Telescope Pictures Challenge & Giveaway!

Contest Expired 

Do you have a great pic of your family enjoying Ocean City? Did the ‘SCOPES’ crew help you capture that image? Do you always take photos of your Ocean City vacation? During these uncertain times, Telescope Pictures wants you to look back and remember your favorite memories while vacationing in Ocean City, Maryland. The Governor of Maryland said, “Be A Hero Stay Home” and Telescope Pictures wants to reward those heroes and help them have some fun at home too.

“Photos create emotion,” says Jon Cameron, co-owner of Telescopes Pictures. Jon told OceanCity.com he and his wife, Sam, also a co-owner, were flipping through social media and felt inspired to try and do “our part.” Telescopes Pictures saw many companies helping with food drives, kids’ lunches, and other kind gestures, they just wanted to spread a little joy and help people recapture Ocean City memories. They hope this challenge and the free gift can do that. “Hopefully, [this challenge] can give people that special moment in the living room they would normally have at the beach.” Jon says it can be tough to get the family together for a family photo and since everyone is stuck in the house together already, why not have some fun. “Ocean City is such a special place to so many people, and were one of those businesses that have the opportunity for years and years to take those awesome, special memories on the beach. We love our customers so much. This place is like a second home to so many people, and I think a lot of people worry about when they can make it back here. We want them to know we miss our customers, employees, and beaches and we want to give them some hope.”

 

How to participate in the Telescope Picture Challenge:

Pick you favorite memory while vacationing in Ocean City, Maryland and recreate it! #OceanCityDreaming

1. Either tell us what your favorite memory is, or, better yet, show us with a picture, then tell us what this memory means to you. Recreate this memory at home with a new photo and share it with the hashtag #Scopesquarantinechallenge 
2. Upload your memory (photo or words, doesn’t matter) along with your new recreation of that memory here, then Like and Share Telescope Pictures facebook page.
3. You must also email your photo to info@mytelescopepictures.com with your name and address so we can get you your Ocean City Dreaming gift from Telescope Pictures. 

The first 100 submitted will get a Telescope Pictures product with your new photo — Our gift to you to keep “Ocean City Dreaming“

Top 5 favorites will win a $100 gift card to use at any Telescope Pictures location. (Extra Points for creativity, humor and traditional Scopes poses)

 

Not sure what to do, let your creative side run wild! Telescope Pictures gave some suggestions & Check out these photos:

• You have a great pic of you and the family on the beach with the surf boards you rented for the day. Why not draw the surfer boards on paper to scale or not and have everyone pose the same as before. (Don’t forget the board shorts and sunscreen.)
• Mom and Dad eating an ice cream cone.
• Grandma drawing all here stick figure grandkids on the beach with her.
• Photoshopping your clan into an iconic Ocean City scene is great.

