Everyone’s a photographer–This picture taken at the 2009 US Open Badminton tournament shows just about everyone has some sort of camera on their person all the time.

The convergence of all things digital has empowered the masses to document everything. Politicians had better pay attention. Your words can come back and bite you when you least expect it.

In no particular order here are the signs:

1. you drool every time you see a long lens and you don’t even own a digital SLR
2. when you pass a gorgeous gal or guy, you only notice the brand of their digital SLR and what lens they have.
3. you start to count the number of long white lenses on the sidelines rather than watch the actual action at a sporting event.

1. you suffer buyer’s remorse when you see that $200 can buy a 16GB memory card today to replace the 2GB card you bought 3 years ago.
2. every time Canon or Nikon announces a new camera body, you fantasize about which of your unsuspecting friends you can unload your current digital SLR on
3. instead of wanting to be photographed with a celebrity, you want to be the one taking the picture
4. your spouse refuses to step into a camera store with you
5. the term “expose” doesn’t mean flashing yourself to strangers anymore
6. your family and friends scatter when you say “Slideshow”
7. those same folks will never admit to it, but they also delete your emails whenever they see attachments.
8. you use your hands as a make believe frame around everything you see. No, not like Italians. They use their hands to enunciate.
9. you don’t get upset with the airlines when they lose your check-in baggage because all your gear is safely in your carry-on.
10. you’re lusting for bigger, faster and longer endurance.  I’m referring to hard drives, card readers and battery life naturally.

Chimping is a skill–Indiscriminate chimping at the wrong time can cause you to “miss shots” or worse, kill your battery turning your camera into an “ugly necklace.” Thanks Katie for the use of this picture and DeeAnn for being a good sport.

1. you know not to “chimp“ when you only have one battery
2. you know the exact location of the nearest electrical outlet
3. your idea of a “drive-by shooting” has nothing to do with guns, you only have to decide if your windows are clean or if you have to wind them down in your vehicle to take a picture.
4. you have more chargers for your toys than your surge protector can accommodate
5. you’ve run out of names for your memory cards

What are you waiting for? Please help me add to this list.