Ocean Film Festival 2015 – Bristol

Having a Whale of a time

Saturday was the International Ocean Film Festival UK Tour at the rather splendorous Victoria Rooms- a regular concert hall for the students of Bristol University. What a fitting venue to showcase some of the worlds most inspirational ocean based films, from the icy expanses of the Arctic, the colossal depths of the pelagic Southern African oceans to the rip-roaring undulations of waves off the coast of Hawaii- this 2 hour plunge into the ocean will literally leave you gasping for air…

I chose to go to this rather than the opening of the Encounters Festival as I feel assessing your own response and emotions towards the films is far more valuable in terms of learning a great deal about what works within this industry. That and wanting to watch some epic shots of surfers, photographers and divers!

First up was the hugely gob-smackingly courageous and gutsy “The Fisherman’s son” filmed by Chris Malloy, about Chilean born surfer pro, Ramon Navarro– a son of a subsistence fisherman off the once sleepy shores of Punta de Lobo. His entire life path was shaped by the random kindness of a visiting surfer who had given him one of his old surf boards to practice on. So Ramon would head out onto the rough swells of the Pacific Ocean- the largest in the world… where his passion and connection with the Ocean fueled a gritty determination to explore the world. The journey of this gentle fisherman was captured with an assorted collection of local interviews as well as with his good pro surfer friends.The lighting during these was actually quite ethereal and intimate; capturing that sense of mystery about this once unknown fisherman.

He now has such a huge following that he uses this power to campaign against the development of his hometown- something which I hugely admire with any “celebrity.” I think the ability to use your voice as a vehicle to influence others when you have such a following is almost a duty, but more importantly it should be something that comes naturally, the want to make a difference in the world. ALL of the sequences of Ramos and his chums tearing down the jaw-droppingly immense waves are as remarkable as they sound… the elegance with which Ramos executed the anglelings, kick outs, aerials (dude yes, I’m down with the lingo), was exhilarating. The man would never fall off! He glided seemingly endlessly across the water, and with such ease that its a surprise that he hasn’t the nickname Jesus de Chile. Check out the film here:

Next up was a rather quirky short with a very talented sand artist, depicting the unseen problems and ignorant relationship we have with the ocean. He dashes his sand across his glass, and in an almost hypnotic way in rhythm to the music, where he then moves his fingers across to paint the picture. The destruction of our oceans through dredging, pollution and over fishing are just some the highlights of this short but powerful film.

The next film was a rather remarkable journey of a South African surfer who rose above a physical and mental tragedy of losing his ability to walk. It was the Ocean where he sought to take his own life, and yet the very place where by an inevitable twist of fate that he found it once more. He describes his difficulty in accepting his condition, and then this almost leading to his “collapse into the abyss”. And yet feeling the “strength” and “spiritual power” of the ocean is what led to him living a full and adventurous life, sailing his own boat solo across the Indian Ocean, meeting fascinating people and places. DevOcean is a real reminder of how EVERY individual has a powerful journey to make and its how their attitude towards life can be shaped by the natural world around us. Top short film.

After a short break – with the light-hearted topic of contemplating the meaning life with a fellow course mate and friend, we returned to watch another repertoire of unbelievable stories created by indie filmmakers. Arctic Swell, although a short film, shows the incredible photographic talents and remarkable endurance of Chris Burkard and a team of surfers up by the freezing sub-zero temperatures of Norway. Nevermore so has the preconception of a typical blonde surfer with a bronzed tan and generally not wearing much been so overruled… deep within the Arctic circle, with wind chill and waves that carry seemingly endless pancakes of cobalt-blue icebergs are the team of dedicated explorers- keen to capture the majesty and beauty of this raw landscape. The colours are some of the most awe-inspiring I’ve seen, and the contrasts between the hues and tones makes his photography truly magical. Check out some of his incredible work: http://www.chrisburkard.com/

