How long have you been into photography? How much time do you spend taking photos? Has photography become a major part of your day-to-day activities? Have you become a photography geek?

Determining the answers to these questions can be quite confusing. First, you probably haven’t had the time to think about them before. Second, you really do not know what the symptoms or signs are that photography has become your passion; or that you’ve turned into a photo geek. To help you find out if you truly have become one, here are the top signs that your photo obsession has gone over the normal level.

1. First things first. You spend more money for your photography more than your personal needs, such as clothing and to some degree even food. It’s not important that you haven’t bought a new pair of shoes and still wear the one that’s about to “disengage”.
2. You’re definitely a photography geek if you spend more time talking about your cameras and photography gear than, say, the latest news or which movie is showing where. In gatherings, like parties, you spend a lot of time looking for people who are interested in talking about photography – or people who love photography like you do. Often, you’d compare gear, too!
3. If you’ve noticed a change in the way you interact with the opposite sex, chances are you’ve also slowly turned into a photo geek! You just realized that your social skills have been limited and you find it a little difficult to socialize with someone you are attracted to. This is probably because you’ve been spending more time with your camera than with people. You only interact with people who are part of a scene you are shooting; or with people who are also crazy over photography.
4. Your friends are quite hesitant to strike a conversation with you because all you can think of and talk about is your camera. Or how awesome your new lens is; how incredibly talented your photoshoot model is; and even how much of a bargain you got on your new DSLR.
5. When talking to others, even to non-photographers, you find yourself unleashing a slew of not-easy-to-understand photograhic terms like ISO, aperture, white balance, f-stops, or digital noise. It’s like jargon speak; like a lawyer talking to another lawyer or to a judge. Only photography geeks like you will understand what you’re talking about.
6. Even when you’re at home, in a family event, in the office, or even in the subway; you will always find the need to take photos. You’ll find an excuse to leave a party or a family dinner early because you feel like you’re being unproductive by not taking photos. You hate taking the subway because you can’t easily escape from it, so you take out your camera and start shooting photos, instead.
7. You know you’ve become a photo geek when you find yourself bringing your camera gear with you wherever you go; even in inappropriate places or occasions. You don’t need to bring your camera when you’re going to a formal business meeting with a client. If you can imagine yourself running a marathon with a camera hanging by your neck, you have definitely transformed into a photography geeks. Some photo geeks even go as far as bringing their complete camera gear with them when buying groceries!
8. Photography geeks treat their camera gear as if it were their baby. Well, some would even take better care of their gear than their baby. It’s the kind of obsession that we see with men treating their cars like babies. Some photographers even sleep with their camera gear beside or close to them – especially if they’re newly bought!
9. You spend a lot of time browsing inside photography or camera shops. If you find something you like but it’s expensive, you go online to find a cheaper alternative, or you go and search for 2nd hand shops. Flea markets, however, are reserved for finding collectible camera paraphernalia. You also spend significant time in online forums or blogs focused on photography or cameras.
10. You like to collect cameras and other photography gear. It’s like you can never have enough of them. Your room is filled with cameras of every type and every size. They can be new models or vintage ones; it doesn’t really matter! And, if you can, you will always, always purchase branded or exclusive gear; the top-of-the-line ones.

There are also photography geeks who spend a lot of time improving their craft. If they hear about seminars or workshops, they’ll immediately jump and grab the opportunity to learn, especially if the resource persons are photography masters. Also, someone who constantly takes online photography courses can be a photography geek; it all depends on the level of regularity.

Photography is something that you master with time. It’s not something that you take up today and then learn right away. It takes a lot of time, practice and effort.

And this is probably one of the reasons why a lot of photographers have become confidently focused on their craft; too focused that they’ve become more than obsessed with it.

Another reason why photographers can turn into geeks is the feeling that one gets every time he takes a photo, and when he sees his work displayed and admired by people.

These maybe simple things, but these give photographers a different kind of high. It’s the good kind of high; one that will make you crave for it more and more. That’s why they become photo geeks!

If you’ve checked more than one of the items above, you may have transformed into a photography geek. Or, you may be slowly becoming one. Is this a good thing or not? We think it’s a good thing!