Unless you’re new to scrapbooking, you’ve probably heard of the members-only photography site Clickin Moms. This is a community of women who love taking photos and learning how to do it better.
When I first heard about Clickin Moms, I was a little skeptical that a paid forum could offer more than great resources like Digital Photography School and I Love Photography. But then I kept hearing about how the members are so warm and helpful. Still resisting, I tried briefly to get into the forums at DPS, but found them dominated by uber-serious men. I think it would be great for a hit and run question, but not so much for making new like-minded friends.
When my friend Erin, at Texas Chicks Blogs & Pics, made a comment about a fantastic sale , I decided to take the plunge. I was ready to fork out some cash for serious reading material, so it made sense for me to try this first. I entered without specific expectations.
If you’ve browsed the site, you’ll see that there is little to indicate what’s on the inside, what a membership will get you. If you peek behind the curtain, you’ll find a nicely designed, very organized forum stocked full of 4000+ members and rich content.
While I’ve only been lurking for a few weeks, I have to say that I am quite impressed. New DSLR users (like myself) will find an endless stream of helpful tips, tricks and tutorials. On my first visit I figured out the likely cause of too many out-of-focus faces (heavy use of auto-focus and recompose) and one way I can fix that (use back button focus).
Lovers of post-processing, even those without fancy pants cameras, will appreciate the lively discussion on actions, presets and all the processing techniques you can think of. The 101-level tutorials are alone worth well more than what a 7 day pass would buy you.
I am writing this post today, not because I’ve become deeply involved in this community (yet), but because I have a discount code to share. Use the code “FRIEND” to take 10% off any membership. Try out a week or 6 months and let me know what you think. I’ll pop back in here in a few months to give you a second look at this passionate community of photographers. I have a feeling the news will be good!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Clickin Moms is very loyal to its members and has a very generous affiliate program. Affiliates, like myself, receive 20% of all referrals.
I was having some server issues today, hence the lateness of this post. I had to block some IPs that had unusual activity on the site. In the odd case that you are a real person (a loyal reader) that is now getting a 403 Forbidden error on simplescrapper.com, please let me know.
I’ve been meaning to join them for awhile, but wasn’t sure I was ready for a paid forum…if I was all that serious, but since I did spend money on a serious camera…I suppose I should learn how to use it properly! I just joined through your link 🙂 Now to take the time to dive in.