Well, if you just crawled out from under a rock, you probably haven’t heard the news that Instagr.am was recently acquired by Facebook for the grand old sum of one million dollars (billion sir…billion)…I mean one billion dollars! I have received quite a few emails and social messages asking for my thoughts about this. So, instead of emailing and tweeting everyone, I figured a single post on none other than iPhone Friday seems appropriate.

I have given this quite a bit of thought, and I will be honest, I had some mixed emotions about the news. It wasn’t until last night, while I was out on a mountain bike ride, that I finalized my thoughts on the matter. Let’s not get caught up in the money. Everyone of us who uses Instagr.am, has paid ZERO dollars for it. So if a couple of young passionate folks want to create a service and give it away for all of us to enjoy, then sell it for a whole $#I+ ton of cash…so be it! I couldn’t be happier for the IG team. What I feel has gotten lost in the numbers and fear of change, is what Instagr.am has accomplished. Through its simplicity, ease of use, and community ties, Instagr.am has single-handedly pushed art and photography further than anything else in history. I often hear complaints that ‘everyone can be a photographer now’. That’s a good thing! The more we share the beauty of this world, the better we will make it. Art and understanding is an incredible tool that breaks down the barriers that divide us. I believe Instagr.am goes a long way to doing that. If it wasn’t for Instagr.am, I wouldn’t be able to instantly experience places I have never been, or see the world through the eyes of new friends in foreign lands. It really is amazing! That being said, Facebook would be foolish to tamper with such an incredible tool. I’m a ‘half full’ type of guy, and I have complete faith that things are only going to get better as more and more people join the already thriving community.

Robert Scoble+, who (whom??) I have a tremendous amount of respect for, wrote an interesting article regarding this acquisition. You can find out what he thinks here.

I thought I would share a few of my photos that I have made over the last 17 months with my simple, elegant, and fun friend.

My Very First Instagr.am

No need to jump ship, Instagr.am is just getting started!

Happy Spring to everyone in the northern hemisphere! To celebrate this beautiful weather and the courage of all the flowers who made an early appearance, I decided to break out my iPhone’s macro lens this week. Not only does it do a great job on decreasing my iPhone’s minimum focusing distance, it’s also a fun way to force your subject out of focus and create soft Monetesque impressionistic images in your garden. You can find the lens I use listed on my iPhone Photography Tutorial.

Photo Walk

Next week I will be announcing another Southern California photo get together for the weekend of April 14-15. If you are interested, either let me know or check back Monday.

Have a great weekend everyone, and get out to make some magic! See you all Monday.

Whew…I didn’t think I was going to get my post out today. I try my best to adhere to my schedule of sharing images, adventure, or stories every Monday through Friday. In the last four years I think I have missed about five days. I would really hate to let you down today.

In this image, I used Tiffen Photo FX to manage the Black & White conversion. It is definitely one of my favorite apps. I suggest you give it run.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Get out there and make some magic…

See you back here on Monday!

The weather here in Colorado has been beautiful. For me, beautiful weather means time on the bike. My days of racing are far behind me, so now when I’m out for a ride, I can stop to take a quick photo. Here is an image I made while I was out on the bike Wednesday. It’s moments like this that make you fall in love with the freedom and experiences your bike can offer.

Fitness Challenge Update

It’s all about the numbers. Since I have been riding with my Gramin lately, I have discovered (much to my chagrin) that my caloric burn rate on a bike was lower than I thought. The rides I thought were burning 1500 calories, are actually about 1/2 that. I have adjusted my diet accordingly and have shed about 8 lbs in the last 3 weeks. I have learned that to burn off a Chipotle Burrito, I need to hammer over the first climb in the last stage or the USA Pro Cycling challenge. In layman’s terms, I have to suffer for a little over an hour to burn 1000 calories. After you suffer like that, you really start to appreciate what you eat.

Have a great weekend everyone. I hope you all can get out and make some magic!