instagram heaven

my image, top right, chosen by Fat Mum Slim

I've long been obsessed with photography.

I can still remember spending an inordinate amount of time composing the perfect photos in the viewfinder of my Brownie camera as a child. My first big 'break' for photographic joy was on a school trip to Canberra in 1979, where I delighted in framing the stunning vistas the capital had to offer. Little did I know I would end up living here many decades later . . .

my school trip to Canberra, 1979

October, 2012

Travelling, living overseas and having children has been the perfect collective fodder for the many many thousands of images I have stashed in shoe boxes . . . and recently converted {over many many days!} to digital. Meandering through these photos, reliving those precious moments, creating travel books and photographic memento books by the dozen, is something I have always done - but now, barely a month after joining Instagram, I have entered an entirely new world of photographic joy.

While editing and manipulating images on my computer has always been a lot of fun, the myriad photographic apps, filters and special effects available on my new iPhone has almost {I said almost} rendered by Nikon D90 useless.

Taking both new photos and revisiting my past photos through Instagram . . . I can't even say how much I've needed and enjoyed this image-stuffed time. Here are just some of my {many!} photos, and if you are on IG, you can see all of them @taniamccartney.

I'm also participating in the #fmsphotoaday challenges - run by the lovely Chantelle Ellem {Fat Mum Slim}. October is my second month running and I'm absolutely loving it. Chantelle has even chosen two of my images as monthly faves, which was such a thrill {you can see them at the top and bottom of this post}.

The kids have another week of school holidays, and if you need me, I'll be on Instagram. I'm not on IG to please anyone, to fit a mould, to amass followers {groan} or follow rules. I'm there because it's pure heaven, especially right now as I take things easy for a while. It's truly filling my soul.

What are you doing to fill your soul? I hope it's something truly wonderful. And if you have some happy snaps you want to share, let me know!

another of my images chose as a fave by Fat Mum Slim {bottom left}