When the opportunity arises to go into a country whose deserts are the subject of the two of the great early writings on desert travel the offer no matter the initial circumstances have to be accepted.

The particular circumstances I am talking about is me sat alone in a Coffee shop, after a long drive wondering if I was going a bit crazy amount the good people of Shrewsbury. To start with the process had been fairly normal, the post of Expedition Photographer/ Field Assistant was advertised and I sent my CV off along with a covering letter.  I carried on with my normal work and almost forgot about the pending application until a email came back a month later requesting that I have a meet up in the UK and see where it goes from there.

Another month passed and the interview came up, I was to meet at a coffee shop in Shrewsbury at 1500. Expecting military precision I rolled out of North London in time for the 3hr drive to this meeting. Arriving a bit early I settled down on a sofa with the biggest mug of coffee I could buy and watched the sideshow out the window.A guy about my age with too much mouth/ Adidas clothing was being repeatedly wrestled out of the supermarket first by one member of security then by two and causing all sorts of codes to come flying over the staff radios. As the time went on I constantly checked my phone for ay sign that this meeting would happen, but, I was here now and happy to wait. Outside the window the cops had rolled in joining in with the grapple that was going on before finally sending this guy on his way. As he raged past the window parents shielded their confused offspring pressing them against the glass to be even more confused by the people inside looking at their compressed faces.

People came and went from the coffee shop, families and couples but it seemed like sitting on your own was not something you do in Shrewsbury but was exactly what I had been doing for the last two hours. The phone number I had wouldn’t even ring so I sent an email and sat and hoped. As the waitress cleaned around me and told me that they’d be shutting soon she was interrupted by my phone ringing. It had been the call that I was waiting for and my questioning of whether I’d made this whole thing up passed as I was told to meet at the Opposite McDonalds.

Sure enough 20 minutes later he turned up and offered to buy me a Burger. We talked about the plans for the expedition and what my role would be if I were to get the job. Basic history and geography lessons followed drawing  with fingertips on the faux marble table and my confidence grew that this guy knew what he was on about and my excitement at the potential for this project  sprouted. Asked about my job history and experience we finished around the topic of Off road driving. The van that I own is not known for it’s off-road ability and this is the area that I had least experience in. Answering my question with a question I was asked where I had driven from today to get to the meeting? I answered and the topic was changed. We talked for a little while longer and then parted company, I had been told that he had a few other people to meet but I would hear soon what was going on.

Amazingly a few weeks later sure enough the call came through and I was offered the position. So on the basis of a Big Mac and the confidence that I could navigate from Waltham Abbey to Shrewsbury, I made an extremely smart move and accepted to leave the UK winter for a 50 night expedition across Oman.

I couldn’t have even guessed as to how much the next 2 months would turn out, but as with any good expedition it was awesome fun, full of nights staring at the stars, the odd dangerous animal encounter and challenged me and introduced a whole new culture. I didn’t start intending to just write about the coffee shop but I will be posting stories and photos from Oman over the next few months providing a bit of a back story to some of the new photos that now make up my portfolio.

Sim.

To put it simply the Kendal Film Festival is too good at its job.

For the last three years I have been to the festival in some capacity including the bum numbing marathon that I did last year. Each time I have gone back for more; to hear from and meet up with the people who are out there doing it. The filmmakers the photographers, the athletes and the audience all congregate in the same place for these awesome few days. Watching, listening and spending hours immersed in inspiring footage and talks though has had a predictable outcome. I’ve become one of those people who is going out there.

In about a weeks time I head out to Oman with for a month and a half to accompany the first half of a 3 month expedition that is travelling south to north of this incredible country. Having read Thesiger’s landmark book on the empty quarter I am psyched to be heading out there to document this expedition.

I’m gutted however that I’m missing Kendal because besides getting to catch up on what everyone else has been doing, I really want to show my support for two of the guys I was at Uni with. Matt Pycroft who worked on The Long Hope/Hot Aches Film and also for Dom Bush of Land and Sky Media who has got his first major production in probably the best slot possible in the festival! Alongside Camp4 Collective and Hot Aches sits ‘Islands: Traditional Tales of Lakeland Climbing’ in Climbing 2. Serious congrats to both of them who have worked so hard, they both deserve it.