Jon and Sam’s History with Scopes

In 2001, Jon Cameron found himself in need of summer job, while attending college at Shippensburg University. Jon was leafing through his college paper when he came across an ad that caught his attention. “A Picture popped out of a lot of tan and seemed to be athletic people, college students. It said ‘Work and live at the beach. Make $10,000 dollars. Be shirtless. Meet chicks. Have the summer of a lifetime. Call 1-800-telescopes‘ or something similar to that. So of course I called immediately. It was a recording that said ‘Congratulations, you are gonna have the best time living in Ocean City Maryland this summer. Leave your name, your dorm room number, your school, and when your last day of exams is, and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Congratulations and have a great day.” When Jon told his dad about his opportunity, Jon’s dad was not as optimistic about Jon’s new venture and told him he should make plans to come home for the summer. None of Jon’s family had ever heard of Telescope Pictures, Jon included. They had never been to Ocean City, Maryland, so all this did not add up for Jon’s dad. Still feeling as though he had found a chance to live at the beach and get paid to do it, Jon did not heed his dad’s warning. Jon was called a few days later from Ocean City Telescope with a date and time to meet for what he would later figure out to be a try-out for what he thought was a sure thing job. With many other students applying for a job Jon had no experience at, Jon was brought back after the weekend was over for the unfortunate news that he was not chosen. “I froze up. I’ve never been told I couldn’t do something that I wanted to do. I couldn’t go home and tell my dad I didn’t make the key chain team. So I just stood there. I really couldn’t leave because I made it there on my last tank of gas. I made it very awkward for this management team, and I didn’t leave. They basically were telling me, ‘To go, leave,  go home, now.’ I told them I couldn’t go home, because I would get in trouble. ‘I didn’t make the team. That’s not gonna make sense to my dad.'” So management looked at one another and said maybe they could find something for Jon for a few days, and then he never left. One job they needed help with ran into another job and then the following weekend there was another tryout and Jon made it. That was 2001, in 2004 Jon was the manager of a single location. In 2007 he was the manager of multiple locations and here we are in 2020 and Jon and is wife have been the co-owners since 2019. Under the new ownership, Telescope Pictures is re-establishing their presences on Ocean City’s boardwalk. The new location is on 4th St on the Boardwalk. Telescope Pictures hasn’t been on the boards since 1998.

Sam Cameron’s genesis to becoming an owner of Telescope Pictures differs from Jon’s due to her growing up with a home in Ocean City. Sam spent her summers in Ocean City. Sam’s parents patronized Telescope Pictures often, and they actually have pictures of Sam as young as 2 years old with Telescope images. When Sam told her parents of her opportunity to work for Telescope Pictures at their Seacrets location, unlike Jon’s dad’s reaction, Sam and her parents didn’t think it was something shady. “Sam’s parents are our traditional, Telescope, Dumser’s, Fisher’s Popcorn, Ocean City family. They gave the Scopers water,  watermelons, and treats,” Jon told us. Sam enjoyed her time at Seacrets taking photos, but didn’t come back after her summer of 2010, well not right away anyway. Jon told us in 2015 he took a call from Sam asking if she could get her job back at Seacrets, because it was the only job she ever loved. Jon being her manager then and still the manager at the time of the call, remembered her being an awesome crew member and her images were great. He was happy to have her back.

Telescope Pictures Caring for Our Region

Knowing Jon and Sam are married, it easy to put the following pieces of this puzzle together. They fell in love, got married in 2018, and took over the business in 2019. They are the very proud parents of an adorable cock-a-poo, named Rosie. Jon & Sam’s passion for their company, Ocean City, their employees, and clients is evident. This challenge isn’t the first time the Camerons have given to spread kindness and love. Last year, Telescope Pictures asked customers if they wanted to donate the change from their transaction to charity. A different charity was chosen each month during the shoulder and summer season and whatever the spare change was Jon & Sam matched it.

Charities donated to:

• PMRC
• Atlantic General Hospital
• Ocean City Downtown Corporation
• Humane Society of Worcester County
• Big Brother Big Sister

Photography Business Changed and So Did Telescope Pictures

The Camerons want to make sure Scopers are focused on putting ‘Feeling Back in the Photo.’ “It can be rough out there when you ask someone if they want their picture taken and they say, ‘Why, I have a phone?’ We had to change how we did business. We had  to slow things down and made sure we were more personal. Our customers and our employee’s time with us  is valuable. Our management team, Charlie and Tim, are vital to our success. We treat everyone like family, we want them to know that without them there isn’t a business. We make sure we create experiences that mean something to all of them. We make sure our Scopers spend extra time with our customers so they can capture images better than a phone and mom & dad can be in the picture. We have special events for our employees throughout the summer to show our appreciation.” 

This Telescope Pictures challenge is just another way the Camerons and Telescope Pictures are changing things up to give everyone a great experience. “We want to show our love and appreciation for our customers, the town of Ocean City, and our staff. Sam and I are excited to  see how people participate. We can’t wait to see the creativity.”

More About Telescope