Documentary filming project on the UK Overseas Territories

A new adventure is dawning for me. The plant specialist, explorer and naturalist Stewart McPherson has commissioned me as cameraman to join him on several leg’s of a filming expedition that will cover the wildlife and human stories of existing conservation projects on each of our own UK Overseas Territories. In conjunction with Kew Gardens, Stewart has researched several key conservation stories and obtained permission to film on The Acension Island, St. Helena, The Antarctic and South Georgia, The Caribbean, Gibraltar and Akrotiri in Cyprus. Our first leg will take us to St. Helena and Ascension Island, where we aim to film nesting sea turtles and land crabs, alongside the volcanic terraforms of this spectacular and wild island.

View the map of our destinations here, and watch out for a link that will track our progress LIVE as we travel around the world on our filming expedition’s to the UK Overseas Territories!

 

Buff sponsorship

I was lucky enough during the winter of 2010 to be sponsored some great head and neckwear from Buff! Thanks guys.

I used a range of Buff’s over the winter, mainly the Polar Reversible Buff during our Paragliding trip to northern Nepal in January, and then the Polar buff again whilst skiing the Eiger ski area in Switzerland. Throughout the summer I’ll be using the Original Buff, to keep away the summer evening chill whilst up in the air, and of course the mozzy’s! Next Winter (or during any Sprintime chills), I’m hoping to give the Cyclone Buff, a great combo that has a windproof section that is ideal for open cockpit air sports, motorcycling and much more!

Paragliding in a 'gaggle' above Sarangkot, Pokhara in northern Nepal

Looking back onto Sarangkot on a sweet evening flight.

Winter to Winter – Paragliding & Adventures 2010


“Ok I went a bit overboard with photo’s – But there was so many good ones to choose from. Mind you, this is a whole years worth of flying, so it is to be expected!”

From Winter to Winter – Paragliding & Adventures 2010, posted by Simon Vacher on 1/06/2011 (108 items)

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New Ozone Delta! A first flight.

Well finally this incredible wing has made it’s way to me! Thanks and courtesy to Sussex Paragliding for arranging that.

What to be said about this wing is that all the hype is true! And so next year will be a year for the most incredible aerial adventures, taking the sky elevator to cloud base and gliding through the thermic summer air. WAHOO!!

Paragliding Westbury, White Horse in November

What a stunning day! Really clear. Thought I’d take the opportunity to fly at Westbury in the late afternoon sun. Although it was windy there wasn’t much to worry about as the air was smooth and laminar as it came up over the White Horse hill. It also gave me a first chance to try the GoPro out with a few angles – The best seems to be from the side or front, where you see the pilot. Helment mounted is fun, as it deck-mounted!

Mountain bike experiments

How many times have I thought how cool it would be to put a camera in all those different places when out riding? Well the GoPro HERO HD is the answer! And here’s the results of today’s experiment …

Bell Hill paragliding in November – A Bleak Session!


From Bell Hill Paragliding – A Bleak Session, posted by Simon Vacher on 12/02/2010 (8 items)

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Westbury paragliding in November

A beautiful rich light at Westbury the other day. Light winds but picking up throughout the day and giving some fabulous soaring conditions mixed with the occasional thermic lift. Magic.


From Westbury in November, posted by Simon Vacher on 12/02/2010 (5 items)

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A Walk Through Alice Holt Forest

I woke up to the first really clear November morning, lots of frost and sun streaming through the golden leaves of Alice Holt forest in North-East Hampshire. It reminded me of a very important petition we should all be signing to protect our heritage. Please lend a few key strokes and clicks to http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/save-our-forests


Verbier Summits Paragliding School

Video produced for a Swiss Paragliding Course from Yomps, the adventure travel company.

See it in action on the Yomps Swiss Paragliding course webpage http://www.yomps.co.uk/trip-search/trips/12415/swiss-paragliding-pilots-course

All shot on Panasonic’s new Lumix TZ7, which supports AVCDLite, a new type of video compressor that allows HD to be compressed super small without too much quality loss. This format is a total dream to work with in Final Cut Pro!

Colour grading and shot stablisation took place on Apple Colour and Final Cut, and title designs with AfterEffects. Anyway, enough technical grab, sit down and enjoy the video; you’ll be booking next year’s course before the week’s out! See the Yomps website for more details.

Thanks to Hope and Social, published by Sunshine HQ, for the use of ‘Red Red Rose’.