You have travelled to some incredible places with your work over the years. What is the most amazing place you’ve visited?
“It is so hard to choose one place! If I had to try to choose, it would be filming a large species of lemur in Madagascar called Indri, some 30 years ago. They are such striking animals, and their calls are haunting and unforgettable. I must also mention flying over the Namib desert and Namibia’s skeleton coast. It is just mesmerising. Oh, and seeing hundreds of pitcher plants in the Madagascan rainforest. I better stop there!”
An Indri lemur in MadagascarGetty Images
When you are on a shoot, how long do you spend in each location? How gruelling is the work?
“It varies hugely depending on species, behaviour, location, type of sequence required and time of year. Some shoots are a matter of days, whereas some take months or even years. Each shoot is a culmination of many brilliant minds, our teams working in collaboration with local guides and scientists, learning about the habitat or the species we are filming and understanding the story we need to tell. Each shoot can be so different, and there are always surprises.”
“You have to be resilient, be able to think on your feet and be ready to go at any moment. It can be gruelling and tough, both physically and emotionally – being away from home for long periods of time does take its toll – but ultimately, it is one of the most rewarding experiences, especially if you get the shots you came for.”
Planet earth III: A Mugger crocodile camouflaged itself in a wallow it excavated on the edge of a waterhole. As unsuspecting chital deer come to drink, it explodes out of the water to catch one. This trap building behaviour is a unique hunting strategy, documented only here in Yala Park, Sri LankaElliot Jones/BBC Studios