There’s no denying it, Instagram has evolved to become my number one social media channel. I use it daily during the week to post an image myself, along with browsing other peoples feeds to get a dose of inspiration. The images that I post daily can be any mixture of things: from something i’d been shooting that day to a trip back through my image archive, triggered by a thought or something similar.Despite most of the heavy handling being driven through the phone application, Instagram actually made a great improvement to their desktop site in July, adding the ability to search hashtags within the site. All of a sudden a whole world of cool possibilities opened up. Whilst sitting at home in the office I was able to do an image research for a trip to Nepal, gaining a photographic insight on areas that i’d never seen before. What started with a broad search was quickly whittled down into specific destinations, providing a surprisingly detailed picture of what other active Instagramers have experienced.An example of this could be the following search:
- #nepal
- #kathmandu
- #thamel
- #khumbu
- #namche
Each step narrows down the amount of images and becomes more concentrated. The hashtag #khumbu can lead to both villages in that region or the mountains that rise above from them.
This shot above is a great example of trip research. Having got myself down to #khumbu, I was now keen on finding potential peaks to climb in the region. During my initial search I came across the account of Chris Brinlee Jr. It was apparent from his image feed that he’d been in that area and had climbed Lobuche East with a Kathmandu based guiding company. Curious about his experiences I simply reached out to him to get his thoughts on Himalayan Ecstasy (end note: they’re awesome). He’d used them successfully a couple of times which was enough for me to contact the company. We started a dialogue, they booked my mountain flights and I used them for a successful ascent of Lobuche East. All this was instigated through a 10 second conversation, showing the potential of this application.I’d been shown my 2015 best nine on instagram and its quite apparent that my followers are fans of Alpine scenery (and Kilian Jornet).
It’s not just mountain scenery that makes it onto my stream. I’ve just had a scroll through the year and here’s a few other shots that made me smile.Want to follow along in 2016? You can join me here.
The shorts are out and the flip flops are on. Time for that little tease of summer, before the rains come in and spoil the fun. I’ve recently invested in a GoPro, so you’ll be seeing plenty of POV shots. This one though was done the old fashion way. #canon 1dIV, #sigma 15mm #fisheye, #manfrotto super clamp, #pocketwizard remote. #summer #cycling #selfportrait #shorts #flipflops A photo posted by Tim Lloyd (@timlloydphoto) on
Day dreaming of summer sun and roads less travelled. #summer #ocean #roadtrip A photo posted by Tim Lloyd (@timlloydphoto) on
The weather has been so hot this past month that we’ve taken to seeking refuge wherever possible. #dogslife #refreshing #gopro #hero4 A photo posted by Tim Lloyd (@timlloydphoto) on
Did you know that today is International Mountain Day? I must admit, I didn’t until this morning. What mountain to share on such a day? This one doesn’t win any beauty contests, but it can’t be beaten on size. #internationalmountainday #themountainsarecalling #everest #8848 #nepal #himalaya A photo posted by Tim Lloyd (@timlloydphoto) on
