For the first time in a while, I’ve accumulated a backlog of blog material. I’ve had three blog-worthy experiences over the last couple of weeks and I haven’t had time to write about them yet. I’ll start with the most recent and work backward.

On Sunday I took a photowalk — or “Instawalk”, if you will — in Braamfontein with a group of Jozi Instagrammers.

Man in a window, Braamfontein.

As many of you know, Instagram is my new obsession and I’ve taken many, many Instagram shots around town over the last few weeks.  But this was the first time that I participated in a photowalk with only my iPad. I felt some anxiety when I walked out the door and left my camera bag sitting on the kitchen counter. I didn’t regret it though.

No cameras. Only phones. (And me with an iPad). Photo: @levonlock

This Instawalk was actually more a climb than a walk — to the top of the Civic Towers in Braamfontein. I never get tired of the Jozi skyline and it was nice to experience it from a new angle. It was late afternoon and raining when we got up there. We saw several lightning bolts and a hint of a rainbow.

I didn’t catch the lighting. But I did catch Instagram rock star @garethpon, doing his thing. Can you see him?

@roywrench sets up a shot with his adorable iPhone tripod. See the rainbow?

Tilt. I never used to like shooting gimmicky frames like this. But Instagram is made for gimmicks. 

And of course, there were clouds.

@alessiolr, ‘gramming the Brixton Tower and light through the clouds.

Jozi and clouds.

I loved shooting the skyline and clouds, but I enjoyed shooting the other photographers just as much. Instagramming is a very photogenic activity.

@levonlock

@savvysavanah. My favorite shot of the day.

@hairyknees and @unclescrooch, shooting in a nearby alley after we came down off the roof.

I really enjoy hanging out with this group. Even though I feel like a dinosaur around them (I’m about 15 years older than the average Instagrammer), they make me look at photography in a new way. Most of the Jozi Instagrammers have never shot pictures with a DSLR before. They do all of their post-production work on their phones, and they spend hours and hours editing each photo. The results are stunning — true works of digital art. Click on the different Instagram feeds that I’ve hyperlinked in this post to see what I mean.

The ‘grammers. In addition to the profiles I’ve already mentioned, check out @btherad, @timvanrooyen, and @verashni. 

I’m still an amateur when it comes to Instagram. But thanks to @unclescrooch, who harassed me mercilessly on Sunday afternoon, I finally downloaded a photo-editing app called Snapseed. If you want to be a legit iPhonographer (iPadographer), you can’t rely on the standard Instagram filters. They just don’t cut it. So I’ve started a new learning curve.

Edited in Snapseed, as were several of the other photos in this post. I’ve got a long way to go (the graininess is intentional, okay?), but it’s a start.

I want to thank the Jozi Instagrammers for helping to open new creative pathways in my brain. I also want to thank them for promoting my upcoming photo exhibition, which will include a bunch of Instagrams. Check out this cool graphic they made for me! It deserves an exclamation point.

I think I see more photo-editing apps in my future. And there is an iPhone in my future too — the near future, in fact. Just wait.