Signs You Are Addicted to Photography

I have come to the realization that I am totally obsessed with all things related to photography.

Never before have I started something that has consumed most of my days and nights.  I know I am not alone.  I've seen others like me, lurking on photography sites, posting to photography message boards and forums, entering contests, etc.  We are a unique breed.

Please feel free to add your own signs of photo-addiction in the comment section--I know this is not a complete list!

Signs You Are Addicted to Photography:

1. You have dreams about editing your photos instead of your heart-throb Chris Isaak.


2. You spend hours reading blogs like I Heart Faces, The Maternal Lens, Digital Photography School, The Pioneer Woman, and Clickin Moms instead of your stack of subscription magazines including; US Weekly, Real Simple and Martha Stewart.


3. You go to bed reading your Photoshop manual instead of your book club book.


4. Instead of a Coach purse what you really long for is an Epiphanie bag.


5. You follow anyone on twitter that has "photo" as part of their name and you are thrilled when your followers count breaks 100 (it is actually 125 and rising).


6. You really want to get to know Gary Fong and try out his diffuser.


7. Instead of pricey baubles for your birthday or anniversary you want expensive lenses (the 24-70mm 2.8 would be nice).


8. You tell your kids to stop watching YouTube Lego Star Wars Videos so that you can watch Canon tutorials.


9. You spend the afternoon adjusting photos to make them just right and suddenly hotdogs for dinner really doesn't seem so bad (again!).


10. You tweet, like, follow, subscribe and join-- just to increase your chances of winning a photography related giveaway (and sometimes it actually works--I won a I Heart Faces giveway last week!!!!).


11. You know that a Pocket Wizard is not some pint sized Harry Potter character.


12. You hope that more people than just your family will "like" you on Facebook.


13. You are curious to know if  fellow photographers are Team Canon or Team Nikon.


14. You start using acronyms like SOOC, ISO, AV, RGB, ETTL, IS, PSD, AEB, AF, RGB, WB, and CF instead of PMS, LOL, TMI or WTF (actually, I never use WTF).


15. When  you think about getting some "action," you think of Coffee Shop and Florabella and not necessarily your husband (sorry luv).

Oh and it goes without saying, you have a blog where you chronicle your love for photography!

Setting Up an Online Shop

This week my business partner and I have been spending a lot of time researching photo hosting sites.  We are trying to figure out the best way to share our galleries and sell prints.  So far the companies that are in the running are Zenfolio, Smug Mug, and InstaProofs.

We'd love to hear your recommendations.

Creating Watermarks

Last week I decided to try and figure out how to create a watermark for our photos. After doing several searches on the web, I went to the school of YouTube and found this great tutorial by Kwerner Design blog.

What I like about her video is that she shows you how to turn an existing logo or image into a watermark using Photoshop Elements.  As I've said before, my knowledge of Photoshop/Photoshop Elements is limited, so I was excited to find a video that was simple and easy to follow.

In a matter of minutes I was able to create a great little watermark using the banner image from our family photography website Case-Rust Photography and another one for fun using Moms Who Click.  It was super easy to do!  If you are wanting to create a watermark for your images, I highly recommend checking out her video!



[caption id="attachment_149" align="aligncenter" width="1024" caption="Moms Who Click Watermark"][/caption]