Recent Projects – A Summary of Recent Projects
We have been keeping busy with recent projects and a few are now online to look at. Most of our recent projects have taken place in West Papua, a destination we are always happy to visit.
Clients that we have worked with recently include National Geographic, the BBC, Konservasi Indonesia and ReShark. All of these projects revolve around one of our favourite themes: Conservation.
Planet Earth III
One of our favourite projects was working with “Planet Earth III” by the BBC. This is a documentary series hosted by the legendary David Attenborough. Our work appears in the first episode of the series entitled: “Coasts”. The sequence is all about the incredible Archer Fish, shot in Raja Ampat. These incredible fish are able to spit water at insects on tree branches to knock them into the water and then feed on them. Our team spent a week on the shoot and a lot of our work appears in the introduction scenes. We can’t post a link to the full episode here but we can link to the “Behind the Scenes” which is hosted on YouTube.
National Geographic
Another exciting recent project was working with the team from National Geographic and Prada on a short film in Raja Ampat. This short highlights the work of local people and a National Geographic Explorer who work conserving the coral reef. Our team was responsible for all of the underwater sequences for this project.
You can view the film here on the National Geographic YouTube Channel.
ReShark
One of our longtime collaborations is with the ReShark program. ReShark is a collaborative initiative between a large number of contributors such as Conservation International, The Seattle Aquarium, Konservasi Indonesia, RARCC, The Misool Foundation, West Papua and Indonesian Government organizations and dozens more. This is an ongoing project that started in 2022 and involves reintroducing leopard sharks to the Raja Ampat area. We are happy to be involved with documenting the work done by the entire team throughout the world in this important initiative.
You can watch the history of the project on the ReShark You Tube channel. Below is the short film of the first ever release of a leopard shark.
Konservasi Indonesia
Konservasi Indonesia are our frequent partners in different multi media project that we work on. In our latest collaboration we visited the island of Namatote near Kaimana in SW Papua. This is a very traditional area where local customs are strong. The people work closely with nature and the sea plays an important role in their livelihoods. We visited the area with the team from Konservasi Indonesia to document the tradition of “Sasi”. Sasi is a traditional form of sustainable utilization of resources Papuans have utilized for hundreds of years. The short film “Sasi di Namatota” is below:
The Rapid Drone Evolution
The mountainous interior of the island means that the local populations developed in isolation. This means that each area has distinct cultural traditions and languages. Although mainly Catholic, the local people maintain many of their ancient traditions. For photographers and documentary film makers, this means an incredible opportunity to create. The intricate dances and ceremonies that take place during harvest festivals are a treasure to observe. With very few outsiders visiting the interior of the island, everyone is welcomed to attend. The key is attending festivals that are not a set performance for tourists. We can help organize this via our web of local knowledge.
The narrow island has a spine of high mountains running from east to west. These continuous range of mountains and the island itself are the result of the nearby plate subduction zone. The Indo Australian tectonic plate is sinking beneath the Eurasian plate which creates the Indonesian part of the “Ring of Fire”. With subduction comes the creation of volcanoes and Flores has no shortage of those! There are 11 active and many extinct volcanoes in Flores. They range in form and shape from the classic pyramid shape to a more flat topped variety. What they all share in common is a wonderful green jungle landscape. For content creation, there is nothing more beautiful than the early morning light on a mountain with mist rising from the trees. Flores offers these landscapes from one end of the island to the other.
With a mix of volcanoes, ancient houses, beautiful jungles, and and ancient and thriving culture, Flores island offers endless opportunities for the film maker. Knowing where and when to go is also important. We can help aspiring film crews to organize their trip to this beautiful and little known territory. 
Although it’s often used in many productions, from BBC documentaries to feature films, underwater filming is a mystery to many. There are many forms of underwater filming, from shallow bath tub shots to deep sea cinematography. Each of these disciplines requires both the necessary skillset as well as the right equipment. In this article we will discuss the tools that are needed to film on scuba.
There is nothing worse for filming than the colour sapping effect of water. The colour spectrum of water is adversely affected by depth which means that in as shallow of water as 10 ft (3 metres), the red spectrum is gone! Once past 20 feet (7 metres or so) then everything pretty much appears blue/green. In order to get true colour on the screen underwater lights are needed. Lights come in many sizes and brightness, however, with the advent of LED technology over the years, quality lighting has become more affordable. When it comes to underwater lighting, it’s always best to have more. Modern lights have many power settings so even the brightest lights can be turned down. For macro/close up work, not as much light is needed. However, for wide angle work, bright lights are needed to bring out the rich colours underwater.
Although many would not think of it for underwater, a tripod is a very useful tool. The main use of a tripod is for static shots when using a narrow angled lens. Keeping the camera still underwater is not easy as such effects of current, waves, and the act of breathing all create movement. When shooting marine life an underwater tripod comes in very handy. It can also be used for wider scenes such as capturing schools of fish moving over coral reefs. There are also uses for tools such as sliders when capturing natural history behaviour.
We have been working in the photography and filming business for 20 years. Our first specialty lies in the underwater world. We have thousands of dives under our belts with cameras in hand. This long experience underwater allows us to be comfortable and confident underwater in all environments. This means that our underwater work is rock steady and professional. Clients looking for underwater imagery want steady and colourful work, the best way to achieve this is to work with professional underwater camera people.
We do have a limited amount of equipment for rent. Our main rental option is the RED Gemini 5K. We can also offer the full underwater equipment that is needed for this camera to film below the surface. Please ask us for our rental pricing.