The next one was rather unusual and quirky, The Fox of Bloody Woman Island was about the unusual life of one Nordic traditional Viking boat builder- Ulf. Another short, this was certainly the weakest of the cohort, but nevertheless fun to watch the hilarious antiques of this solitary wild man of the woods. He certainly was a very talented wood worker, and incredible audaciously bold to skinny dip every day in the sharp, cold dark waters of the Nordic Fjords. A true Viking at heart! The next small short was quite extraordinary, the remarkable talents of young 6 year old Quincy Symonds, known as the Flying Squirrel. Growing up with health complications and yet being able to surf with extreme accuracy and flair really made for an inspirational story. I mean what were we all doing aged 6- starting to ride a bike? A hear-warming tale of the families journey through her health problems and overcoming them together…Little surfer was all very Disney like.

Finally we come to the last film about Hanli Prinsloo, an ex-pro free diver, from Johannesburg. She certainly took our breath away with her outstanding ability to dive deep into the depths of the ocean, all the while gliding with eloquent grace like the marine beauties she so ardently seeks to film. Having had many years as a successful Pro Diver in the World Championships, she decided that taking a larger conservation role and enjoying the beauty and thrilling experiences that the oceans has offer was far more rewarding. Be prepared to see her diving with some of the worlds most incredible marine species- Mako, Blacktips, Blue sharks and dolphins! Ocean Minded was a fantastic way to end the stream of awe-inspiring films.

Here’s a short clip of her reason for her love of the Ocean and her work with the Ocean Conservation trust.

All films had a remarkable inspirational and motivational message to get across, which was most fitting as my course friends and I are about to embark on our own journeys into the world of Wildlife Filmmaking. I really do feel so blessed and fortunate to be able to have this opportunity, not only personally to pursue a childhood passion, but hopefully to be able to make a difference to this most beautiful blue planet of ours.I hope you can join all of us on this exciting adventure and be prepared to see some incredible, staggeringly beautiful people, places and nature around the world!

Help support the ocean and go on a 2 minute beach clean!

South Africa and Bristol MA Wildlife Filmmaking

This last week has truly been one of the most exhilarating, emotional and thrilling times of my life…I will be visiting South Africa this Summer, AND have been offered a place on the incredible Masters course in Wildlife Filmmaking at Bristol, in partnership with the BBC! I literally wept with happiness, joy and relief when receiving the news on Tuesday…literally just had the interview two weeks previously at the University, and everything I have worked for these past 6 years has been worth it. I am truly grateful for both amazing opportunities.

Thank you to all my friends and family for their endless and continual support, as well as belief in me to pursue my dreams. This feels like this is the beginning of some very exciting adventures, and can’t wait to find out what excitement, hard work and challenges lie ahead!

Hopefully you can join me on this journey and that I can inspire you to feel passionately about the natural world around us, and more importantly preserve it for future generations. It is our duty as filmmakers to protect the stunning and awe-inspiring places we visit and continue to tell the fascinating stories that unravel on a daily basis on this beautiful blue planet of ours.

Since I was very young, the remarkable literature talents of Lauren St John, David Alric, Michael Morpurgo and of course all of my history/biology/geography reference books provided me with an escape and world of wonder and curiosity about the natural world. I could travel the world from my bed, chair, rock, beach towel… and one place, always so vividly represented in all the books I read, was South Africa. Its rich culture, bright colours, sublime smells and majestic animals- and I yearned to visit one day. BBC documentaries and the mild attempts of the Spanish equivalent further gave me the impetus to one day visit this staggeringly beautiful country, and this I finally decided that THIS WAS IT! I’m going to SA this year after I graduate to have the experience of a lifetime.

This is it! I am going to volunteer at the South African Animal Sanctuary Alliance, Plettenberg Bay and work as a multilingual tour guide (sounds posher than it is)and photographer/filmmaker intern. Each of the sanctuaries under SASAA include Monkeyland, Birds of Eden and Jukani wildlife, which fund themselves through revenues from tourists who take educational tours of the sanctuaries to continue to bring in funds.

A detailed catalogue of all the SAASA species has not yet been made of the primates, birds and apex cats, and so compiling this information, along with taking photographs and film footage (for YouTube) of individual primates is an important part of the project. They do great work here and I am honoured to be a part of it, and help out in any way that I can.

