HTC One X. That’s where this all started.

Smartphones they called them. I never thought I could own one, but as a high schooler with a part-time library job I at least saved up enough money to buy a used HTC One X on good old craigslist. My friend had one and it was marketed as a great device for listening to music with its Beats integrated audio, the reason I wanted one so bad.

What I did not realize is that not only did this phone produce awesome audio, but it also had a fairly decent camera for the times. When taking photos of nature or my friends I noticed how clear and vibrant the photos were coming out and this fascinated me. I started taking photos of everything, everywhere I went. It was incredible to me to have such a great camera in your pocket.

Fast forward a few years, when I was working at Trader Joe’s, I had been doing nature photography on my days off. A coworker had seen some of my work and asked if I would be interested in doing holiday portraits for her and her husband. I could not resist the opportunity, so we had dinner at their place and just had a blast shooting portraits for their holiday cards.

My new friends were so thrilled with their photos! I felt so accomplished when I got to see their reactions to the final photos and hear how happy they were with the results. This really inspired me to take more photographs for coworkers and friends, which led me to buying a camera and committing to improving my art.

So… what memory are we going to capture together?

Bonus Facts:

Nature is my sanctuary

I grew up in Hawaii

Huge Final Fantasy fan

My two cats are Mog & Corwen

My dream job as a kid was a character designer for video games

Enjoy shooting nature photography that make excellent canvas prints - you should check them out!