I just wrote a long thing, and then deleted it.

It was boring, the usual rant by a converted nontech pagan to the gospel of Apple.

But truly, I never expected the iPhone to ignite my developing obsession with photography with a modality that was incredibly easy, immediate and satisfying.

I notice my school has amazing hibiscus and take an iphone pic. The Beginning of the Madness.

Instagram, an iPhone app that I thought just “emailed” pictures, turned out to be its own social media photo-sharing site. I make new friends who teach me things and “like” my pictures! They also point me to “apps” that I can digitally tweak my pictures with.

wow, the "Decolorizer" app really tweaks my second in the series!

I realize this love of photography is deeply ingrained as my father was a semi-pro and I'm married to a pro, and as Renaissance Man has always said, I have “the eye.”

Hm. What happens if you only leave one color in? Fascinating!

My dislike of technology kept me from doing anything with it, though.

Everywhere I go I see hibiscus now!

Not anymore. I've found a way that works for me, no clunky cameras, tricky/bulky/expensive attachments.

This one is completely unretouched. That color actually exists in nature. *boggles*

I find the social interaction, having people look at and comment on the photos, highly motivating.

playing with color enhancement and focus on this one. Looks tasty, don't it?

Apparently others do too, there are bazillions of people all over the world posting pictures on this site. I have new “iphonography” friends in Brazil, Netherlands, Australia, Korea, Japan, Hawaii, Texas (yeah might as well be a foreign country) France and Puerto Rico just to name a few.

Zowie. Use sunglasses to look at this one!

I see their worlds every time I click the button on my phone. The world's a smaller and more beautiful place for it. I never knew how gorgeous Puerto Rico and Texas could be, for instance, not to mention Korea.

Today's bit of scrumptiousness, taken with the dogs winding leashes around my legs as I squat by a neighbor's bush. Note the tiniest of tiny tiny ants. I didn't even see him at the time.

Let these pictures, done exclusively on my iPhone with apps, be testament to photography and technology's marriage.

(So if you get an iPhone and use Instagram, look me up at tobyneal0.)

Have you ever been surprised by something amazing technology brought into your life?