User post: When Your Mommy Hobby Takes Over Your Life!

Tina Case | Parent Grapevine

I am one of those moms who likes to keep busy (as if raising 4 kids wasn't enough) doing something. I am not the type of person who relaxes by watching tv. I prefer to do something creative.

I've tried knitting (I was in a felting craze 3 years ago), scrapbooking (I started one for my first son and then stopped at age 6--he is now 13), and card-making (oh the money I'd save if I made my own cards--yeah,right!). All of my hobbies fell to the wayside until I found 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 other moms like me, lurking on photography sites, posting to photography message boards and forums, entering contests, etc. We are a unique breed.


I realizethat I am a bit of a photography addict. Are you one too? Do you have a passion for pixels? Or do the hours fly by while you stamp, knit one pearl two, or die cut? Do any of these signs sound familiar (or do you have variations of the same)? What can you add to the list?

Signs You Are Addicted to Photography:

  1. Your kids actually want to learn how to do the laundry because they are tired of waiting for you to get to it.

  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; Family Fun, 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" your photography fan page 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--Moms Who Click and when you are not writing about photography you write for your other blog, Parent Grapevine.