First off, Instagram has been around for a while. It's a free app for your iPhone (not sure about others) that allows you to add interesting filters and and share your photos online. I always have my phone with me and enjoy taking photos, so this was a no brainer for me. I've also found a new community of online friends through using it. Here's how...
I've used hashtags (#) for subjects I photograph a lot such as the dogs. I have found a big group of Weimaraner owners who, like me, photograph their dogs doing funny things or sitting pretty. Searching #Weimaraner you'll find over 8,300 photos to like or comment upon.
Other hashtags I use (according to my own preferences) are #midcentury, #midcenturymodern, #home, #shoes, you get the idea. These allow me to find the kinds of photos and subjects that interest me, thus connecting me to people with these things in common. Of course, Instagram allows me to follow other friends who also use this application on Twitter and Facebook.
Now onto my 2nd obsession: Photo-a-Day challenge. I've tried various photo challenges in the past, 365 Project and 52 Weeks of Photos, to no avail. Having no direction each day or week, I found that I would forget to take a photo or scramble to shoot anything just to fulfill the requirement. Not as enjoyable. When I read about Fat Mum Slim's Photo-a-Day challenge, I decided to give it another go. Chantelle created this challenge that has really taken off online. You may have seen photos on Twitter with the tag #Janphotoaday and wondered how/where it originated. She produced a list of things to photograph each day in January.
I actually started with Day 10: childhood but have been following along each day since. Here are my photos so far this month. Click image to enlarge.
If you find yourself on Instagram, look me up under @alamodestuff. Even if not on Instagram, people are using the hash tags on Twitter and Flickr. Simply tag your photos with #Janphotoaday. It's lots of fun. Chantelle just posted the a new list for February (#Febphotoaday). Start there if you'd like.
Are you doing the challenge?