SO this will be my ‘job’ from June 2th till August 2nd! I’ll be writing regular updates on what I get up to, and how practical it is for YOU to VOLUNTEER for CHEAP ABROAD, it took me many hours to research ethical, well respected places that treat their animals well and don’t actually charge you to volunteer. The only cost involved is the homestay at Rock Road Backpackers (contact Mac: info@wwisa.co.za) which again is AMAZINGLY priced at £18 a night, FOOD, ACCOMODATION, TRAVEL to and from the sanctuaries included. Total cost for 36 days will be around £1600, but I’ve applied for £500 funding from the Leeds for Life Foundation, fingers crossed! Still an amazing prices considering.

They are SO lovely there, I’m feeling really confident about heading over now as they seem to be very experienced in receiving students. Currently taking my vaccinations now (ouch tetanus hurts!), which are all covered by the NHS, but be warnerd, rabies is £40 a shot! It is necessary though, especially since I’ll be working with primates, (and an odd bat or two if I get the chance).

I really want to be able to make a difference at the SAASA (South African Sanctuary Alliance) by bringing my skills as a photographer/videographer/zoologist and researcher, as well as help to build up a collection of all the species and individuals at the sanctuary. Having studied zoology at the University of Leeds for 3 years now, I feel the need to travel and experience different cultures, sights and wildlife encounters before I go on to study for my Master this coming September. Not only do I feel I would grow as a person, but also gain further insight and build upon my current portfolio which will prove to be very useful when applying for jobs as a freelance camera woman. It has always been a life-long ambition to visit South Africa, I missed out on an opportunity field trip last summer due to my research project that was to be conducted in the UK on bat foraging distributions. There’s so many amazing activities to get up to there too, canyoning, scuba diving, sky diving, caving, whale watching and I’ll also be going to the world renewed Addo National Park with students from Washington University!

One day..one step closer…

SO! I’m currently studying for my exam finals now, and can’t stop thinking how lucky I am. I mean, I have worked really hard to get to where I am…and it’s not been easy by any measure. These past three years a Leeds have been a rollercoaster of emotions- but cannot recommend going highly enough. University teaches you more than simply lectures and how to avoid drunk people! But it allows you to find yourself, your purpose, your dreams, what your capable of and most of all determined to, no matter what, follow your dreams and CREATE YOUR OWN LUCK too.

https://youtu.be/KnmdUn3qQeI

Almscliff Adventures: Begginners guide to Rock Climbing

 

Almscliff Crag is located between the verdant green sloping hills of Harrogate and the bustling city of Leeds, and protrudes on top of a small hill. Made of Millstone grit, it optimizes the hardiness of the great Yorkshire people- tough and gritty is most certainly the way up North! It was formed out of the destruction of the surrounding softer and more fragile shale and mudstone strata, which left this hardier famous landmark which is extremely popular with walkers and climbers alike. I headed up with the Leeds University Mountaineering society (Climbing) to try out my first outdoor climb, having had several indoor and seemingly difficult routes indoors at the Depot (Pudsey) and The Edge (Leeds). I could only really manage the Blues and Black holds at that point, so wasn’t too sure what to expect on an outdoor trip! But I was rearing to go and try it out.

Beautiful views of Otley and the Chevin from the top of the Almscliff crag.

Ed and Dan were my teachers and were incredibly patient with my incompetent movements that resembled a seagull with broken wings that had been coated with tar… rather flailing!

