If the best camera is the one that's with you, as the saying goes, then the smart phone is quickly out-pacing even the flashiest Nikons. One of the biggest apps driving phone photography is Instagram, the free picture sharing service that allows users to "filter" their snaps, and layer on effects from vintage to over-exposed. In action, the app looks like Facebook's artsier, more intimate cousin, and the social media giant knows it--in April, Facebook offered $1 billion to buy two-year-old, 13-employee-large Instagram.

Curious about our neighbors' photography skills, we rounded up 22 Instagram shots that showcase the Twin Cities' striking architecture, beautiful sunsets, neighborhood haunts--and resident iPhone artists.

We thought it would never come. Spring, the time of year most Minnesotans know as the "wet and dirty" season, brings with it the shedding of winter's many layers and thus cute girls and cute dresses minus the parka. Here's a few we spotted at our weekly CP Photobooth at First Avenue's Too Much Love.