Wildlife Cameraman

Have you ever been watching one of the BBC’s groundbreaking wildlife documentaries and thought “How did he get that shot?!” – well now you can find out the incredible stories behind the images in Doug Allan’s debut book.

Braving the elements and depths of the Antarctic and Arctic Oceans, Doug has produced a fascinating 240 page book filled with exceptional photographs and secrets of life behind the lens, giving you a peek into the often hostile yet inspiring world of a wildlife cameraman.

This book is so much more than a collection of superb images. Doug started life as a research diver in 1976 at Signy Island, Antarctica. Now with 35 years of experience in the Antarctic and Arctic, the stories that accompany every picture in this book tell of Doug’s astonishing adventures and encounters, his insights and emotions, his deep understanding of the biology of the animals and the psychology of film-makers.

“The toughest in the business”
David Attenbourgh
“Every picture tells a story. I’ve just given the ones in this book a chance to tell theirs.”
Doug Allan

You can pre-order Doug Allan's new book "Freeze Frame" in hardback using the button below (for buyers in the UK): £25 + £6 P&P

Order here

Orders taken now, deliveries start in early of February 2012
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Doug Allan - Life Behind The Lens

Adventures, encounters and insights from the cameraman whose TV credits include Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Life, Human Planet, Ocean Giants and Frozen Planet

Join Doug for an unforgettable evening as he takes you up close and personal with the animals that live in the wildest places on earth. Stories and pictures that will appeal to all ages.

19th February — Henley, Henley Kenton Theatre — 01491 575 698 — www.kentontheatre.co.uk
21st February — Epsom, Epsom Playhouse — 01372 742 555 — www.epsomplayhouse.co.uk
22nd February — Broxbourne, Civic Hall — 01992 441 946 — www.broxbourne.gov.uk/whatson
29th February — Swansea, The Taliesin — 01792 602 403
1st March — Newport, The River Front — 01633 656 757 — www.newport.gov/theriverfront
2nd March — Yeovil, The Octagon — 01935 422 884 — www.octagon-theatre.co.uk
6th March — Great Torrington, The Plough Arts Centre — 01805 624 624
7th March — Bristol, @Bristol — 0845 345 1235
8th March — Taunton, County Cricket Club — 0845 337 1875 — www.somersetcountycc.co.uk
9th March — Weymouth, The Pavilion — 01305 783 225 — www.visitweymouth.co.uk
13th March — Tunbridge Wells, Trinity Theatre — 01892 678 678 — www.trinitytheatre.net
14th March — Brighton, The Old Market Theatre — 08444 77 1000 — www.ticketweb.co.uk
15th March — Portsmouth, The Pyramids — 023 9279 9977 — www.pyramids.co.uk
21st March — London, Royal Geographic Society — 08444 77 1000 — www.ticketweb.co.uk
22nd March — Cheddar, Cheddar Arts Kings Theatre — 01934 744 939
27th March — Cheltenham, Pitville Pump Room — 0844 576 2210 — www.cheltanhamtownhall.org.uk
28th March — Exeter, Corn Exchange — 01392 665866
29th March — Wimborne, Tivoli — 01202 885 566 — www.tivoliwimbourne.co.uk

    A collection of my pictures from encounters and experiences on shoots worldwide. No reasons in particular for the shots though there's something quietly wonderful about how I can remember the circumstances of every single one.

    Emperor Penguins and Leopard Seals

    From the Blue Planet, Emperor Penguins face up to their enemy, the Leopard Seal

    Orcas and Seals Wave Wash Frozen Planet

    Amazing behaviour! Killer Whales take seals off ice floes in the Antarctic with remarkably co-ordinated behaviour.

    Trapped Belugas from Blue Planet

    A group of Beluga Whales are surfacing for air in a gap in the frozen ocean. They are weak with starvation and attractive prey for a passing Polar Bear.

    Emperor Penguins and Leopard Seals

    From the Blue Planet, Emperor Penguins face up to their enemy, the Leopard Seal

    Orcas and Seals Wave Wash Frozen Planet

    Amazing behaviour! Killer Whales take seals off ice floes in the Antarctic with remarkably co-ordinated behaviour.

