Life in focus

Interview

Life in FOCUS

From polar bears to killer whales, TV wildlife and expedition cameraman Doug Allan chats exclusively about his extraordinary adventures during a career devoted to getting the perfect shot.

Imagery courtesy of Doug Allan

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Interview

Looking back at your early years, what are your memories of being interested in wildlife and did you always dream of being a photographer or cameraman?

I was born and grew up in Dunfermline, Fife. I didn’t have aspirations of being a wildlife cameraperson when I was young. My rst great passion was snorkelling, which I took up when I was still at school. I was lucky enough to go to the Mediterranean in the heady days of the 1960s and package tours, and it was a great place to learn how to snorkel. I also grew up during what was a wonderful decade for exploration. We were going to the moon, but we were also going deeper underwater than we’d ever done before. I was not only interested in diving, but also biology – it was a fascinating time then too for biologists, who were just beginning to explore the idea of the ecosystem.

I went to university in Stirling to do a degree in marine biology. I enjoyed learning about science, but I also knew that I didn’t want to be a ‘proper’ scientist. I was more interested in collecting the information rather than number crunching. When I le university, I turned my back on academia and started looking for opportunities to do diving expeditions. at took me to the Red Sea a couple of times, and I then ran a diving school [in Jersey]. at’s when I really started getting interested in photography.

e big break was getting the chance to go to the Antarctic in 1976 to work for the British Antarctic Survey at Signy Island in the South Orkneys as a research diver. e Antarctic was a photographer’s paradise! In 1981, David Attenborough and a small, three-person lm crew visited our base for a couple of days to lm for his Living Planet series, and it fell to me to look a er him and the others. And I thought, wouldn’t it be great to be one of those cameramen? I then had an opportunity to be a BAS research station base commander, and I got in touch with a BBC producer to o er some lm footage of emperor penguins. So that’s how the lm work really started.

You’ve been all over the world – which place has proved to be the most challenging and what has impacted you most?

In terms of wildlife, it’s snow leopards for Planet Earth. at involved working in Northwest India in an area called Ladakh – the base camp was 2,500m high and it really is a tough, cold terrain. Plus, the animal itself is quite elusive. I saw a snow leopard for one hour over a total of 11 weeks. And that resulted in 10 seconds of edited lm because that’s all that was worth showing! I’ve also been on three Everest expeditions, which were very challenging. e Poles are tough, but inspiring – the vast emptiness, the huge horizons... If you’re in the Arctic, you’re sharing an environment with one of the top charismatic animals in the world, polar bears. But the one place that’s probably had the most e ect on me is the Antarctic due to having spent so much time there.

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“Everywhere you look, you can see the extremes of temperature and it’s very concerning... We hold the health of the planet in our hands, but there are changes happening now that I think are impossible to stop.”

Which is your favourite animal to capture on camera and what’s been the most difficult to get?

My two favourite animals are probably polar bears and whales. When you’re with polar bears, you can never hide from one, so your chances of being able to observe one close-up is quite a challenge. In the water, that’s almost trickier because you have to get so much closer to your subject to film it. When you can get close to whales underwater by behaving in the right way and gaining their confidence, that’s an amazing feeling.

We are now seeing a golden age of killer whales – we are capturing for the screen behaviours that have never been filmed before. I’ve filmed killer whales – in Blue Planet, we were the first crew to film them attacking grey whale calves in Monterrey, and for Frozen Planet 1, we filmed wave-washing extensively [a highly sophisticated method of hunting used by orcas to dislodge seals off ice floes and into the water]. In Frozen Planet 2, killer whales were filmed attacking bowhead whales in the Antarctic using a different variation of wave-washing. Drones, particularly racing drones that can keep up with them, are opening up a whole new world.

Is there anything left on your bucket list to film?

There’s a small whale in the Arctic called the narwhal – the males have a long, single tusk and are very shy – I’d love to spend some time underwater with them. I’d also like to be in the company of large apes, like gorillas and orangutans.

What are the attributes needed to make a good wildlife cameraperson?

You have to be passionate about getting the image or, if you’re shooting a movie, capturing enough different shots to tell a story. You have to enjoy the challenges that nature throws at you. There’s a difference between patience and tenacity – tenacity is patience with teeth – it’s what gets you up and outside when days are less than ideal. You can’t guarantee the weather or that the animals will be out there. So you just have to be willing to give it your best shot, and be prepared for the fact that you might come back with nothing the first time and try again. You win some and you lose some.

What do you love most about the job?

I like the excitement of it, spending time in the wild, the privilege of seeing animals in an environment that few others have seen, and travelling to the range of locations I’ve seen. A big difference I’ve noticed between now and when I started is simply the number of people going to places that nobody went to before. I feel very lucky that I saw the world when there were fewer people travelling around. Most people know me for my wildlife work, but I’ve also really enjoyed the expedition and science work, and now public speaking, radio and TV work, and writing a book about my adventures.

And the least?

As a freelancer, you’re at the beck and call of nature. It’s wonderful, but it does impact on family life. In a busy year, I could be away for 220 days a year. It wasn’t so much the amount of time you are away, but the irregularity of it.

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You must have seen many examples of climate change on your travels over the decades?

I’ve seen the change in the seasons, I’ve witnessed how the ice breaks up in the north earlier than it used to, I’ve seen the effects on polar bears, and I’ve spoken to scientists and Inuit communities about how the unpredictability of the weather is affecting them.

I’ve also noticed the changes, commercially – how shipping is preparing to go right across the Arctic Ocean because it is a quicker route between Europe and the east coast of America. You couldn’t do that 10 or 15 years ago because there was too much ice. I wonder about the effects that will have on migratory whales.

Everywhere you look, you can see the extremes of temperature and it’s very concerning. We humans might manage to adapt to live with a temperature increase of 2 to 3 degrees, but the natural world certainly can’t. We hold the health of the planet in our hands, but there are changes happening now that I think are impossible to stop. There is still hope, but it’s getting tougher to hold onto that. It saddens me – when I think how different things could be and should be. For how much longer will the wonders of nature be around to be seen? We have to decide where our priorities lie and push ahead with technologies and changes in our behaviours that can make a difference.

What advice would you give to a child who dreams of doing your job?

Follow your passions, enjoy taking

Interview

your photos, read up on how films are made, and start to make your own. Above all, follow your interests and bolt one experience onto the others. It may be that you decide you want to be a producer, an editor or a presenter rather than the person out there filming. But if you want maximum time with the animals, that’s what’s so great about the cameraperson’s job.

What’s coming up for 2023 that you’re particularly excited about?

My son is working in New Zealand – he’s 27 now, and I haven’t seen him for four years. I was all ready to go out in March 2020 when Covid struck. Suddenly, New Zealand was no-go, and he couldn’t leave. So my next planned trip is to visit him and enjoy the country. Sure I’ll take a few photos, but what’ll be best is having a new adventure with him.

Doug’s fascinating book, Freeze Frame – which features exceptional photographs and secrets of life behind the lens – is available to order on www.dougallan.com

www.jimmysfarm.com