new levels 

I was mashing colors before I was mashing potatoes 

Ever since day one, I was into art and colors. My grandfather was an aspiring photographer for twenty-some years. Mastering the art of film photography, my grandfather had photographed nearly everything. I would always go over my grandparent's house just to see Pa's work. He always used to tell me it wasn't that hard, but as a kid I never imagined in a million years that I could have done the stuff he had. I would sit in awe as he showed me all his beautiful film productions. I always wanted a camera but didn't know where to start. For Christmas last year he gave me a little point-and-shoot Canon handheld camera. Boy, did I have a field day with that thing. I would be on the ground taking pictures of dandelions thinking I was making moves like Picasso. 

It wasn't until a year later that I got my first real camera. I got a Canon T3i with the standard kit lens. That thing changed my life. That took my dynamics of dandelions in a field and transformed it into me taking shots of the world from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

I would spend all the money I had camera books when I first got my camera. First, I taught myself the history of the art. Dating back hundreds of years with cameras that were the size of a car, I was amazed to see how far we've come as a society. Now I have a camera capable of nearly anything in my pocket that is also my phone. How crazy is that? 

I would sit in my room and read books. Tons of them. I would learn how the camera worked, the ins and the outs, the rights and the wrongs. I learned how film photography worked and how far the industry has come over the past hundred years. I learned how to manipulate photos and edit colors using curves and balances. Thanks to Canon's "The Eye of EOS" I learned how to use my camera to it's fullest. One big thing I learned when I was just starting to take photos was that inspiration is everything. One way I found myself as an artist is through the constant inspiration from other artists alike. I used to lurk tumblr blogs for hours upon end to find kids who were into the same things I was. I would check out a thousand blogs a night just to find twenty that I liked.

For the first three years of my photography adventures, I shot with a Canon Rebel T3i .

I used a variety of lenses, bouncing from the kit lens at first to a 18-135mm zoom lens. For my wide angle shots, I primarily used my Rokinon 8mm Fisheye pictured here

I used to find artists I loved and follow them on any platform I could: Instagram, Tumblr, whatever I could find. I would examine art from different artists, contemporary to street art. I formed my idea of what I like through this trial and error process. It took me nearly two years and 40,000 pictures to find a style. I still can't describe my style, and I may never be able to. Not many artists can. Photography opens so many doors to art that the possibilities are endless. There are artists who solely focus on the light intake of fruit, and some who live off of famous portraits of people they see on the street. Art, in general, is so widely diverse that any person from any culture with any interest can find a love in some field. I always wanted to create a place where I could show my story through photography, each step of the way. I have about 40,000 pictures stored away in my library and I never found a place to put the hidden gems that I love. 

     Ever since I was a little kid I wanted something I could call my own. I always wanted to produce something that I could say "Hey, here's this thing. I made it !". That's just been a goal of mine ever since I was a little kid. 

After my month long trip across Europe, I came home with an abundance of beautiful shots. I had a few printed and ended up putting them around my house. Every time we had company over the house, people would compliment the photographs. I never felt the need to boast about how they were mine, I just kept to myself and said they were from my favorite photographers. 

I have searched high and low for aspiring photographers like myself who sell their work on a developed platform. It seems to be nearly inexistent. I always found that weird. People love to post their work on Instagram and hope to get a few compliments or likes, but no one seems to sell their work. I had an idea this one time that if I could sell my work, maybe others would do it too. I'm not in this to be the only one in this game, because that for sure isn't true. I just think there's enough teenage artists out there with the drive and compiled work to make this into something.  I always wanted my own brand where I could sell my own stuff and express originality. For such a cheap price, why not try to make something out of it? At Ohkayphotography, my goal is to share my story through images and if you like a picture enough, you can buy it for your home ! I hope anyone and everyone can enjoy this site and the photographs on it. Everyone truly is their own artist. 

now i'm shooting with a canon 6d with a ef 24-70mm      f/4l is usm lens