Ashton Persaud, or @ashtontekno on Instagram, knows it's weird he loves shooting Toronto in the wintertime.

“I’m more prone to shoot in the winter than I am in the summer," he says. "I just feel alive."

Unlike those who dig the sunshine, some of us love the mystery of the colder winter months and Persaud, 28, captures the beauty of our city in hibernation mode.

A photo posted by Ash/Toronto (@ashtontekno) on Jul 27, 2015 at 4:03am PDT

He has just over 27,000 followers on Instagram and says he built up his fan base by initially maintaining a blue theme on his feed and by telling a story in each row.

A photo posted by Ash/Toronto (@ashtontekno) on Nov 21, 2016 at 3:21pm PST

He's somewhat abandoned that strategy and now features much more vibrabt colours. Along with shooting in the winter, he often has his camera out at night to document the bright city lights.

A photo posted by Ash/Toronto (@ashtontekno) on Dec 16, 2016 at 2:57pm PST

While he used to shoot a lot of streetscapes, he's been intrigued by street photography for the past year. He likes that the action on the street's always moving and changing - that can make it challenging for him to get his shot.

A photo posted by Ash/Toronto (@ashtontekno) on Mar 12, 2016 at 6:38am PST

"There have been times I’ve been waiting an hour to get that shot," he says of his sometimes lengthy process. "I’m not going to leave until I get it," he later continues.

A photo posted by Ash/Toronto (@ashtontekno) on Feb 25, 2016 at 2:57pm PST

Photography, he explains, has let him explore all different parts of the city, including places near his residence in the Beaches. For instance, he's showed his followers a whole new side of the Scarborough Bluffs by shooting them covered in snow.

A photo posted by Ash/Toronto (@ashtontekno) on Dec 15, 2016 at 3:20pm PST

Instagram has also connected him to a larger community and he sometimes takes his camera out with well-known photographers such as bora.vs.bora, snappedbycam and jazzy.vibes.

02/17/16. #cuteye 👀🐦 Tag Someone that gives you thst cuteye.😱🔪

A photo posted by Ash/Toronto (@ashtontekno) on Feb 17, 2016 at 3:47pm PST

He first started messy around with cameras in 2013 and got hooked. The medium, he says, offers him a creative outlet. While he currently works in retail, he hopes to parlay photography into his full-time gig.

A photo posted by Ash/Toronto (@ashtontekno) on Sep 27, 2016 at 3:08pm PDT

In the meantime, he continues to give his followers his take on Toronto. Afterall, his camera has changed how he sees the city.

A photo posted by Ash/Toronto (@ashtontekno) on Jun 30, 2016 at 4:19pm PDT

“It gave me a whole new respect for the architecture, the culture," he says. "And it opened my eyes to what’s in this city.”