During 2024 & 2025 I was lucky enough to work on a brand new series focusing on the Moon for Humble Bee Films and Sky Nature. I spent several weeks filming on two exciting sequences for the series, featuring Nightjars in the UK, and lekking Sage grouse in the USA.
Tasked with capturing the unique lekking behaviour of the Sage grouse the team travelled to a beautiful corner of Utah where this now threatened bird still has a stronghold.
Shooting alongside the talented Sam Meyrick we were tasked with capturing low light footage of these fascinating birds lekking under a bright full moon, and in golden light at sunrise. Despite the bitingly cold environment and difficulty in predicting exactly where the males would lek, when the females would arrive, and where mating would happen, the shoot was incredibly successful. Under the fantastic creative direction of Nali and Tam the team were able to tell the story of the lek from a female grouse's perspective, as males competed for their attention and every nuanced detail of this morning spectacle was analysed in order to find the strongest mate!
I will remember this shoot for many years to come, the place, the company and the fantastic subject (king of all grouse species!) combined to produce one of my favourite shoots ever!
Shot with: Sam Meyrick
Directors: Nali Crack, Tam Collin
Kit: RED Gemini, Sony FX4, DJI Mavic 3 drone.
Through the course of the Summer of 2024 I had the chance to work on a thermal sequence featuring Nightjars feeding and preparing ahead of their annual migration from northern Europe back to Africa.
Over the course of several lunar cycles I visited the beautiful heathlands of RSPB Arne in order to capture the nocturnal habits of the Nightjars hunting their moth prey, aiming to capture their increased activity around each full moon.
In order to capture the story of the Nightjars and moths 4 different thermal cameras were used, including the Selex Horizon & Superhawk, along with two models from FLiR.
Spending many nights out on the Heath was a real joy, having time to appreciate the quiet of the night, watch deer and tawny owls go about their lives, and of course experience the unseen world of the Nightjars.
I'm hugely grateful to Rob for asking me to shoot on his fantastic episode, alongside some beautiful and visually groundbreaking stories, and it was an honour to get to share these shoots with such a wonderful Humble Bee team!
Episode Producer/Director: Rob Wilcox
Field Directors & location team: Clare Jones, Brend Cornelissen, Rose Tarplee & Tam Collin
Kit: Selex Superhawk, Selex Horizon, FLiR RS8500, FLiR X8500
