Instadebutante

After posting that I was new to Instagram a few months ago and declaring myself an Instanoob, I'm now introducing myself to the world as an Instadebutante. I've figured out the ropes, found my rhythm and my preferences, and the app is my new favourite toy.

What I Instagrammed in autumn

At first I wasn't sure what Instagram was for, because there are so many social media sites around. But now I figure that for the inspirational quotes and images you find on the internet there's Tumblr, for outfit posts there's Lookbook, for witty updates there's Twitter, for carefully edited photos from an expensive SLR there's Flickr, for photos of you posing next to a person in a cigarette suit there's Facebook, and for a photo of the raw chicken breasts you're about to cook there is an email to your mum (maybe). That leaves Instagram for rapidly and easily sharing interesting snapshots of your life, like postcards. It challenges you to produce an interesting photo with limited resources: just your phone's camera and a basic effects editor.

I know there are a lot of detractors who are purist photographers. But a rubbish phone camera which you have limited control over, overlaid with some silly effects will never replace the kind of images you can get on a "real" camera, and everyone knows that. I still love going out with my Nikon D3100, but the best camera is the one I have with me, which happens to be my phone many times.

Here are a few more Instagrams from the last few weeks. First, more autumn:

I see much of the city by cycling which makes for lots of great subject matter. Here are some wintry/festive shots, including a self portrait with a red balloon which unintentionally looks like a Christmas bauble, workers putting up Christmas decorations in the city, and ice-skating.

Two Instagrammers who really impress me with their creativity and skill are Roy Potterill (@roywrench) and Ofentse Mwase (@unclescrooch), both South Africans you should check out if you're interested in amazing phone-only photography, from an amazing country. If you're interested in more of my photos, I am @ello_mennopee