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BBC MAMMALS - WATER - Tonight on BBC1

Since before I can remember, I’ve wanted to film sleeping and socializing sperm whales. It’s been so long I can’t even remember how, where, or why the obsession began.

About 15 years ago, I heard about a sperm whale population in a particular location, and made a couple of attempts to get out there, none of which coming to fruition. Then a few years ago I began talking with BBC producer @daniel_raz_rasmussen about his ambitious goals to film sperm whales for the BBC Mammals series, and where would be the best place in the world to do it. After much backwards and forward-sing between some of the other good locations I’ve worked in, including the Azores, Dominica and Sri Lanka we finally settled on Mauritius and headed out there in 2022. The whales didn’t disappoint and I had the time of life shooting sperm whales out there.

The opportunity to document these special animals was one of the greatest privileges of my life. When you’re faced with the challenge of documenting a spectacle like this - one older than mankind, one that we don’t truly understand - how do you do it justice?

These ancient, Giger-esque monoliths drifting in the deep blue - what are they doing there? Resting? Decompressing? Dreaming? Meditating? Creatures of such sentience and intelligence that we can barely comprehend.

Thanks to Raz for the opportunity to work on his episode, to @reneheuzey and his team for sharing the water with me and “his” whales and @ferruccialdo for having my back on all these amazing dives - the best kind of safety diver - you never know he’s there, but he is always RIGHT there, and getting great pics!@

Tune in (or boot up your VPN!) tonight!!

#underwater #cinematographer #lifegoals #spermwhale #cachalot #bbc #mammals #coralwetsuits #spierrefins #lungfishccr #reddigitalcinema #canon #gatesunderwater #giger #bbcearth

BBC MAMMALS - WATER - Tonight on BBC1

Since before I can remember, I’ve wanted to film sleeping and socializing sperm whales. It’s been so long I can’t even remember how, where, or why the obsession began.

About 15 years ago, I heard about a sperm whale population in a particular location, and made a couple of attempts to get out there, none of which coming to fruition. Then a few years ago I began talking with BBC producer @daniel_raz_rasmussen about his ambitious goals to film sperm whales for the BBC Mammals series, and where would be the best place in the world to do it. After much backwards and forward-sing between some of the other good locations I’ve worked in, including the Azores, Dominica and Sri Lanka we finally settled on Mauritius and headed out there in 2022. The whales didn’t disappoint and I had the time of life shooting sperm whales out there.

The opportunity to document these special animals was one of the greatest privileges of my life. When you’re faced with the challenge of documenting a spectacle like this - one older than mankind, one that we don’t truly understand - how do you do it justice?

These ancient, Giger-esque monoliths drifting in the deep blue - what are they doing there? Resting? Decompressing? Dreaming? Meditating? Creatures of such sentience and intelligence that we can barely comprehend.

Thanks to Raz for the opportunity to work on his episode, to @reneheuzey and his team for sharing the water with me and “his” whales and @ferruccialdo for having my back on all these amazing dives - the best kind of safety diver - you never know he’s there, but he is always RIGHT there, and getting great pics!@

Tune in (or boot up your VPN!) tonight!!

#underwater #cinematographer #lifegoals #spermwhale #cachalot #bbc #mammals #coralwetsuits #spierrefins #lungfishccr #reddigitalcinema #canon #gatesunderwater #giger #bbcearth

Another great BTS capture from @ferruccialdo on the BBC MAMMALS Sperm Whale shoot. It’s liberating having someone like Aldo watching your back when you’re in an intense situation like filming a dozen or so 15m animals writhing around in a social frenzy!

#bbcearth #reddigitalcinema #gatesunderwaterhousings #lungfishdivesystems #coralwet #spierrefins

I only got to do one shoot for the BBC’s new series Planet Earth III - but it was a good one. Intense, but fun times on the Robberg Peninsula with a great team 🙌

Shot on RED Helium in Gates Underwater housing. Tracking shots with my Tow-cam and Z-Cam E2

It’s international penguin day, so here’s a shout-out to my favorite species - the Galapagos penguin. The only species to be found north of the equator and one that is sadly endangered, with its population hovering around 2000 individuals 😮

Filming penguins, no matter the species or the location comes with its challenges - but when the animals choose to give you close encounters, its incredibly rewarding 🤩

Always great to see the results of a successful shoot once it’s been expertly crafted together by editors, colourists and composers. Such a fun and rewarding shoot for @humblebeefilms with @tasha.busjeet and @r_w_i_l_c_o_x

Some shoots, you just need all the things…

Drysuit, heated vest, rebreather, tripods, sliders, float rig, macro probe lenses - all ‘toys’ (tools) that help you make the most of the precious time you have in the water and help make a story come alive… if you’re given enough opportunity to use them by the conditions gods.