    Trapped Belugas from Blue Planet

    A group of Beluga Whales are surfacing for air in a gap in the frozen ocean. They are weak with starvation and attractive prey for a passing Polar Bear.

    Doug's Book Chapter Five
    Monday, January 2, 2012 - 20:02

    Coming Up for Air was an early draft to get a feel for a cover and a shape for the book. But it was never taken really seriously ………

    WHAT’S IN A NAME?

    Date: 15 June 2011 11:47:02 BST
    From: Roz
    Subject: Book Title
    To: Doug

    How about this for a possible title?

    If you like it in theory, Simon could mock it up to see what it would look like as an actual cover title.
    Doug Allan’s terrible tales
    The trials and triumphs of a polar cameraman

    I know that not all the tales are polar, but I think we can cheat when we call you a polar cameraman, given that most of the tales are from the poles.
    Your scribe Roz

    Date: 15 June 2011 12:28
    From: Doug
    Subject: Re: Doug Allan¹s terrible tales
    To: Roz

    Doesn't that bring to mind the very popular "Terrible Histories" series of books for children? Doug

    Date: 15 June 2011 16:47:11 BST
    From: Roz
    Subject: Book Title Mk 2
    To: Doug How’s about this, then?

    It’s not the bear you can see that’s going to get you
    A cameraman’s adventures on ice
    By Doug Allan

    No worries if you don’t like it. Roz

    Date: 30 June 2011 19:17:06 BST
    From: Roz
    Subject: Book Title Mk 3
    Cc: Doug

    How about this? (David’s, not mine.)
    It answers the brief, fit’s with the design and goes with our favourite picture.

    Freeze Frame
    A Wildlife Cameraman’s Adventures on Ice

    If you like it, we can get Simon to mock it up when he’s back so you can see it in context (often makes a difference).

    Very best
    Roz

    Date: 30 June 2011 22:06:18 BST
    From: Doug
    Subject: Re: Book Title Mk 3
    To: Roz

    I do really appreciate the talent you people are bringing to the short story titles and to this main one.

    These latest ideas are appealing, and I had something similar in mind a while back.

    But just a couple of points ......... I thought we'd reckoned a good idea to have my name in there somewhere on the front cover? And funnily enough, I've come to like "it's not the polar bear you can see that's going to get you" for its off the wall character.

    I wonder about using the polar bear line, then underneath "Wildlife Cameraman Doug Allan's Adventures on Ice" But that's an awful lot of writing for the front page.

    I'll keep thinking but I do like the way we're going ........

    x Doug

    Date: 30 June 2011 22:14:15 BST
    From: Roz
    Subject: Re: Book Title Mk 3
    To: Doug

    I like the polar bear line, too, but Simon thinks it is too long for the main title (design-wise). To discuss.

    "Wildlife Cameraman Doug Allan's Adventures on Ice" is a tad clunky.

    But your name can still be made big enough to jump out. Again, to discuss.

    The right title will come (have only just signed off the jacket for FP!).

    Date: 7 July 2011 10:31:15 BST
    From: Doug
    Subject: Re: Book Title Mk 3
    To: Roz, Simon
    OK here’s a list of possibles and permutations that come to my mind

    White Light, Black Water

    Quest for Wildlife

    Freeze Frame

    Life Behind The Lens

    Sub titles:

    A wild life behind the lens

    Images, adventures and insights from the ends of the earth

    Images, adventures and insights from the coldest ends of the earth

    Polar images, insights and imagination

    Images, imagination and insights from a life of polar filming

    Images, adventures and insights from a life of polar filming

    Adventures, images and insights from a life of polar filming

    LIFE BEHIND THE LENS
    images, adventures and insights from the ends of the earth

    FREEZE FRAME
    a wild life behind the lens

    FREEZE FRAME
    polar images, adventures and insights

    FREEZE FRAME
    polar images, insights and adventures

    FREEZE FRAME
    polar adventures, images and insights

    FREEZE FRAME
    Images, adventures and insights from the coldest ends of the earth

    FREEZE FRAME
    Images, adventures and insights from the ends of the earth

    FREEZE FRAME
    images, insights and adventures from the ends of the earth

    FREEZE FRAME
    adventures, images and insights from the ends of the earth

    Other possible key words:
    Visions / revealing / quest / seek / mission / story / tale / encounters / dreams /
    ice

    Thoughts:

    White Light Black Water is bonny and artistic but doesn’t say polar particularly and would right from the start set the book’s vibes off down a different route.

