Professional info
With 25 years of experience in the broadcast industry, I've had the pleasure of working on a diverse range of productions - from major Disney projects to smaller, independent productions at the BBC. My passion lies in capturing the best possible visuals to bring any project to life.
I started my career as a scriptwriter and 3-machine linear editor for a local production company after earning a Spanish degree from Leeds University. This early experience gave me a unique perspective on the production process. As a dedicated cameraman, I strive to work closely with directors to ensure we have a clear understanding of the project's vision, scope, and locations before the shoot. Let me help you bring your project to life with stunning visuals that make it shine.
Latest work
WALKING WITH DINOSAURS 2 (In Production, Red Monstro 8k RAW )
SECRETS OF THE NEANDERTHAL, NETFLIX
INSIDE THE AUTISTIC MIND WITH CHRIS PACKHAM (BBC) Grierson Award Winner
THE SECRETS OF OUR UNIVERSE WITH TIM PEAKE (RED MONSTRO)
ITALIA '90 RTS Award nomination for best cinematography
CRICKET'S GREATEST GAME (FEATURE DOC, BBC)
EARTH, WITH CHRIS PACKHAM (BBC RED GEMINI 5K)
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO JEFF GOLDBLUM SEASON 1/2 (DISNEY 4K DELIVERY, 4.5K ACQUISITION RED GEMINI/ DRAGON X)
LIMITLESS WITH CHRIS HEMSWORTH (DISNEY/NAT GEO RED GEMINI)
ART THAT MADE US (CLEARSTORY FOR BBC RED DRAGON 6K)
NEW MODEL AGENCY (CHANNEL 4, TITLES AND INTERSTITIALS)
FIRST CONTACT FEATURE DRAMA DOC (BBC)
DINOSAURS: THE FINAL DAY WITH DAVID ATTENBOROUGH (BBC RED GEMINI)
ALIEN WORLDS (NETFLIX, 4K DELIVERY, 5K ACQUISITION, RED GEMINI)
A YEAR ON MARS (ARROW MEDIA)
BRIAN COX UNIVERSE NOVA EDITIONS (RED 6K RAW ACQUISTION)
ONE DAY ON THE RED PLANET (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 4K DELIVERY, 5K ACQUSITION RED GEMINI/DRAGON X)
KILLERS OF THE COSMOS (BBC2 RED, 1080 PRORES ACQUISITION)
STONEHENGE: THE LOST CIRCLE REVEALED WITH PROF ALICE ROBERTS (RED DRAGON X)
EXTRA LIFE DAVID OLUSOGA (PBS BBC2 RED DRAGON X )
PERSONA (STUDIO SHOOT RED 6K RAW FOR HBO MAX)
PERPETUAL PLANET: HEROES OF THE OCEAN (ON DISNEY 6K ANAMORPHIC ACQUISITION RED DRAGON X)
NETFLIX SERIES BAD BILLIONAIRES ( NETFLIX, 4K DELIVERY, 5K ACQUISITION, RED GEMINI)
EXTINCTION: THE FACTS WITH SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH (BBC 4K DELIVERY 5K AQUISITION RED DRAGON X BAFTA NOMINATED)
CLIMATE CHANGE: THE FACTS WITH SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH (BBC 4K DELIVERY, 4K ACQUISITION BMD UMP)
THE AGE OF THE IMAGE (BBC 1080 DELIVERY, 5K DOWNSCALED ACQUISITION RED DRAGON X)
JACK THE RIPPER: THE CASE REOPENED WITH EMILIA FOX (TRUE CRIME BBC)
BREAKING A FEMALE PAEDOPHILE RING (TRUE CRIME, CH4 CUTTING EDGE)
WOULD YOU SAVE A STRANGER? (TRUE CRIME, CH4 CUTTING EDGE)
OPERATION GRAND CANYON WITH DAN SNOW (BBC EXPEDITION)
CIVILISATION WITH SIMON SCHAMA (BBC 1080 DELIVERY, BMD UMP)
TEA: ONE CUP, A THOUSAND STORIES (MIGU, 4K HDR DELIVERY, 5K ACQUISITION RED DRAGON X
CHINA'S MEGATOMB REVEALED (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 1080 DELIVERY)
THE HUMAN BODY: YOUR SECRET LIFE REVEALED (BBC 1080 BMD UMP)
COUNTDOWN TO LIFE: THE NINE MONTHS THAT MADE YOU (BBC 1080 BMD UMP)
SCIENCE'S GREATEST MYSTERIES (BBC BILLIBILLI)
ANCIENT POWERS (BBC FOR BILIBILI)
OUR CHANGING EARTH PBS (Conflict Elephants in Damaraland, Namibia)
Gear I use:
I absolutely love shooting with Red cameras, and my personal choice is the RED MONSTRO 8k Vista Vision camera. It's super versatile and offers both an 8k full frame and a 6k s35 shooting mode. Plus, it's easy to downsample footage in-camera to a 1080 prores file. This dsmc2 is a proven workhorse, capable of delivering in the most difficult of situations. Red is the go to system for natural history, with unrivalled high resolution slow motion and the monstro sensor is the choice of Panavision for their DXL2 cameras.
