MJA Photography: 2012: The year of Instagram

2012 was the year of Instagram. Was it because they were bought by Facebook for a billion dollars? Nah... It was the year is Instagram because there was no other app I enjoyed using than the one they created. And I'm not alone on this one. Over the past year I've seen a good percentage of my Facebook friends fall in love with the app and a majority of my friends have developed an artistic eye because they're searching their surrounding to artistically represent what they were currently doing. My Instagram friends (and real ones) provided photos of sunsets, sunrises, concerts, quiet evenings, food, celebrity sightings, vacations, weddings, births, holidays, new boyfriends/girlfriends, breakups, heartache, airports, clouds from airplane windows, foreign lands, gifts. People used Instagram to announce births, deaths, engagements, marriages, work milestones, anniversaries. Anything of importance that could be photographed was Instagrammed.

Instagram allowed us to reach an audience without having to say a whole lot. It's just a picture and a caption. Some people post a photo multiple times a day. Some post a photo once or twice a week. Others, like myself, post a daily photo. I like to think it helps me remember what I did. A photo journal if you will.

While prepping for this blogpost I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of love and gratitude for the people I've met and experiences I've had this past year. I'd be a lucky man if 2013 is as half as good as 2012 was to me.

Without further delay... Here are my favorite Instagrams of 2012.

(Side note: I would like to write something more profound and articulate but I'm writing this on my iPhone in the backseat of a car coming back from Yellowstone. My mind is a little off. Who knew snowmobiling could be so taxing)

January

Riding my bike on the Rose Parade route the night before the parade.
The hill in Lincoln Heights I always seem to retreat to.

The Santiago Chile Temple during my visit to see my mom who was an LDS missionary there for 18 months
My mother, Hermana Eloina Ambriz in Provedencia Santiago.

February

7 Tazas Parque Nacional Chile
Walking to El Lago the Tagua-Tagua. My mom was such a sport walking around with a bum knee.

Volunteer Firemen Parade in Puerto Montt Chile.
Plaza de Mayo Buenos Aires Argentina. Experiencing that city was amazing.

March

The many times I fell asleep at The Cube. This time Brandon, Thomas, Russ, Will and Austin documented it well. And yes I sleep with my hand in my pocket.
PNUT wooing the crowd in Las Vegas for 311 Day 2012

That one time I covered that Kiss/Mötley Crüe press conference at The Roosevelt.
March was the month everyone almost became a Millionaire 500 times over.

April

One of the many Utah Trips this year. Saw the Salt Lake City Temple in every season this year.
Crashing the Radiolab after party and getting to talk to Dimitri Martin for a good 10 minutes. He was so nice to us!

Getting to see Kimbra at Bardot. Thanks Justin for the guest list spot!
Getting a gun pulled on me right after I took this picture on a Sunday Morning walk about in my "hood".

May

Spending time with my nephew Cruz.
My mom when she came back from her 18 month mission to Santiago, chile.

Fell in love with Band on the Run by Paul McCartney.
Viewing the eclipse with a bunch of people on top of the hill in Lincoln Heights

June

Watching Make Music Pasadena. Grouplove killed it. Never trust a happy song.
My beloved #DTLA from 1st Street Bridge.

That random night when I hung out with Dave Grohl.
Watching Kimbra at Warners during lunch time.

July

Spending 4th of July with quality people.
Finally locating the Banksy "Park" piece in DTLA.

Receiving one of the best Birthday gifts a chubby photog could ever ask for.
Becoming friends with Steph from the Deftones after their Warners lunch time gig.

August

One of the many photos I took of friends on that hill in Lincoln heights.
My first trip to Portland. Multnomah falls.

One of the many weddings I shot. Here is Eli and Sarah right after they exited the temple in Portland.
On my last week long jaunt with 311. Doug always trying to hurt me. Shot at Red Rocks, CO.

September

One of my many trips LCMA. It's getting hard out there for a kid.
At the edge of the world. Grand Canyon, AZ.

Being with Ghostwolf in Ojai and New York.
Watching The Black Keys perform in front of a packed Central Park.

October

Quick trip to Utah to shoot a wedding. It's always great to have Cruzito pick me up.
2nd chance at Eternal Love.

Chasing the sun as it rises. So glad I'm an early bird.
Halloween received a beating from Suzie Bishop and Sam Shakusky.

November

Exercising my right to vote.
Seeing and sitting next to BONO (it really wasn't him) at dinner in Little Tokyo.

Hiking to the Hollywood sign and seeing LA in all its beauty. (First instagram to get more than 100 likes)
Seeing my doppelgänger at Pizza Pie in Los Feliz