  

But you learn fast, it literally is a steep learning curve, with all the different names for pieces of kit, it can be a bit overwhelming! Firstly, rock climbing involves two people or a small group including the use of ropes which can either be done indoors at a local climbing centre OR outdoors. Other types of climbing without ropes involves bouldering where crash mats are places strategically in order to prevent any accidents. This is usually done in indoor centres without rope as the crash mats provide sufficient padding to cushion a fall whilst you build up your strength and stamina, to prepare you for an outdoor climb. You can use ropes indoors where another person is strapped into a harness and tied up whilst one person belays you- basically pulling up the slack rope as you climb ever higher and ready to catch you if you slip and fall. The different types of climbing are:

# 1 Traditional (or trad if you want to sound cool and mingle with climbers, ALWAYS use colloquial language to get in with the climbers!). This is where one climber will “lead” up along the rock face and place in all the bolts, cams and screws through which the rope will be placed through. This not only keeps the lead and first climber safe but allows the second climber to follow. Then at the top an anchor is built and three ropes are attached with into the rock with hexes (you will see why, they resemble hexagonal metal pieces) and then attach yourself to them by the rope with a special type of knot know as a clove hitch. The second climber will follow up after the first has yelled “OFF BELAY, FREE TO CLIMB” and they have secured the ropes up at the top. The second climber will also remove the gear as they progress.

(Left) Your nuts, bolts, cams and clip ons to keep you safe! All of this should be provided with your climbing society. (Bottom) Nick Belaying Fergus, (Bottom Right) Nick being lowered by the belayer, Ed who is at the top.

# 2 Sport climbing is where climbers clip onto already placed bolts that are securely fixed into the rock for people to ascend. This is the much easier and quick way to climb, but not as exciting as leading a climb.

#3 Soloing is where climbers will ascend under their own steam without any rope and by themselves, DON’T TRY THIS FIRST!! It can be very risky going it alone, so make sure you have many months of experience before you try this out. Ed, (see below) has done this for years and so is experienced enough to know the risks.

Ed soloing it up the Chimney

#3 Ice climbing involves, as the name suggests, ice or snow with use of particular equipment such as ice picks (who doesn’t want those awesome looking pick axes?) as well as crampons, boots, thermals, rope and harness. This isn’t for the faint hearted, not only are the cold conditions tough, but the technique is better off perfected indoors before you go out there, but it looks beautiful.

# 4 Competition climbing is more competitive climbing primarily done indoors in climbing walls, check out these amazing videos of insanely good comp climbers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qk-lNsRtwQ

# 5 Bouldering is as I mentioned earlier without ropes, and is frequently performed indoors with different coloured holds which indicates their level of difficulty. Hand Jamming, crimps are all part of the technical lingo…watch out for the Climbers chat guide coming soon!

Here is Fergus Bouldering up Manhorn…quite a long way down so crash mats were used! I was going to do this but then again….

Here are the essential basics to Traditional climbing:

#1: Belay Kit– can be bought in many outdoor stores, I personally bought mine at GO Outdoors as you can get a £5 discount card which will save you a whole load, and my gorgeous black and orange harness as well as purple screw gate (to clip rope through) and orange belay device (where the climbers rope is threaded through and to control the climbers ascent/descent). This will usually set you back £50 with all of the above and a chalk bag for when you get sweaty palms! If you have a bit more cash to splash, you could probably get a harness for £46 alone then buy the rest of the gear separately. Check this Climbex one similar to the one I got on Go Outdoors.co.uk:

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/climb-x-pilot-harness-set-p194186

#2 Climbing shoes- I can’t stress how IMPORTANT SHOES are… always get a size above your normal shoes size, as they can be quite tight! It is supposed to be just uncomfortable so that you can really grip the rock face and have the friction to push up against gravity and the wall. Also you want them to be super comfy!

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/climb-x-crux-climbing-shoe-p194484

#3 Chalk– is placed into you bag and attached to the back of your harness, used to stop those sweaty palms of yours when you’re up high from sweating up and losing grip!

The cheapest and best way to start climbing is to join your local university club and pay the membership there: your covered for insurance purposes and can borrow all the gear for a small £30 a year…think how much you will be saving if you don’t have to buy all that rope, harness, shoes, cams, nuts, clip ons, ect!

It’s also a great way to make friends and get shown how to climb with a good technique. Most members would have been doing this sport for some time and are experienced. So don’t splash your cash on all these fancy pancy climbing courses all the time- although I learnt how to belay at the edge for £25, I could have learnt the exact same thing with the climbing society showing me. I did my first outdoor climb with them too.

