If you live near a Menard's home improvement store (primarily in the Midwestern US and Canada) and are willing to take a few shots, send me a PM. I only need a couple, but I can pay you for the trouble.
I need a photo audit of the "grout" section... basically a shot of the aisle as you approach from one side, then the other, and a few from straight-on. At the very least, I need to have a sharp, complete image of the grout section so we can retouch items into it and see how they'll look. If there are any signs overhead or other related materials, I'd need shots of those, too. Close-up shots of anything interesting would be a bonus. The purpose is so we can design packaging and merchandising and show the client what their materials will look like on the shelf.
We do these audits all the time, but there aren't any Menard's around here. I need a couple of different stores and can pay about $200 for the trouble. It's not corporate espionage (we could simply buy the competitors products if it were), but you usually have to sneak because managers get nervous about cameras in the store (hence, "mission impossible"). Unless you're friends with the store manager, you need a "stealthy" point and shoot camera with no flash (sometimes we get caught and they just tell us 'hey, no pictures'). The tiny, low-light-capable Fuji Finepix F10 is great for this, but any camera will do if you can keep it steady and not call attention to yourself. I'd like to have a couple of stores covered by the end of the week.
Hey... $200 for about 5 minutes of work, go for it Rob! I've updated the details below, but anyone interested should let me know because I only need a couple of stores.
Rob, it's probably better to divide and conquer since two stores so close to each other are more likely to be identical. I'd like to account for the possibility of different looks, signage or products in different areas if possible. Since you know a manager, maybe you can talk to him and get better access with a D70 (much better quality, but not exactly stealthy).
mk, you're more than welcome to take the other store- just let me know. I need to get a couple, but I don't want anyone to go to unnecessary trouble if others are already working on it.
I'd be interested in seeing the pictures of these folks actually being stealthy and doing to deed. Anyone following them in? A new challenge in the works - "covert operations" :)
I'd be interested in seeing the pictures of these folks actually being stealthy and doing to deed. Anyone following them in? A new challenge in the works - "covert operations" :)