And yes - a messy camera bench is definitely my calling card 😬

All in a days work for ‘Moon - Natures Secret Force’ by @humblebeefilms for @skytv

Some shoots, you just need all the things…

Drysuit, heated vest, rebreather, tripods, sliders, float rig, macro probe lenses - all ‘toys’ (tools) that help you make the most of the precious time you have in the water and help make a story come alive… if you’re given enough opportunity to use them by the conditions gods.

And yes - a messy camera bench is definitely my calling card 😬

All in a days work for ‘Moon - Natures Secret Force’ by @humblebeefilms for @skytv

Some shoots, you just need all the things…

Drysuit, heated vest, rebreather, tripods, sliders, float rig, macro probe lenses - all ‘toys’ (tools) that help you make the most of the precious time you have in the water and help make a story come alive… if you’re given enough opportunity to use them by the conditions gods.

And yes - a messy camera bench is definitely my calling card 😬

All in a days work for ‘Moon - Natures Secret Force’ by @humblebeefilms for @skytv

Some shoots, you just need all the things…

Drysuit, heated vest, rebreather, tripods, sliders, float rig, macro probe lenses - all ‘toys’ (tools) that help you make the most of the precious time you have in the water and help make a story come alive… if you’re given enough opportunity to use them by the conditions gods.

And yes - a messy camera bench is definitely my calling card 😬

All in a days work for ‘Moon - Natures Secret Force’ by @humblebeefilms for @skytv

Some shoots, you just need all the things…

Drysuit, heated vest, rebreather, tripods, sliders, float rig, macro probe lenses - all ‘toys’ (tools) that help you make the most of the precious time you have in the water and help make a story come alive… if you’re given enough opportunity to use them by the conditions gods.

And yes - a messy camera bench is definitely my calling card 😬

All in a days work for ‘Moon - Natures Secret Force’ by @humblebeefilms for @skytv

All of us in the wildlife film-making business are familiar with unusual and unexpected conditions - oftentimes, for some reason, we seem to get unlucky - and have all become used to the locals saying “you should have been here last week / last season…it was amazing!” - I’ve joked a number of times about getting this put on a t-shirt.

A shoot I did last year for @humblebeefilms & @skytv for their latest series - ‘Moon; Nature’s Secret Force’ was unusual in that we had an extraordinary run of GOOD weather and diving conditions - according to local export @pangquong - the best visibility he’d seen in his 30 years of diving in this spot, which held for almost the whole shoot.

This almost unbelievable run of good diving conditions allowed us to document the amazing spectacle of the spider grab moulting aggregation in all its crabby glory 🦀🦀🦀 - a spectacle that was even more amazing to witness than I ever imagined - yes, those are all crabs 🦀

Thanks to @r_w_i_l_c_o_x and @tasha.busjeet for getting me out there and for having a firm directorial hand on the tiller to guide me through the shoot 🙌

Catch ‘Moon; Nature’s Secret Force’ on Sky on Sunday 30th November’ 🌝

Are you an emerging conservation filmmaker? Apply for our Ocean Storytelling Film Grant now!

The opportunity is here to develop a narrative of connection between storytellers and their audience, that kindles the kind of wonder that nudges us all closer to the sea.

See our bio for more info.

🎥: James Louden
🎥: Craig Foster
🎥: Naude Heunis | © Save Our Seas Foundation
🎥: Byron Dilkes
🎥: Thomas Peschak
🎥: Dan Beecham
🎥: Sebastian Staines
🎥: Roger Horricks | © Sea Change
🎥: Keenan Ferguson
🎥: Luke Saddler
🎥: Mikey Santillan
🎥: Michael Scholl
🎥: Stuart Hablutzel

Life goals!😀

Always wanted to see a sequence I worked on make it to Gogglebox, and here we are.

