Photography emails from strangers

[mjs1973]

Do any of you get emails from people you don't know, asking you photography questions? I got one today. In this age of spam and internet scams, my first thought is to just delete it.

This is the email I got today.

never really done much photography.......thought i might as well invest in a decent camera ...spent the summer in south america and realized how much i needed a nice camera. was wondering if you could recommend a decent camera............this nikon D40 good? thanks for your help.

[mn shutterbug]

It looks innocent enough, but why would they email you for Nikon advice when your last name is O'Canon? Maybe they're fishing to see if they reached a legitimate email address, and if you reply, watch out for the spam. I don't know, it's a bit strange.

[mtbbrian]

I get them, although it's been a while since I got one, but I do get them.
I would especially got them when I when I did a lot more mountain bike photography.
A lot of the questions were from high school or college kids, asking about equipment and what not.
I usually answered them.
The strangest email I have ever gotten was someone claiming to be some marketing company or what not, asking me if I was the copyright holder of mtbbrian.
They wanted to do a site mtbbrian.cn and market mtbbrian.
I think it was scam
Brian

[adina]

I get them all the time. Usually to my work email, which is not associated with any forums, people asking general "how do I get started" stuff, usually.

I always take a few minutes to reply, Lord knows I asked my share of dumb questions, and ya'll were nice enough to answer them. I try to do the same.

[another view]

I've had a few and usually try to answer them too - as long as the spam-o-meter doesn't go off. About a year ago I had one that came from my website asking about a Nikon Coolpix 5000. It's an old camera for a digital but I still have mine and love it. Cult sort of thing, I guess. I've talked about it a bit here but they made no mention of this site so I'm not sure how they found me or if it was just a coincidence.

[opus]

I think you can click on your name and get an email form. They don't get to see your email address but they can send you an email just the same. I've actually done it once or twice, not with questions but just to get ahold of someone whose posts interested me.

[Rocket_Scientist]

I have never received a request for photography help... but maybe there's a reason for that. I do get a lot of requests to help smuggle money out of Nigeria, or to fraudulently pose as an heir to unclaimed bank accounts in England. However, I think I have seen almost exactly that text posted in one of the forums here...

[berrywise]

Sory Mike I'll stop emailing you.

[Photo-John]

Tell them to post a question on the forums. It's good for the site to have new members and more action on the forums. Plus, it really is the best way for them to get their questions answered. I always tell people that I'll answer their question - but only on the forums. That way they get more than just my opinion - and other people benefit too because we create a permanent, searchable record of the discussion.

[mjs1973]

That's a great idea John.

[SmartWombat]

... tell people that I'll answer their question - but only on the forums. That way they get more than just my opinion ...

Almost exactly what I've been doing since Compuserve started

[mjs1973]

I did reply to this person. I set up a free G mail account and replied using that to see if I would get spammed. I didn't.