I'm really proud of my bespoke set of DULENS APO mini primes. I've followed this boutique company since it's kickstarter campaign and now have the full set of their lenses. Unique swirly vintage style bokeh and a tribe 7 like rainbow flare, they have leica like colour rendition and are very difficult to get hold of.
I also have an Ironglass modified set of high-speed vintage Russian PL mount cine primes, which includes lenses at 20, 24, 35, 58, 85, and 200mm, mostly at t2. These lenses have gorgeous flare characteristics and are super flattering on faces.They were used on the last Batman film and were the main lenses used on DUNE 2.
If you're looking for something a bit more modern with a hint of retro, I have a set of revised XEEN CF carbon fibre lenses. They're incredibly fast at T1.5 and offer a stunning look wide open with great color in 16, 24, 35, 50, and 85mm.
For a single lens run-and-gun solution, I always pack my PL mount Sirui 28-85. It's a super unique lens that fully covers the massive 8k Vista Vision sensor of the monstro. It has a nice look, especially on the long end, vintagesque but with reliable modern mechanics to give your run-and-gun documentary a touch of class. It's similar to the optimos, but it's an all-in-one lens.
And finally, for long lenses, I've got a Carl Zeiss Jena 300mm converted to PL in my bag or the hefty Canon FD 150-600 as an extra (which is essentially a long-range K35). I also have a full set of zeiss jenas, if you want to go completely retro - the 50mm pancolar in particular, is spectaular.
On the gimbal, I really like the blackmagic design 6k. The image from that sensor is much more organic than the ultra sharp video look of mirrorless. I use a vintage set of nikon ais lenses from the 1980s, great colour rendtion and compact size make them ideal. Paired with dji lidar, you can even get fast vintage autofocus on the gimbal.
2010 - present
2010 - present
Drama Doc
HIJACK - CHANNEL 5 Drama Doc
CONSPIRACIES - CHANNEL 5 Drama doc looking at alternate histories
THE PRINCES IN THE TOWER
David Starkey, Philippa Gregory, Susannah Lipscomb discuss what happened to the Princes, each outcome dramatised.
LAST HEROES OF D DAY
I can't claim credit for the amazing beach footage but I did shoot some of the other sequences honest!
SWINGING INTO THE BLITZ
A look at the history of swing in Britain in the 1940s, tied into the Poliakoff drama.
TIMEWATCH: THE BOMBING OF COVENTRY
Used a combination of stills photography and live action to recreate the blitz in one small dark bunker.
THE HISTORY OF PROSTITUTION
Historian Lucy Moore traces the history of prostitution from ancient Rome to the present day.
WOULD YOU SAVE A STRANGER
True experiences of people confronted with unprovoked violent attacks
History
ONE CUP, A THOUSAND STORIES
A HOUSE THROUGH TIME SERIES 2 NEWCASTLE
A VERY ROYAL WEDDING C5
CIVILISATION WITH SIMON SCHAMA, a remake of the classic Arts History series.
A HISTORY OF BLACK BRITAIN, Just a couple of days on the series directed by my wife Naomi Austin.
THE GREATEST TOMB ON EARTH: SECRETS OF ANCIENT CHINA Landmark Nat Geo
A VERY BRITISH MAP: THE HISTORY OF THE OS Shot on the BlackMagic Ursa
FAIR COP History of Women in the Police Force
A CULTURAL HISTORY OF BRITAIN Dominic Sandbrooke
FREDDIE KNOLLER'S WAR Moving testimony of a holocaust survivor
HENRY VIII'S ENFORCER THE RISE AND FALL OF THOMAS CROMWELL Prof. Diarmid MacCulloch
DONALD CAMPBELL: SPEEDKING Donald Campbell biopic
IAN HISLOP'S OLDEN DAYS
ROME'S LOST EMPIRE Dan Snow and Prof. Sarah Parcak look for achaelogical remains using the latest satellite imagery
OBAMA'S AMERICA X2 Simon Schama, US foreign policy and economy
A HISTORY OF ANCIENT BRITAIN
A HISTORY OF CELTIC BRITAIN Neil Oliver. Shot with a pro35 and primes - if you thought Brian Cox invented lens flare...