Looking forward to going in 2012 and having something of my own or stories to re-tell there in the future.

Sim.

An Inaccessible pole is defined as the point furthest from land or sea in any direction and in the north is a point that has yet to be reached. Until recently it was believed that Wally Herbert had reached this pole but more recent data has re-determined the location of the pole. Wally Herbert’s achievements and story is an incredible one to research if you are lacking in your knowledge of great British polar explorers. Along the way to the pole the team will be collecting scientific data from a region of the ice cap that has yet to be measured.

In January I will be heading to Spitsbergen on Svalbard, Norway in order to complete 3 weeks of polar expedition training and the main expedition for the pole sets of in February from Resolute Bay, Canada. Photographically this is going to be a huge challenge working in conditions of exhaustion, dehydration and of course the cold, but despite this I can’t wait to get out there. Beyond the photographic challenges of documenting the expedition, psychically this is going to be hard work and the reason that training has started so early. I feel truly fortunate to be involved with a project like this and the potential that lays ahead.

I am currently looking for entrepreneurial sponsors for whom connecting with the values of exploration, scientific discovery, testing conditions and being involved with an attempt at a world first professional expedition and sharing the benefits of an expedition which will be gaining national media attention.

If you are interested in commercial sponsorship of my activity within the expedition then I would love to talk and discuss some of the options that I already have and customising a package to create maximum benefit for your company. You can email me through this link 

Sim.

While in my about page I claim that Suffolk doesn’t have much to offer in the means of adventure, I have been recently made to at least eat the brim of my hat. Based in Debenham in the heart of rural Suffolk is a Company called Dragoman. Dragoman are one of the worlds biggest overland adventure companies and I have recently been looking through over 30 years worth of footage from them to produce a 3 min short providing a snapshot of the company. It was really interesting looking through the footage especially the 1962 documentary which includes duly imperial voiceovers describing the scene, pith helmets and monocles.

Hopefully there is more to come from dragoman and I get to know more about this interesting company.

Dragoman’s site - http://www.dragoman.com/

Sim.

Dom Setting up a dolly shot.

Lugging tripods dollies and cranes around made for an exhausting experience, but it was one of the best few days of filming I have ever had. Having to be on top of  logistics and timings, combining the usual outdoor activities of hillwalking etc with the added pressure of when you get to the top you have to be fit enough to keep in mind all the usual film bits was such an enjoyable an rewarding experience. Expedition filming stretches your ability to arrive at a location and quickly be on top of gear causing the minimum about of hold ups and , interacting with those that your filming and

Knowli sorting out the GoPro HD on his bike.

One of the best things that we did was giving the 3 guys who were biking the GoPro camera and allowing them to just play with it, while some of the shots worked better than others, giving the 3 the freedom of their own camera really paid off and got them more interested in the filming process. We were really conscious of not inflicting too much on their experience, from the feedback they gave we seemed to achieve this however for me and dom who went from filming in one location, bundling back in the van then meeting them at the next location and filming again. Full on but great fun.

A still from a time lapse that i’m particularly pleased with.

The edit process is on hold until the other uni projects are out of the way but come may then I will in the edit suites sorting it all out. In the mean time my laptop is doing night shifts processing through some of the 10 time lapses we shot over the 4 days.

The van needed some back door tinkering in order to avoid having to dive through all the kit to open it. Inside the van left camping kit, right media kit (tripods dolly crane and various other bits) underneath food + ‘refreshments’.

My f-stop gear bag holding up well with all the kit needed to film inside, a 4 meter collapable crane outside and video tripod balanced on the top!!

Meeting back at the van often meant it was time to refuel, a welcome break for everyone.

A rough start to the morning,

The late cure to boggy ground – Drying shoes round the fire.

Part of the expedition experience summed up with the objects in each of knowli’s hands.

Rather than repeating the Kendal Post I’m just going list some of the best ‘new’ films that I saw and those that were so good that need to shared again.

