The photo now has over 153,000 likes with over 300 comments mostly from other users congratulating Amsyar for the feature. — AMSYAR NAAIF SHAHMARUDDIN
PETALING JAYA: For the second time this month, Apple has highlighted another photo taken by a Malaysian on its Instagram page.
On Jan 13, the tech giant featured an image of a tortoise at a lake taken by 27-year-old photographer Amsyar Naaif Shahmaruddin, which was captioned “Interesting photos are everywhere you turn”.
The photo now has over 153,000 likes with over 300 comments, mostly from other Instagram users congratulating him for the feature.
According to Amsyar, the photo was taken at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa in Kuala Lumpur in December last year.
“I was at the lake area with my wife when this tortoise popped up, I quickly decided to take a photo. Everything sort of happened really fast and when I looked again, the tortoise was gone,” he said when contacted by LifestyleTech.
Amsyar is grateful for the feature and the kind words he has received from fellow Malaysians who commented on his photo.
“They were all very supportive and said they feel proud to see a fellow Malaysian being recognised by an international company,” he said.
According to Amsyar, he has been trying to get featured on the company’s Instagram page ever since it was set up in 2017.
“I had older phone models like iPhone 5s and 7 where I’ve been posting images with the hashtag #ShotOniPhone. It’s nice to finally get the feature because of the exposure that comes with it. As a photographer, this feature will be a nice addition to my portfolio,” he said.
On Jan 1, Apple kicked off the new year with a photo of a lone figure at a pier taken by Malaysian student Ling Hou Wah. The 17-year-old student shared that the photo was taken at Kepong Metropolitan Park.
There is no official selection criteria for users to get their images featured on Apple’s Instagram page. Users are only asked to participate by tagging their photos with the hashtag #ShotOniPhone. Based on a search on Instagram, there are over 23 million photos with the hashtag #ShotOniPhone that have been uploaded by other users.
