Side effects of photography addiction?

Hey guys. Ever since I started this little hobby. I've noticed little changes in the way I do things.
The biggest change I can see is the way I look at magazines, tv, pretty much anything with any type of photo.
If I'm just going about my day and I see a photograph that catches my eye, I start analyzing it technically.
I guess at the lighting set-up, guess the type of lens used... It's actually quite interesting.
Anyway, for example, I'm reading a magazine and I look at a fashion type photo in an ad.
I'd check the reflections in the eyes, end up with thoughts like "large softbox camera left!" or "Umbrella camera right!"

Yeah...can't say I used to do that before...
Before, it was more along the lines of "Ooh! Pretty girl. Ok. flip page."
I consider this a side effect of photography.
Ok, now a couple questions.
Do you do this kind of stuff?
Is there any other side effects we should know about?
Pretty much, how has photography changed you?

I'd say what you are experiencing is quite common.

Add to the list the tendency of seeing things as a potential photo op! Whether it be an interesting or attractive person, a bird flying by, an event that is happening, whatever. An then there are those "Dang, I wish I had my camera!" moments!

Severe loss of cash... this can be a bad side effect if you're not careful.

Todd Lambert wrote in post #12930408
Severe loss of cash... this can be a bad side effect if you're not careful.

Agreed...

My passion for aviation photography is part and parcel of being a pilot, lifelong aviation buff and an ad hoc aviation historian.

Each feeds and enhances the next. Remove anyone of them from my life and the rest will shrivel up and die...

Potential photo op. Definitely.
Money. Agreed.
Shrivel up and die? Yup.

Agree with the money thing ... haha. Also, much more more aware of light, and even when looking around (when I don't have my camera), I am making compositions in my head, haha.

Wait until you start to see the world at a specific focal length and at a particular depth of field.

I firmly believe that the really good shooters see the world in this way. Spend enough time behind really long lenses (like I do) or say, at really wide angles like landscape shooters do and you do begin to frame shots in your mind before you even pick up the camera.

photography makes me broke. A lot.

I notice crooked horizons now...


And I'm broke.

I'm a lot fitter than I used to be! I carry my camera back-pack with me every day when I walk our dogs in the hills...partly to keep fit for some hiking trips when I can make time.

Also, like most of the "afflicted" I see things from a different perspective now...light, not the camera, is our main tool, and light is an ever-changing challenge.

I see light in terms of capture now. And frame things I see in new ways.

My favorite magazine for analyzing lighting and poses is Vanity Fair. I've subscribed for years just because of the photography and I don't shoot fashion.

Speaking of magazines, I have a whole new level of appreciation for NatGeo.

Most of the aviation mags I read serve the dual purpose of education and inspiration.