#BlogHer13 - Instagram & TOONswag Adventures...day 2

I woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I had the whole day ahead of me to relax in Chicago before the official BlogHer conference kickoff.

Do you know Neil Kramer? He's the award-winning blogger behind Citizen of the Month.Neil is hugely popular on Instagram. He's known for his photographs people in sweeping city-scape tableaux, as they're hurriedly jaywalking, or texting while leaning against a building. Many are engaged in deep thought, mostly unaware they're being captured. The resulting images are evocative, like single moments plucked from the rush of life. He does it very well.

I thought it would be interesting to follow Neil around and Instagram him in the act of Instagramming. He agreed. All these pairs of shots were taken around the same moment, his and then mine.

Downtown Chicago gives good architecture.



We Bean-scaped.

 I like this pair because He caught my crazy face and I caught his.

We wandered into the Chicago Cultural Center and discovered The Happy Show by Stefan Sagmeister on the top floor. Thought-provoking messages and ponderings, the exhibits challenged you to really think about your own state of happiness. If you're in Chicago, go see it.

But don't get locked out of the fire exit like this guy did.


I laughed cuz he was still taking pictures through the glass.


I thought I was supposed to be following Neil around. I never imagined I'd end up being his subject. But on this one, I knew he was sneaking this shot...


...so I decided to trick him with the reverse cam.


Just look at all the likes Neil has on his Instagrams. He's tapping into something with his eye. Do not look at all the likes I do not have. Look instead at my drawings.

We meandered over to Millenium Park for lunch and I toonswagged that dude.

Neil has a very specific way of holding his iPhone; his fingers splay outwards as he zeroes in on whatever he's capturing. He's like a ninja.

Back at the hotel SOME PEOPLE bought me glasses of wine and I got the drunkies. I'll show you those drawings in my next post, so stay tooned...

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