VIKING SAGAS Prof. Nina Ramirez. Shot entirely on the 5dmk2.
BREAKING A FEMALE PAEDOPHILE RING Harrowing true story of a complex police investigation, shot on 5d2
Lighting
It's all about lighting, whether setting up in a controlled environment or making the most of available light and understanding when in fact available light can be the best option.
I've a number of lighting set ups that work really well:
Walimex Pro series 1500. A massive edge lit round led panel. Creates a fantastically soft key and the circular shape adds a realistic catch light.
Yidoblo ltrgb4 Like the titan asteras, these 4 ft tubes are full colour spectrum, great for getting into difficult spaces and look good in vision.
Arrisun 575 Par
Nice and powerful for its size, great colour and a range of different lenses. Great for firing through a window, silks or booklighting.
Skier Sunday 160s
These small fresnel lens are surprisingly punchy. The size of a small zoom lens, they've been tested brighter than the Aputure 300d
Fantastic to travel with as they can also power from V lock batteries if need be.
These are new. They're not bicolour but they have a lot of punch for a low power draw and don't throw out much heat from the front.
Led FlexPanels
These are hugely useful for docs. Super quick set up, come with their own softboxes for a perfect key and china balls for hanging over tables. They're also equipped with dimmers and battery power.
Led Ice Lights
They look like light sabers and are wifi linked. With four different colour temperatures, they're really useful to stick in vision on set.
Mini Led Focusable spots - like ledzillas, they're basically battery powered dedos in daylight, dimmable with a focusing lens.
Nets - quite often on docs, there may not be time or power for elaborate lighting. Its amazing what beautiful light can be had using silks, bounce and negative fill to control natural light and it often looks slicker!
Modifiers - I have a lot of these to shape the light: parabolic reflectors, 2m shoot through umbrellas, soft boxes with egg crates, trace frames, projectors and umbrella bounce soft boxes.
Science
KILLERS OF THE COSMOS
MARS: ONE DAY ON THE RED PLANET
THE HUMAN BODY: THE SECRETS OF YOUR LIFE REVEALED
HORIZON MALE SUICIDE
THE BIG THINK
HORIZON AI DRIVING
HORIZON DOPING IN SPORTS
HORIZON HAIR
HORIZON OBESITY
HORIZON ALZHEIMERS
THE NINE MONTHS THAT MADE YOU
TRUST ME I'M A DOCTOR
WHAT BRITAIN EATS
OPERATION WILD
CATWATCH 2014 THE NEW HORIZON EXPERIMENT
HORIZON WHAT'S WRONG WITH OUR WEATHER
HORIZON THE TRUTH ABOUT PERSONALITY
HORIZON ALLERGY PLANET
HORIZON GUIDE TO DOGS
HORIZON GUIDE TO ARMAGEDDON
ORBIT: EARTH'S EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEY
HOT PLANET
BANG GOES THE THEORY (VARIOUS)
Arts
AGE OF THE IMAGE BBC4
CIVILISATION WITH SIMON SCHAMA. Epic scaled global arts history.
NATIONAL GALLERY SHORT FILM FOR THE CARAVAGGIO EXHIBITION. Shot on BlackMagic Ursa.
NATIONAL GALLERY SOUNDSCAPE FILMS Six short films to accompany the National Galleries new soundscapes exhibition. Shot on the BlackMagic Ursa.
THE HISTORY OF THE WOMEN'S INSTITUTE Lucy Worsely Social history.
SEX, LIES AND LOVEBITES Phillipa Perry traces the birth of the agony aunt.
SECRET HISTORY ZAHA HADID The world renowned architect examines the inspirational nature of Kazimir Malevich
SIMON SCHAMA ON SHAKESPEARE 2x 1hours on Shakespeare, with some incredible insights and amazing star performances
THE TREASURES OF ANCIENT EGYPT Alistair Sooke looks at the treasures of ancient egypt through the eyes of an art lover
THE CULTURE SHOW -VARIOUS, eg Women in Punk
Food
THE CONFECTIONERS, WALL2WALL LIVING HISTORY, THE GEORGIANS, THE VICTORIANS PLUS CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
A VERY ROYAL WEDDING.
HOW FOOD WORKS, SPECIALIST FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY PACK SHOTS.
THE URBAN RAJAH
RIVER COTTAGE
FRENCH LEAVE
TYLER'S ULTIMATE SERIES 1 (US FOOD NETWORK)
NAKED CHEF ( I was assisting the talented messrs Cardiff and Hill at the time, so got to shoot a few little sequences under their expert tutelage!)