1. Where’s home?

Port Lincoln, South Australia, a wonderful place surrounded by sea, wildlife and good waves J

2. What is the favourite place you’ve travelled to?

Ooh, that’s a difficult one, I have a few favourites, Big Island, Hawaii, is a favourite of mine, along with New Caledonia.

3. How did you get started as a photographer?

I just started capturing my life, whether it was surfing, freediving, taking photos of my dog, and then also all the beautiful wildlife and landscapes I am surrounded with, it became a very fun past time, and now it is a part of my day to day life.

4. What camera equipment / software / tech do you use? Any must haves?

I use a wide variety of equipment, and it always depends on what I am doing as to what I will use. In all my action sports, and freediving, I use GoPro Hero6, I also use GoPro Karma drone for aerials, as the 6 easily plugs into the gimble on the drone. For wildlife photography, I have used in the past a variety of Canon DSLR cameras, and also Nikon, and for all round travelling, vlogging, and ease of use, I love the Olympus OMD 10 M2 Mirrorless.

I love Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom and am starting to learn the ropes on Premiere Pro, so that I can edit higher quality vidoes for my channels.

5. What photographers have influenced you, how you think and shoot?

I have learnt a lot from being around photographers, seeing how different people use certain light and settings to capture a moment. The thing I love about taking photos is that everyone has a different vision with the image they want as the outcome. Some of my favourite photographers are Paul Nicklen from national geographic, and Shannon Wild.

6. Any top tips for Instagram?

Be authentic! Tell stories, inspire, and educate others. Instagram has always been a platform I have used to share my world, my passions, what I am working on, creating, and what I am thinking about. In an online world that is saturated, being authentic is so important, sharing real world issues, and moments, results in creating a positive, inspirational platform for people to look at.

7. What are you trying to communicate through your photographs?

Capturing times that sometimes words cannot describe, I love spontaneous experiences, which is why I always take my camera with me, you never know what you going to see. I aim to share a message through all my work, photography, videos, and social media, that is living a more environmentally conscious existence. By that I mean appreciating the amazing planet we live on, sharing educational material that influences people to protect wildlife and the planet, by making them fall in love with it, if they aren’t already.

8. What motivates you to continue doing what you’re doing?

The way that I feel when I know I am working towards things I am passionate about, working alongside people who are inspirational to me, people who I learn from, and are living their passions. I have been getting so much positive feedback in the past few years, from people young and old, who have praised me for my efforts so far, and it means a lot, some days, being passionate is hard, and when you have a support base, it always brings you up and makes you realise how far you have come.

9. Are you a bathroom singer?

Absolutely! Bathrooms have a good eco, and sometimes it makes me sounds like I actually have an okay voice. Haha. I often belt out some of my favourite songs while I am in the shower, luckily our neighbours aren’t close.

10. Do you have any advice for young aspiring photographers?

Start now, get yourself a camera, and go exploring. Once you start capturing things, you develop an eye for certain times, moments, expressions, lighting and I am still learning every day, and most likely will be forever. Aside from all of that, its so much fun, and if you are having fun, that is all that matters.

11. What are your goals for the future, regarding your work?

I have a lot of goals, that’s is a very difficult question. I guess my goals at this stage are growing Balu Blue Foundation, and creating projects that are a voice for conservation, of wildlife, and the ocean. We currently are working on funding more fencing for Two Songs Sanctuary, where our little girl Bunji, is now. We are excited to expand this, and to gain more support for this project which we are so passionate about.

We have a lot going on behind the scenes and I am so excited to share these down the track.

Continuing to use my platform as an educational and positive way of portraying a sustainable message, to people of all ages, to love wildlife, keep our oceans clean, and get out and explore. Speak up for the things you are passionate about, there so much beauty in this world, and to not see it would be a tragedy.

In 2018, I look forward to a lot of free-diving, surfing, and spending days and months with wildlife, underwater and on land. Its looking like a good year ahead.

Interview With A Photographer | Brinkley Davies