    Quest for Wildlife is just flat

    Which leaves the last two.

    FREEZE FRAME is a touch, a tiny touch, cliché’d but it does grab and it has a dynamic feel to it. Short and pithy.

    LIFE BEHIND THE LENS says maybe a bit more but it’s a bit unsurprising and not dynamic.

    Of the subtitles, I do like the idea of the main title in bold caps but not too big, and the one liner below not bold and all in lower case.

    a wild life behind the lens is very neat, maybe too much so?

    I think I like best

    FREEZE FRAME
    images, insights and adventures from the ends of the earth

    with perhaps “Doug Allan” in bold same size as FREEZE FRAME but well separated and in a different place on the cover from the title and sub heading. Or is that too much text on the cover?

    Date: 25 July 2011 11:44:20 BST
    From: Roz
    Subject: Cover line
    To: Doug
    Cc: Simon

    Doug, sorry I haven’t been able to give this full attention earlier.

    I did have a good look yesterday at your suggestions.

    MAIN COVER LINE
    I still think FREEZE FRAME is the best overall title, as it is not just a reference to photography but also to the freezing nature of the locations and therefore goes beyond a cliché.

    SUBLINE
    Your favourite is
    Images, insights and adventures from the ends of the Earth
    One drawback with this line is that it doesn’t say anything about wildlife or filming, and if used with the sidecar shot, that could be misleading (also, not sure if you can have adventures ‘from’ the ends of the earth).

    I think that
    A wildlife cameraman’s adventures on ice
    does the job better.
    I know it doesn’t have images in the line, but cameraman implies that.

    I tried to come up with one more alternative, but I failed.
    I asked David to have a go this morning.

    He has suggested adding
    Stills and stories by
    Doug Allan

    The trouble with this is that it adds another line of text, and Simon already has the following line to add it:
    Introduction by David Attenborough

    Very best
    Roz

    And so that was how it came about
    FREEZE FRAME
    A wildlife cameraman’s adventures on ice

    Coming Up for Air never really got a look in ………

    About

    Doug Allan is a freelance wildlife and documentary cameraman who films both topside and underwater. His equipment includes Sony EX-1R and Canon stills cameras with housings

    Born in 1951 in Scotland, he graduated with an honours degree in marine biology from Stirling University in 1973. On completion of his degree, he decided that science at the sharp end wasn’t quite where he sought to be. Underwater anywhere became the drive and for the next three years he worked on a wide range of diving jobs. He searched for (and found) freshwater pearls in the rivers of Scotland. Commercial diving in Germany involved underwater video work and rebuilding canals. Twice he assisted with research on marine biological expeditions with Cambridge University in the Red Sea. And in the summer 1975 he ran the Bouley Bay Underwater Centre in Jersey in the Channel Islands.

    British Antarctic Survey
    But the big break was in 1976 when he first went to the Antarctic to work as a research diver on the British Antarctic Survey station at Signy Island in the South Orkneys. The job entailed helping the scientists to carry out their underwater studies, from boats in the summer, beneath the ice in the winter. It was the start of an affair with ice that lasts to this day.

    Over the next ten years until 1985, Doug and B.A.S. had a great relationship – he spent four winters and nine summers “down south” in that time, and was awarded the Fuchs Medal, then the Polar Medal, for his work. He did three winters at Signy as diver, and one at Halley Station down at 75° S as Base Commander. Halley was no place for a biologist – but it offered a chance to winter with Emperor Penguins, and a first opportunity for Doug to turn over with a movie camera rather than just stills.