New Film’s;

Life Cycles

Kind of shameful that I hadn’t seen this before now seeing as it has been out since Oct but Life Cycles is just a beautiful film. The story of a bike, the films connects to the viewer on a level that is rarely achieved by most adventure films. It is obvious that this film was shot by photographers as each still that you look at in the film is beautiful. This film was also a eye opener as to how good sound design can be and how much value it adds to a film. It’s been said before about this film but Life cycles really does change the mould for adventure films.

www.lifecyclesfilm.com

Halo Effect

Though this film didn’t win any of the categories, this was one of the best that I saw. I thought that this film really had the spirit of expedition and laughs, trouble and inspiration running all the way through it. Along with Wildwater the quality of kayak films seems to be on the rise.

www.fishmunga.com

SALT

An obscure documentary but an inspirational one none the less, it follows photographer Murray Fredericks on his annual solo pilgrimage to the heart of Lake Eyre in the remote north corner of South Australia. You get right in there in with murray as he experiences lon

www.saltdoco.com

Classics;

There have been some films that were here and at Kendal and a few of these are films that I just haven’t minded seeing again.

The Swiss Machine

I think that if there is a image that is going to stick in my mind as a representation of the 2010/2011 adventure films I think it has to be the shot of the automated Ueli Steck working as well as any piece of machinery up the side of the Eiger. I have now watched this film 5 times on a big screen and it still gets me on edge and fills me with inspiration.

Wildwater

Film by Forge Motion pictures, such a well shot and cool film about life on the river. Not much need to say more than the kendal post. But so good that it had to be included again.

www.forgemotionpictures.com

Dougie down the Pet

I didn’t mention this film from Kendal but after seeing it a couple more times at Shaff it really is a nice film. While not the most cinematic of films the story really prevails, some great lessons in this film for fathers.

www.cackletv.com

Shaff 2011 was a good laugh meeting some really good people and seeing some awesome films, and spending a bit too much at the second hand kit sale.
Sim.

Why Does Adventure Need Media?

I can wait too see the responses that I will get to this and am really looking forward to talking to people about it as it is something that I have been reading about and analysing for the past few months now.

The most Important thing is that this gets spread and seen by as many people as possible, this is purely academic research so there is no profit to be had other than communal knowledge. If you would like to help then there are three ways to get involved;

1.Fill out the questionnaire (link)

2.Click on one (or both if your feeling generous) of the links below to share to facebook and twitter

3.Email the link to the questionnaire to anyone in particular who you think would be really useful and be able to provide an insight into my studies.

I hope to get this seen by a huge number of people so every bit helps

Share the Questionnaire

Tweet

Sim.

Capturing the sense of place isn’t a case of being in some exotic location or thinking ‘if only i was in ….’ then my photo’s would be better, it’s about sitting back whatever the location and waiting and watching. Letting the world roll by enough so that you can see whats really going on. Finding the points in that location that make it special, that make it so different and interesting that you want to record it.

As much as I don’t really like flouncy artistic statements, this process has been best described to me as ‘Interrogating the Landscape‘. The process of looking for the fine details that give away the similarities and differences between cultures that make travel so exciting.

The same applies to expedition film and photography. Though the focus may be on a certain activity such as kayaking or  climbing, it again is the small details that tell us so much more about the location. The observations of how people interact with their landscape gives away the sense of adventure. it’s this which I aim to capture.

Sim.

I have been a long time admirer of this photographer and would love the opportunity to work with him in a similar role. As the showing of the BBC’s Human Planet nears I thought this would be a good opportunity to blog about Timothy Allen. Throughout the filming of this series he has been providing a commentary of his experience through his blog which has been insightful to the filming process and captivating at the same time. The  I have with his permission put together a selection of his images from Human Planet. These images are truly stunning and if you haven’t seen anything from the blogs it is well worth checking out (link at the bottom of the page).

Human planet starts on the 13th of Jan on BBC One and runs for 8 weeks, you might be able to tell I am really looking forward to it.

More of Timothy Allen at his personal blog  - http://humanplanet.com/timothyallen/

And the Human Planet blog – http://timothyallen.blogs.bbcearth.com/

If you haven’t read anything else from the other human planet blogs look here – http://humanplanet.blogs.bbcearth.com/

And finally a roundup of his year in Pictures – http://humanplanet.com/timothyallen/2010/12/2010-my-year-in-pictures/

Sim.