. However, I agreed to take them, since the sales clerk offered them at 25% off. I'm always agreeable when it's something on my list AND I can get it at a bargain.

Because I was able to get the soil at such a good price, I didn't have to go to Home Depot. I was thrilled I could mark it off my list. The day had just begun and I was already ahead of schedule! While there, Sally bought some pesticide weed killer. I'm glad I'm an organic gardener.


The next place on the list was Target. It was the only store I took a picture of the outside. Perhaps it's because it's not a store I go to, so it was a bit of a novelty.


Off to the camera department I went, while Sally shopped for music.


The sales person who ran the camera department, or who supposedly knew about cameras, was gone and there was no one who could really answer any of my questions. The only thing I learned was the two Nikon cameras I wanted to look at were either discontinued or not in stock in that store. So I looked around a bit, waited to see if the manager could come to the floor and help me, but that wasn't going to happen.


In the meantime, Sally not only bought music, she also spent over $90.00 on two top sheets!! Color me amazed at how she can spend so much money for so little, where ever she goes. As an aside, for those of you who don't live in the states, but are curious as to the price of the cameras, or of Sally's purchases, see my right sidebar for monetary conversions in your country based on the Euro. That translate roughly to 1 1/3 in the US compared to the countries that use the Euro.

Since no one at Target was able to help me with my questions about cameras,


our next stop was at Best Buy. It was amazing how similar the two stores' displays were. This time, however, there was a human who was very, very knowledgeable.


When I told him my primary concern and interest was macro, he showed me the difference between several Nikons, my preference, and two Canons. Now I'm not a lover of Canon. In fact, it would be way, way down on my list of cameras I would want to buy.



But surprisingly, both of the Canons had the best macro image of all the fixed lens cameras I looked at. Of course, then I had to learn about batteries. Some come with chargers and some don't. Some that come with chargers plug directly into the wall socket, while others require the camera be plugged into the wall unit to charge. Only one of my Nikon choices took AA batteries, which I have plenty of the rechargeable kind.

And then there are lots of different cards you have to buy. And it seems that some cameras don't furnish the card, which is also an extra expense. I swear, I was even more confused when I left Best Buy than if I hadn't talked to any sales person.

One thing I DID learn was all cameras sold by Best Buy, even the cheap ones, have the tripod female connection. So I won't have to worry that my next camera won't have a way to sit on my tripod.

In the meantime, Sally bought a case for her camera and more music.


Next, we went to Sam's a Big Box division of WalMart, where you buy a membership for the privilege of shopping there. This is where I get Bleubeard's litter and my organic coffee. Some combination, wouldn't you agree? I don't have a membership,


but my friend Sally has one, so I am blessed to be able to use hers. Once again, she bought about $200.00 worth of whatever, and my bill was slightly less than $55.00, which included litter, coffee, and a $25.00 gift card I used to buy gas with Sally's membership and the gift card. Other than lunch, that and the


potting soil were all I purchased. By the way, when I got home, I saw the clerk had only charged me half the regular price for that "damaged" soil! I got both bags of soil (seen in my garden wrapped in their "recovery bags") for the price of one. Yep, I'm a very, very happy person who also has a full tank of gas.

I would love to get your opinion about a new camera. I want something that will take excellent close up indoor photos (macro) as well as crisp shots of my work table. I would also like to be able to get outdoor shots that might actually include people who aren't a blur. And to make matters more important, I want a camera that, no matter where or what I'm shooting, won't require about a hundred photos in order to get ONE that is acceptable.

When I went shopping, I had my heart set on a Nikon. Now I don't know if it is right for me or not. Please, please chime in and let me know what you think, especially if you know anything about cameras. I'm completely befuddled right now.

I'm linking up with Creative Every Day in hopes of hearing from some of you awesome photographers whose photos I so admire.

_______________________