The Instagram shots are featured in Sports Illustrated's Aug. 20 issue, which hits news stands Thursday and teases the 2012 college football preview on the cover. The pictures illuminate life in NFL camps, including media sessions with star players and coaches, on-field action, eager autograph-seeking kids and more.
According to a spokesperson for the magazine, the Instagram feature wasn't pre-planned. But when editors saw photos that reporter Matt Gagne and other staffers were posting to their personal accounts during the magazine's training camp road trip, the idea emerged.
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Sports Illustrated first printed Instagram shots in its hallowed pages last month with a six-page feature shot by contributing photographer Brad Mangin. Mangin spent the about three months shooting with his iPhone 4S at spring training and major league ballparks in the West, then posting the resulting photos to his own Instagram feed (@bmangin) as well as Sports Illustrated‘s (@SportsIllustrated) before the shots were printed in the magazine.
At the time, Time Inc. Sports Group editor Terry McDonell told Mashable in an email that the feature "reflects the ‘socialization’ of photojournalism."
The intersection of print publications with social photo apps isn't just catching on with Sports Illustrated. In November 2010, New York Times photographer Damon Winter used Hipstamatic to document the war in Afghanistan, and the app also just announced a partnership with W to release a lens, film and virtual camera case inspired by the magazine.