Me checking out my harness, belay device and screw gate.

So back to Almscliff! Classic climbs include the Chimney which is categoriesd as very difficult and Wall of Horrors. But as a beginner I would highly recommend doing Stewpot and Easy man– I am seen here doing Stewpot, which I also led a climb for. The rock is lovely and firm here which is reassuring, but it really makes you move your body in a way that makes you a more cautious and perceptive person. You need to be aware of where you’re placing your feet at all times…if you get a bad foothold then finding an equally dodgy handhold is of no significance.

TRUST in your strong powerful legs and push up always from them and straighten your body right from your feet, all the way through your legs, through your core and UP you go! Onto the next hand hold. I must say, when I first started climbing, I had my doubts whether or not I could do it. My arms are like spindly gibbon arms, not much muscle at all! My legs are strong with all the cardio I do, and I was assured that it’s your LEGS that are the key to climbing. Whilst climbing Stewpot, in one of the cracks my friend shouted out that he saw a bat! I had to come up as I must say I didn’t initially believe him! But indeed there was a small wrinkled up Pipestrelle, sat snuggly between the cracks. We wondered if he was dead but he stirred as soon as we took a photo of him. Hope he was alright. You need a special license to handle them so it’s best that we left it alone. One then route had been led for me and it was safe for me to climb, I tied up my harness and headed up.

It was a gorgeous warm and sunny day. 25ᵒC-perfect for climbing the warm baked rocks of Almscliff crag. The scenery is truly spectacular up there. You can see why it’s a popular haunt with climbers, ramblers, boulderers, painters and walkers. Prior to joining the group, on my way up from the side car park, I wandered the crag to get a couple of panorama shots, and found a whole host of insect wildlife there. Swallows dart up and down catching their ready packed meals that are equally agile and astute on the wing- talk about fast food!

My climbing friends tried the much harder Chimney, and Nick and Fergus gritted their teeth, and push and pulled harder to get to the top after attempts to get past the notoriously difficult mid slab of millstone rock- gravity ALWAYS wins. Funnily enough as I am writing this I just watched the film Gravity last night, brilliantly composed and shot, but a rather pessimistic film! Its unnerving to see your climbing buddies take a fall, even when attached to rope that can take the weight of a ton. We shout out support down at the bottom to help spur them on.

The sun was beginning to slide further down the clouds, providing the perfect opportunity for me to get a silhouetted head shot and create a double exposure- check it out!I was very happy with the results after a tinkle on Photoshop CS3, I will be posting up a video tutorial on how to do it shortly. I hereby name it “Fergus and the Ferns!” after the plant I used to create it and the guy posing for it!

After a long and gorgeous afternoon of climbing and photography, it couldn’t have ended more perfectly. I OFFICIALLY have the climbers bug, despite the climbers calluses and cramps in your toes after wearing the tiny shoes, climbing really makes you feel alive and brings out the best in your abilities- it MAKES you have to believe and trust in your judgment and work as a team to help them through the climb.

“Nothing beats that feeling when you get your hand at the top of that rock…”

21st July Dolphin tour, Fuengirola

Stepped foot on my first boat today! Finally decided to go on the boat trip with Costasol Cruceros, Fuengirola, to go and see wild dolphins, as well as sandfish, turtles and other cetaceans. I was feeling lucky that day and the weather forecast was pretty good (24-33 degrees), with calmish winds of less than 20km/hr. Got my tickets by the port and went with my sister and little niece towards the port, located near the Fuengirola markets (see map), feeling rather exited! Fuengirola is a large Spanish town located within the Costa Del sol, and stretches 8km along the densely populated coastline, hugging its well visited beaches.

Many come for the shopping, sun and Sangria (pardon the personification!) and there are market days on Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday where you can get all sorts, from fake Luis Viton an Gucci bags, to boohoo leggings, crystals, Beats headphones and Nike shorts. The boat itself was rather small, in total I it would fit around 60 people. I sat at the front of the hull, to be sure of getting the best photo! Met a really fascinating woman from London, who was immediately friendly and welcoming.

