Unsung heroes
| 16:16 UK time, Thursday, 29 May 2008
It's been a while since I've blogged... there's just so much going on at the moment. Week one is always bonkers as we get into the flow of things and work out who our animals stars are going to be. And now we have a new home here at Pensthorpe in Norfolk it's taking even longer for life to feel normal and settled (does it ever on such a live and unpredictable production as this ?!).
Intimate - and often live - shots of the daily lives of animals are the very essence of Springwatch. So it's time to praise the unsung heroes who make this possible - our wildlife camera and sound folk. We have an amazing team of specialists here at Pensthorpe - and up on the Simon King team in Scotland - from wildlife experts to technical wizards.
All of them work around the clock to monitor what's going on around us (at the moment, absolutely LOADS!) and then look into the possibility of getting mini cameras in or near a nest, or deploying a super-camouflaged cameraman with a very long lens observing from a distance.
This is always done with the very best advice from experts and regulatory bodies and executed with the utmost care and attention to detail, to make sure that the animals are in no way disturbed by our actions. Many of our team have years and years of experience and are considered to be at the very top of the their field (quite an appropriate expression in this case).
We feature some of their amazing work on the TV show, from "Rock Cams" to wildcat stake-outs. Talking of which, don't miss tonight's show for some SPECTACULAR super slo-mo footage of ospreys diving and fishing.
Remember that amazing shot in Planet Earth when that great white shark leapt out of the water? That was shot by none other than Simon King, and tonight he'll be using exactly the same technique - with truly awesome results. Not to be missed!
If you want to get more of a feel of what it takes to get these amazing images and intimate views, have a look at some of our behind-the-scenes features. There's a photo story about how mini cams are rigged, and you can see a short video of what cameraman Toby Strong had to do to get those amazing shots of capercaillies earlier in the spring.
Also meet Jo (our very own "Q" - the man with the gadgets in James Bond movies) and his latest triumph - Rock Cam!
And see what researcher-cameraman Alex had to do to get you those lovely shots of treecreepers fledging in the clip below.
So... Nigel, Mike, Jo, Pete, Mark, Hitesh, Gary, Will, Charlie, Alex, John, Jamie, Jenny and Chris .... you are our unsung heroes and we salute you!
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