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20.01.2022 A frame from a time-lapse featuring #bioluminescent fungi Omphalotus nidiforms shot for Netflix series Night on Earth. Nobody is really sure why some fungi luminesce, one theory is that the glow attracts insects that help to spread the fungi’s spores. While shooting this sequence over several nights I observed many different kinds of invertebrates interacting with the fungi and each other. Interestingly fruiting bodies at different stages of their growth and decomposition see...med to attract a different crowd of critters! #fungi #fungiphotography #timelapse #naturalhistory #bioluminescence #naturalworld #science #biology #mycology

17.01.2022 A project I've been involved in this year has been the Straight 8 film festival for Super 8 film making. It's one of the more ridiculous ways you can make a film, the concept is to use antiquated technology to shoot a movie on one cartridge of super 8 film edited entirely in camera with an audio track recorded separately. There is no way to review what you've shot or sync the audio perfectly, you don't get to see what you've made until the festival screens the selected films...! I'm really happy to report the film I made with Rob Braslin and Finn Clarke called "Forbidden Dance Moves" has made selection for the 2020 competition! Normally the festival screens selected films in London with the top 8 going to Cannes film festival, but this year that's obviously not going to happen, which kind of sucks, but is also kind of great because they are going to do an online live screening of the top 25 films on the 26th of June! It'll be great to watch Forbidden Dance Moves for the first time with the rest of the festival entrants. I'd love to do this competition again in 2021, it's ridiculous fun!

16.01.2022 Starling murmuration in Stanley Tasmania read on for starling facts! While it’s true that they are introduced to Australia and common enough that they normally go completely overlooked by most people, taking a closer look it’s easy to find lots to admire about starlings From a distance they might look like any other small dark brown bird but up close their feathers display an iridescent rainbow of different colours, including light in ultraviolet wavelengths.... Starling eyes are able to perceive UV light which is invisible to Humans, and evidence suggests male UV reflectiveness is an important factor in female mate choice. Starlings are incredible mimics that are able to sing complex songs (look up beatboxing starlings on YouTube). In winter starlings roost together in flocks that can be thousands strong, these murmurations attract raptors, in this instance the worlds fastest animal, the Peregrine Falcon. These guys live on the cliffs around the Stanley Nut and hunt the starlings as they come in to roost. The falcons circle and dive at the flock, sometimes even flying under the dock startling the birds who fly in formations in an attempt to evade the aerial predators. I didn’t manage to film a kill but I did manage to capture a distant peregrine returning to the cliffs with its prey. The whole thing was over about 10mins after I arrived, just before I left a peregrine came rocketing out from underneath the dock and shot straight up past where I was standing, wings fully folded back, being propelled almost vertically by nothing but incredible forward momentum, it left towards the cliffs of the Nut with empty talons.

04.01.2022 Today is the launch of the fantastic new FortySouth website! Seeing this article I wrote for 40 Degrees South magazine on the shiny new site is making me want to go for a dive!