Originally posted by OrchidJulie Then the young lady spied my DSLR (my fairly new Kr) and said something to the effect, "Oh, professional camera!
I get that quite a bit. Or they see the camera and ask, "Are you a professional?"
Last year I stopped in Yuma, Arizona for the night. After getting my truck parked I noticed a cabover Pete at the fuel island. Now cabover trucks are getting scarce in North America, this one was in pretty good shape, and it was hooked to an unusual trailer (a 57 footer, generally trailers are 53 feet long) so I grabbed my camera and took a few shots of it. As I was taking photos the driver came back out from the fuel desk and saw me. He walked up to me and asked, "Are you a professional?"
Of course the smart ass side of me came to life, and I replied, "Why yes. Yes I am! Well I am a truck driver, just like you, so I guess that makes me a 'professional'."
Of course I followed up with, "No, I am only an amateur photographer. But I noticed the cabover you are driving, and the extra long trailer. You don't see many cabovers anymore, and the legal length for trailers is 53 feet."
The guy explained how the company he drives for uses the tractor/trailer combination of cabover and 57 foort trailer to move more freight, and they are for a dedicated run from Southern California to Central Texas.
Here is one of the shots I took. (Without a K-3)
And one from the side. Notice how deep the pin (the part that hooks to the tractor) is, and how much of the trailer hangs out behind the tandems. Hooking to a tractor like mine would not be possible, even with the plate all the way back, as the trailer would hit the back of the sleeper.