It’s the little things in life 😂

Photo-dump from the last month of adventure around Kandavu island in Fiji, onboard the Argo with Nat Geo Pristine Seas. Sunsets, mountains, island dogs and eternally joyful crew members 😊

Photo-dump from the last month of adventure around Kandavu island in Fiji, onboard the Argo with Nat Geo Pristine Seas. Sunsets, mountains, island dogs and eternally joyful crew members 😊

Photo-dump from the last month of adventure around Kandavu island in Fiji, onboard the Argo with Nat Geo Pristine Seas. Sunsets, mountains, island dogs and eternally joyful crew members 😊

Photo-dump from the last month of adventure around Kandavu island in Fiji, onboard the Argo with Nat Geo Pristine Seas. Sunsets, mountains, island dogs and eternally joyful crew members 😊

Photo-dump from the last month of adventure around Kandavu island in Fiji, onboard the Argo with Nat Geo Pristine Seas. Sunsets, mountains, island dogs and eternally joyful crew members 😊

Photo-dump from the last month of adventure around Kandavu island in Fiji, onboard the Argo with Nat Geo Pristine Seas. Sunsets, mountains, island dogs and eternally joyful crew members 😊

Photo-dump from the last month of adventure around Kandavu island in Fiji, onboard the Argo with Nat Geo Pristine Seas. Sunsets, mountains, island dogs and eternally joyful crew members 😊

Photo-dump from the last month of adventure around Kandavu island in Fiji, onboard the Argo with Nat Geo Pristine Seas. Sunsets, mountains, island dogs and eternally joyful crew members 😊

Photo-dump from the last month of adventure around Kandavu island in Fiji, onboard the Argo with Nat Geo Pristine Seas. Sunsets, mountains, island dogs and eternally joyful crew members 😊

Photo-dump from the last month of adventure around Kandavu island in Fiji, onboard the Argo with Nat Geo Pristine Seas. Sunsets, mountains, island dogs and eternally joyful crew members 😊

My time in Fiji has come to an end and the big journey home has begun.

This one was a challenge. Kandavu Island and the Great Astrolabe Reef did not give up their secrets easily.

We worked hard and it felt like every shot was hard won - at times through tough weather and challenging diving conditions, but ultimately we were able to paint a picture of the underwater realm here.

It is a rare and unique privilege getting to know the character of a location underwater so well -very often on a natural history shoot you might dive a small area of reef over and over for many weeks - to get to know it and get better and better shots each day, but the exploratory nature of these expeditions means almost every day we are in a new area and so every dive is a surprise and we build up a repertoire of footage on the location over the weeks.

Here the story was one steep drop-offs on the exposed Soutern side of the island chain and crazy pinnacles and beautiful corals in the sheltered north, interspersed by dramatic deep channels leading to a vast lagoon which harbors a great variety of species.

Vinaka Fiji, it’s been epic.

Filming 'Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory' meant diving cage-free in South Africa’s waters to observe great whites where they’re most powerful and on their terms.

#ShotonRED by DP Dan Beecham (@danbeecham), Ryan Simmonds, James Loudon (@jamesloudon_underwater), and Bertie Gregory (@bertiegregory). The team captured these encounters while documenting how the species is being shaped by a changing planet. Now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. #SharksonRED

Filming 'Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory' meant diving cage-free in South Africa’s waters to observe great whites where they’re most powerful and on their terms.

#ShotonRED by DP Dan Beecham (@danbeecham), Ryan Simmonds, James Loudon (@jamesloudon_underwater), and Bertie Gregory (@bertiegregory). The team captured these encounters while documenting how the species is being shaped by a changing planet. Now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. #SharksonRED

Filming 'Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory' meant diving cage-free in South Africa’s waters to observe great whites where they’re most powerful and on their terms.

#ShotonRED by DP Dan Beecham (@danbeecham), Ryan Simmonds, James Loudon (@jamesloudon_underwater), and Bertie Gregory (@bertiegregory). The team captured these encounters while documenting how the species is being shaped by a changing planet. Now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. #SharksonRED

Filming 'Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory' meant diving cage-free in South Africa’s waters to observe great whites where they’re most powerful and on their terms.

#ShotonRED by DP Dan Beecham (@danbeecham), Ryan Simmonds, James Loudon (@jamesloudon_underwater), and Bertie Gregory (@bertiegregory). The team captured these encounters while documenting how the species is being shaped by a changing planet. Now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. #SharksonRED

Filming 'Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory' meant diving cage-free in South Africa’s waters to observe great whites where they’re most powerful and on their terms.

#ShotonRED by DP Dan Beecham (@danbeecham), Ryan Simmonds, James Loudon (@jamesloudon_underwater), and Bertie Gregory (@bertiegregory). The team captured these encounters while documenting how the species is being shaped by a changing planet. Now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. #SharksonRED

Filming 'Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory' meant diving cage-free in South Africa’s waters to observe great whites where they’re most powerful and on their terms.

#ShotonRED by DP Dan Beecham (@danbeecham), Ryan Simmonds, James Loudon (@jamesloudon_underwater), and Bertie Gregory (@bertiegregory). The team captured these encounters while documenting how the species is being shaped by a changing planet. Now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. #SharksonRED