Meet Christopher ‘Boats Oshana | Photographer/Atist/DOD employee”

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christopher ‘Boats” Oshana and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christopher ‘Boats”, do you have any habits that you feel contribute to your effectiveness?
Persistence and perseverance. Since I had already retired from the US Navy and at the age I was when I started it,  was hard for me to get noticed as a serious photographer. People kept saying that it was a great hobby to pursue, I wanted more than that, I wanted it to be a whole new career.  Even though I haven’t been able to quit my day job yet, so far it has been extremely successful.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The best way to describe my art is honest. I try to ensure that when I pick up my camera and ready to push that trigger/shutter button, I have properly exposed, composed and what I want the viewer to see. I use very little Photoshop and minor adjustments in Lightroom. I think the purer the photo the better. Getting to where I am has not been easy, through trials and tribulations with work and life. I lost my wife last year to Metastatic Breast Cancer, it was arduous, requiring me to take time off from shooting to take care of her, so no definitely not easy. Some of the lessons, well one of the biggest is do not let failure hinder your dreamer. I have taken lots of bad and mediocre shots, but I pushed myself to get better and trusted that I would become a great artist/photographer and I have.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take them to Scottsdale to see some galleries to see the art and hit up some small watering holes for a few drinks. Then I would go to the Grand Canyon to see one of the greatest wonders of the world to make some art and maybe hike to the bottom of the to show the true grandeur of the canyon. I would also take them to a few of my hidden gems like for a hike into the Eagletail Mountain Wilderness, to the Agua Fria National Monument or the Gillespie Dam/Bridge area to see some of Arizona’s forgotten art, the Native American rock art/petroglyphs.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to dedicate this Shoutout to Wayne Rainey, without his mentorship, his generosity, friendship and the list can go on, I would still be just a guy with a camera taking pretty pictures. Back in 2013, Wayne was awarding a grant for a year to have office/work space at his collaborative work space, I actually live about 30 miles from the building and he didn’t think I was going to be able to use it to its fullest potential. About six months after he had awarded the grant Wayne messaged me and asked if I would still like to participate in the grant, I said “Heck Yeah!!!” A couple of days later we met up in his studio and since we have become amazing friends!!! I could and should go deeper but I figured the Reader’s Digest versions is better.

Website: https://christopheroshana.smugmug.com

Instagram: @christopheroshana

Linkedin: Christopher OShana

Facebook: Christopher Boats OShana