    BBC
    The BBC took first option on buying that Emperor footage for their forthcoming series Birds for All Seasons, and Doug’s career took a new direction. Using his experience of ice diving, and intimate knowledge of Signy through its winters, he proposed two films to Survival Anglia then in 1987 spent ten months in the Antarctic making them.

    Filming Since Then
    Since then, he has returned frequently to both the poles, with a string of high profile award winning films and series for the major TV networks worldwide. In contributing to The Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Life, Human Planet and Frozen Planet, he has made over 60 filming trips, including orcas attacking gray whales off California, polar bears trying to capture belugas in a frozen hole in Arctic Canada, and killer whales washing seals off ice floes in Antarctica – all on screen firsts.

    Documentaries
    But he likes the challenge of filming people as well as animals, and has done documentary synch shooting for many programmes, including assignments with Discovery along the length of the Andes, to the deserts of Africa and to the upper reaches of Mount Everest.

    In 2011 he filmed and was a presenter for the BBC series Ocean Giants about whales worldwide.

    Radio and Writing
    Doug has also contributed to numerous radio shows. His audio diary recordings while he made his “Wildlife Special – Polar Bear” became an acclaimed radio programme in their own right. Over the years, he’s also written numerous articles about wildlife and his experiences, and two children’s books. In February 2012 he’s publishing his first book Freeze Frame, a collection of polar pictures and experiences.

    Through his company Tartan Dragon Ltd, he films for broadcast and for his stock library. He lives in Bristol, and continues to work successfully with Sue Flood. He has one son by a previous marriage, Liam, who’s seventeen.

    Illustrated Lectures

    Doug is an award winning stills photographer as well as being a film maker. He's been giving talks for many years on wildlife, diving, his experiences while film making and the craft of nature photography. The four talks below give you an idea of the scope of his presentations, though he's happy to customise these so they're suitable for any audience of any age. All are lavishly illustrated with slides that he's taken during his travels. Each talk normally lasts 1 hour to 90 minutes, fees are negotiable.

    An Eye below Zero
    Doug takes his audience to the two frozen polar worlds - the Arctic and the Antarctic. Glorious pictures of the wildlife, polar bears, penguins and all the seals, the scenery and the people, with insights into how Doug prepares and copes with the short term of a six week film shoot at minus 30°C in search of polar bears. And quite different thoughts on survival of another kind during his two and a half year stint as a biologist on a British Antarctic Survey's scientific research station.

    Underwater Camera
    Experience life on a coral reef in the Red Sea and Indonesia, under the ice with seals in Canada, and looking or belugas and narwhal with the Inuit at the ice edge. Nose to nose with mating Right Whales in Patagonia gives you a chance to rewarm before heading to Antarctica to discover the remarkable rich undersea life there. There sow features behind the scenes stories and sequences from many of the best know BBC wildlife series.

    Wild Images
    Adventures, encounters and insights from the cameraman whose TV credits include Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Life, Human Planet, Ocean Giants and Frozen Planet.In this show Doug takes you up close and personal with the animals that live in the wildest places on earth. Stories and pictures that will appeal to all ages.

    Equipment

    HD
    Sony EX-1R camera with accessory wide angle lens and Convergent Design Nanoflash
    Gates Underwater Housing for EX-1R and Nanoflash with Fathom w/a lens and HD monitor
    HDV Kit is available for rental – please contact Doug for details or Films @ 59
    Sachtler and Ronford Baker tripods, baby, medium and tall legs
    2 x Filming blinds

    Digital Stills
    Canon 5D2
    Canon 1Ds
    Canon 14mm
    Canon 17-40mm
    Canon 24-105mm
    Canon 100-400mm stabilised
    Canon x 2 teleconverter
    Digital Time Lapse
    Seacam housing and wideangle dome for Canon 1Ds and Seacam Strobe"

    Stock Photography

    Doug has an extensive collection of 35mm transparencies, taken all over the world but particularly strong on animals, scenery and life in the polar regions north and south.

