instagramers LONDON

On 24^th March 2013 Instagramers London was 2 years old, which also happened to coincide with the 2^nd anniversary of the first Worldwide Instameet (whatever happened to those?).

On Saturday 23^rd March the London Instagram community set sail along the river Thames for a special birthday party instacruise. With our sea legs, deck shoes and sailor hats we hopped aboard the ‘Viscountess’ Thames cruiser for a floating photowalk past many our favourite iconic London sights.  We held photo contests along the way, sponsored by our good friends at Instablock, Olloclip, Printagram, Stickygram and Blurb.

Despite the unseasonably freezing cold March weather, the intrepid Instagramers embraced the occasion and entered into the spirit of the event, posting images along the way using our themed contest categories

When we returned to shore we headed towards The Rose pub on Albert Embankment, prizes were awarded for some of the best photos of the day.

Our photo contest winners @andrewdearling @natal13d @myurbanlife @thdankster and @ady_rian - congratulations!

We raised a glass or three to the awesome London Instagram community, and sing Happy Birthday to us!  We even had a special birthday cake made!

Later in the evening we were joined by a surprise guest Tony, @shoeboxtony, from San Francisco visiting London and taking part in the 24 hour project with other London Instagramers.  Meeting Tony pretty much summed up one of the best things about the global Instagram community; you can meet up with complete strangers and immediately make friends, with a shared passion of mobile photography and Instagram!

If you weren’t able to join us for the celebrations, you can look at the fabulous photos taken by checking out our event hashtags #igerslondonis2 and #instacruiseLDN on Instagram.

And as a special treat, London Instagramer Dmitry @serostanov produced this neat video of the boat trip and Instagramers in action!

Over the past two years Instagramers London has held nearly 100 meetups, hosted by many of our most active community members.  They range from informal photowalks to big sponsored events, the biggest being our recent Instameet as part of our Iconic London 2012 exhibition.  Throughout 2012 we held our monthly 12.12.12 photo challenges where the winners and finalists were exhibited at the @iLondon2012 exhibition, and the prints sold off in aid of the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.  During the past year we have welcomed visitors from around the world, embracing our city for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 summer Olympics.

We love to meet new Instagramers, whether native to London, working or visiting.  See what’s going on by visiting our meetup pages or web site, following us on Instagram and Twitter @igerslondon ,or by liking our Facebook page.  Don’t be shy, come and join us!

Jess & Debs
@missunderground & @chelseadebs