Apparently, she had been the previous week with no success, and had got her second ticket half price and wanted to try her luck again. She had also swam with wild dolphins in Egypt, with the permission of the locals who only permitted her to allow the dolphins to approach her. The Skipper was busy getting the anchor whilst the captain communicated on his radio, to what I presume were local fishermen, and the engine roared to life- we were off! The harbour itself was remarkably calm, but as we got further out, it was slightly choppy…

But it was great fun!

It really was interesting talking to the kind elderly lady, really well travelled and smart. I took some panoramic shots of the vast Mijas mountain ranges and the busy coast line as we sailed further out. Tiny dotted beach towels added a splash of colour to the otherwise arid time landscape. The sun was beginning to arch hiGHEr into the sky, and reflected brilliantly off the surface of the Mediterranean sea. Polarized sun glasses are definitely a good option, helps to cut out the reflections and see what lies beneath the waves.

 

I noticed some other passengers had Canon cameras (naturally, the best!) On our way out I spotted a sand fish! I think I was the only one to spot it right beneath the boat, initially I thought it was a shark, but the guide asked me to describe it and corrected me. It had a dorsal fin and was grey-yellowish colour with a creamy underbelly, and roughly 1 metre long. *Just adding this in: apparently within this week, Spanish news reporters have documented sightings of a shark near Fuengirola, so perhaps I was not mistaken by the sighting! Feeling lucky, I kept scanning the waves for a small dorsal fin, everything to me, after a fishy encounter, seemed to be dolphin-like! I remembered how confident I became after about 40 minutes into the trip, then I had to open my big mouth and then I genuinely felt a little sea sick….

The woman was very reassuring though and kept me occupied by re-counting fascinating stories. I decided to try out my amazon.co.uk sea sick bands, which really worked! Try them yourself if you get a little queasy. They’re basically like arm bands but have pressure balls for the acupuncture points on your wrists. We eventually approached another boat with rather a lot of seagulls, eager to snatch up any discards. This, I was assured by the Captain, would bring in the Bottle-nosed dolphins who peered at the sea with his rather large “bins”. Then, to our astonishment after a reported sighting through the binoculars, a streamline shape rippled through the azure waters, revealing that notorious dolphin dorsal fin! We all gasped with excitement as the beautiful animal breeched once more, and we all furiously clicked away with our cameras. I did too but did not look through the lens (as you can probably make out from the photo below!) and wanted to watch this stunning creature with my own eyes.

I am often torn between marvelling at the wonders of that natural world with just my eyes or from behind a camera. I think it’s something all photographers face and sometime, I feel it’s best to let your eyes to the focusing and your emotions be the sensor and memory card- you can capture moments in your in and heart forever by just observing the natural world. But nevertheless, I still snapped away! It breeched about 3 times, then another larger individual came up alongside the boat (6 metres away), and came out the water a little more. It was really breath-taking, seeing such a wild animal coming close to us. I remember going to Selwo Marina last summer to look at the captive dolphins, and it saddened me deeply to see how distressed they can get as well as develop stereotypical behaviour. However I did actually see two of them mate, so they did show some relatively normal behaviour at least. But nothing compares to seeing them in the wild, free of human intervention in terms of training them to do meaningless tricks for tourists to glee at. It is much more incredible to view them in their natural environment with less intervention from human activities. Then it just melted away into the waves, and disappeared as if it had never been there. It was a brief but nonetheless exciting encounter with a Bottlenose, however our time at sea was up and the boat turned back and speedily darted across the dark Prussian blue sea.

What a trip! On the way back I took some shots of the coast, spectacular views. It really was worth it for €15, roughly £13.30 for 1 hour 30 minutes (conversion rate at the present moment: 1.25). The name of the company is Costa Cruceros and the service was excellent. I admit, if you really want to get good sightings, Gibraltar is probably your best bet, you can even get sightings of Orca! But for first timers like me, it’s a brilliant, I would highly recommend this trip! Please leave any comments below if you want any tips on how to get there from the airport via train or coach, I would be happy to help!