    Stock movie footage is also available directly from us, in particular a wide range of humpback and calf material from Tonga and material from the Antarctic Peninsula region.
    Subjects Include...
    • Emperor Penguins at all stages of their life cycle including underwater.
    • Underwater Belugas in the Canadian Arctic.
    • Almost all the seals from both the Arctic and Antarctic, underwater and topside.
    • More icebergs and snow than you'd know what to do with...

    Agencies
    Doug's stills are handled by:
    • Getty Images
    • Nature Picture Library (Incorporating the BBC NHU Picture library)

    Doug's stock footage is handled by:
    • BBC Motion Gallery
    • Getty Images

    Skills and Qualifications

    • Hi Def filming with Sony and Panasonic cameras
    • SSI Platinum Pro Diver Certification
    • U.K. Health and Safety Executive Class 4 SCUBA Diver
    • U.K.H.S.E. Registered Diving Contractor
    • BBC Approved Diving Contractor
    • Blue screen underwater
    • In date Diving Medical and First Aid Training
    • Excess of 8000 hours underwater, including 500+ hours under ice
    • Experienced handling small boats and inflatables
    • Experienced climber on snow and ice, including rope and rescue techniques
    • Cineflex mount experience
    • Reasonable French and Spanish
    • Full clean UK Driving Licence

    Filmography and Awards

    Principal Productions Doug's filmed on since 2000:

    2011
    Frozen Planet BBC / Discovery
    Ocean Giants BBC / WNET

    2010
    Human Planet BBC / Discovery

    2009
    Life BBC / Discovery
    Charlie Bird in the Arctic RTE

    2008
    24/7 UAE Corporate
    Gordon Ramsay’s F Word C4

    2007
    Everest Extreme Discovery Channel

    2006
    Planet Earth BBC / Discovery
    Steve Leonard’s Incredible Animal Journeys BBC

    2005
    Boy Among Polar Bears BBC

    2004
    Search for the Snow Leopard Granada / WNET

    2003
    Steve Leonard: Search for the Loch Ness Monster BBC / Discovery
    Ray Mears: The Real Heroes of Telemark BBC

    2002
    Wildlife Special : Killer Whales BBC
    Ultimate Guide to Volcanoes Discovery
    Wild Weather BBC
    Life of Mammals BBC / Discovery

    2001
    Ewan McGregor In the Wild Polar Bears Tigress Productions
    Congo Scorer Associates for BBC
    The Blue Planet BBC

    Principal Camerawork Awards

    BAFTA 2011 Cinematography Human Planet: Arctic
    BAFTA 2002 Cinematography Blue Planet
    BAFTA 1997 Cinematography Polar Bear Special
    BAFTA 1993 Cinematography Life in the Freezer

    Emmy Cinematography 2010 Life
    Emmy Cinematography 2007 Planet Earth
    Emmy Cinematography 2001 Blue Planet
    Emmy Cinematography 1995 White Shark Special

    Wildscreen Cinematography Panda 2006 Planet Earth
    Wildscreen Best of Festival Panda 2002 Blue Planet
    Wildscreen Conservation Panda 1998 People of the Sea
    Wildscreen Best Series Panda 1994 Life in the Freezer

    Missoula Best Photography 2007 Planet Earth
    Missoula Best Photography 2005 A Boy Among Polar Bears
    Missoula Best Underwater Photography 2003 Killer Whale Special
    Missoula Best Underwater Photography 2002 Blue Planet

    Jackson Hole Best Cinematography 2011 Life
    Jackson Hole Best Cinematography 2007 Planet Earth
    Jackson Hole Best of Festival 1997 People of the Sea

    Stills Photography

    BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1986 Runner Up Bird Behaviour
    Royal Geographical Society Cherry Kearton Photography Medal 1993
    BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1996 Winner Underwater
    BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2002 Winner Underwater

    Doctorates

    Honorary Doctorate, University of Stirling 2007
    Fellow of Explorers Club, based in New York
    Honorary Doctorate, Edinburgh Napier University 2009
    Honorary Professorship University of Stirling Dept of Aquaculture 2010
    Honorary Doctorate D.Sc. from St Andrews University 2010