June in Instagram Photos

I've always loved taking photos, ever since I was a kid. I've had disposable cameras, Polaroid instant cameras, and later, digital cameras and my trusty DSLR. So when I got a smartphone for the first time last year, the first app I downloaded was Instagram.

I hope to post more on Instagram, but for now, let's look at the highlights from the last month:

I got my first journalism award! It's from a paper where I no longer work, but they were nice enough to frame it and send it in the mail to me. :)

I finally got to try out a new brunch place with a friend. She was actually in town that weekend from Portland, Oregon for a job interview, and turns out, she got the job! So she's moving back to Pittsburgh later this month.

Who can resist a good cow butt? I passed this scene on the road while I was driving back from an assignment. I turned around and pulled over to get the shot. Maybe a little pathetic, but I was safe about it, right?

While Mark and I go to Pirates games a lot, this will probably be the only games I went to with my mom, dad and sister. Couldn't resist the inevitable mom selfie.

Besides the photos themselves, I'm kind of obsessed with creating new hashtags. Lame, right? But it does help organize the Instagram photos a bit. For instance, as often as we can, Mark and I post a Pirates game selfie. I tagged it under #obligatorypiratephoto and now I have a slowly growing collection. Also, earlier this year, I documented every Lenten fish fry meal we ate with #pghfishfrytour2014. I love exploring different fish fries in the area. It's such a big deal in Pittsburgh that there's a Google map listing them all.

If you use the app, what kinds of photos do you tend to post onto Instagram?