What if I told you of a magical place where you can see Toledo in a way you’ve never imagined, where photography enthusiasts try to capture Toledo as it has never been shared before? This special magical place is actually an app for smartphones and the next evolution of social media called Instagram.
Where Twitter shares your words and thoughts with the world, Instagram visually shares your life.
According to the Instagram website, Instagram is “a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your photos with friends and family” but its simple concept has evolved into a global phenomenon. Instagram is a free application for your smartphone that allows you to take pictures and use numerous and simple filters that can give your photo a vintage feel. After taking the picture and deciding what filter to use comes the social part. You can share this new picture with any of your social networks — Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. You can geotag the exact location it was shot and you can #tag the photo in any way you wish people to see/find it. You could keep all of your photos private, but what’s the fun in that?
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If you are like me and love to be visually stimulated, Instagram will become your new pastime. The social part of Instagram allows you to search for anything you wish to see, from cities like New York or London to events like Hurricane #Isaac or the #RNC. Once you learn Instagram’s language by deciphering its “tagging,” the way pictures are labeled, you will master the new medium. You can search “Toledo,” “ToledoMudHens” the “ToledoZoo” or anything else you can dream of. The contrasts between Toledo, Ohio and Toledo, Spain alone are worth it.
As of Aug. 30, there were more than 19,800 pictures tagged with the word #Toledo. Some of the pictures shared could hang on any art gallery’s wall, but the artist is choosing to share his or her vision via Instagram. I’ve lived 95 percent of my life in Toledo and was reminded of how beautiful our city can be.
One of the features of Instagram is the ability to “follow” your favorite photographers, whether it be your BFF, a celeb or some random Instagram pro. A couple of the best local Instagrammers are Eric Shanteau, 34, (hobbes2485) and Ben Morales 32, (benmorales), they deserve a “follow.” These two take Hallmark quality pictures of Northwest Ohio, of places we have seen over and over but never like this. Their optimistic vision of our area will brighten your day.
Toledo Free Press (toledofreepress) recently signed up and debuted in a big way by sharing some Navy Week pictures shot on the USS De Wert by Managing Editor Sarah Ottney. The 50-plus pictures really gave a sense of what of a Navy boat ride down the Maumee would feel like.
Great tags to use are:
#Toledo, #ToledoOhio #Sylvania, #Maumee, #Perrysburg, #ToledoMudHens, #ToledoWalleye, #UTRockets, #ToledoZoo, #ToledoMuseumOfArt, #ToledoArtMuseum, #ToledoFinest, #ToledoFail.
If you would like to share your picture with Toledo Free Press, please tag the photo with #TFP or #ToledoFreePress and we will find it.
Instagram is another opportunity for Toledo to open our doors to the world and show what a tremendous place it is to call home or do business.
Find Jeremy Baumhower on Instagram @jeremybaumhower.
