Briefly say hi and tell us a little about yourself.

Hey, thanks for having me! My name is Graham Douglas Ling a.k.a. Graham What. I’m a photographer based in Victoria, BC Canada. I grew up in Vancouver and moved to the island about 10 years ago for a change of scenery and a slower pace of life. Island time is a real thing. I kind of feel like I’ve lived a few different lives as my career path has zig zagged all over the place. I started out writing screenplays and shot a few short films, and did a stint at Vancouver Film School. Worked in the film business for a brief while, but nothing really clicked. From there I decided to open up a clothing store / art gallery which I owned for nearly 5 years until the economy took a nosedive and combined with my lack of experience forced me to close up shop. That’s when I moved to the island and took a breather trying to decide what my next path would be. Outside of that I enjoy hiking and exploring with my pup Harley, dark beer or a glass of red wine with a steak, daily meditation and exercise to keep me as grounded as possible. I do enjoy watching documentaries and music is pretty much constantly playing in my loft. Building a photography business has become all consuming so navigating that takes up most of my time. 

How did you get into photography? What attracted you to it?

I got back into photography in 2018. I used to take a lot of photos of my friends and I skateboarding back in the day. I actually got to shoot a skateboard competition at the old Richmond Skate Ranch, that’s how old I am haha. I was always out mountain biking or hiking and having fun with my dog and starting taking snapshots of her and the places we’d go or ride. It kind of all blossomed from there. I hadn’t done anything creative that I felt like I excelled at for a bunch of years. Picking up a camera again brought back so many good memories, I decided to really give it a go and practice and attempt to build my skills. For me there’s just something really special about being able to capture a scene and more importantly the feeling that scene gives you. I love dreaming up scenarios or images and then figuring out how to execute those ideas at a level I’d be proud of. 

What are your favourite subjects/topics to photograph?

Environmental portraiture / lifestyle would be my favourite subject matter without a doubt. I feel like I’ve only just scratched the surface with that kind of work and I’m really excited to see where it takes me. The second would be shooting twilight scenes or astrophotography and anything involving the sea. There’s just something about the movement of water or the reflected light, especially in the evening I find very soothing and really provides a sense of calmness to me.

You shoot some beautiful photoshoots by water. What was your inspiration for those?

Thanks so much! Appreciate you saying that. I think living on an island and being surrounded by water certainly sparked that inspiration. The first portrait session I did in the ocean really felt perfect to me and they’ve just kind of grown from there. One of my photography mentors talks a lot about finding your niche and developing your style, if my water portraiture is where that lands I’d be quite happy with that. I have heaps of ideas and inspiration I can’t wait to try. 

We only get to see the end result of these photoshoots, what kind of planning is required to make them successful?

There’s a few key things I always do in the planning stage leading up to these shoots. I’ll scout the location beforehand, preferably during the same time of day when we’ll be shooting. I want to check the light / shadows and colours and reflections. I’ll check the tides, moon-phase, what time the sun rises or sets and of course the weather forecast. I’ll take a few test shots for potential compositions and make notes on all those things. I’ll have a conversation with the subject regarding wardrobe, inspiration for the shoot and I also want to hear their ideas as well. I’m extremely open to collaborating and making sure we both get the images we want. If needed I’ll create a mood-board and send that along as well. Finally I’ll make sure all my gear is ready, extra batteries, SD cards, etc. and any props or equipment I need is good to go. 

Do you have a funny or scary story you would like to share from one of these photoshoots?

Haha, nothing too scary fortunately! I like to keep my subjects safe and as comfortable as possible. A couple months back I was shooting at this secluded bay, I was in the ocean just above waist deep. I was making sure I had good footing and I looked down and a massive King Crab was directly below me right between my legs! I looked up at the model and she had a strange look on her face and then pointed saying “what is that swimming towards you?” Words you really don’t want to hear while holding thousands of dollars of camera equipment in the ocean. I turned around quickly but “carefully” to see a massive Sea Lion about 25 meters away swimming along checking out what we were doing.

To see more of Graham’s photography, you can find his Instagram here and his website here.