This is The Arctic
A cinematic reel from the far north, This is The Arctic is a 5 minute journey through Greenland, Svalbard and the Canadian Arctic, including the untamed wilderness of Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island. The film includes drone footage of the high arctic, plus encounters with polar bears, arctic wolves, musk ox and beluga whales.
This is Antarctica | New Six-minute Antarctic Cinematic Reel
The magnificent continent. Dramatic, vast, hostile and full of incredible beauty. Here is a collection of favourite shots from several of my recent assignments to the Antarctic Peninsula. Scenes include venturing deep through the pack ice into Larsen Bay onboard icebreaker Legend; a visit to A23a, the largest iceberg on earth; lots of wildlife including Blue Whales, Crabeater Seals, Adelie and Chinstrap Penguins porposing; plus visual highlights from a wonderful Conservation International Humpback Whale Research assignment.
Thanks to EYOS Expeditions, Conservation International, and the amazing team of ASE2023.
Ambient Islands of Melanesia
Explore Melanesia by drone in this aerial slow-nature film from award winning cinematographer Richard Sidey. Escape to some of the most remote and pristine islands in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, where the turquoise waters and vibrant green forests are interested by the most serene beaches imaginable.
Ambient Islands of Melanesia is filmed across coral atolls, vibrant reefs, erupting volcanos, extinct calderas, tiny villages, primary tropical forests and enormous copra plantations. The video also features marine wildlife including sea turtles, spinner dolphins and dugong.
The voyaging canoes connecting the scenes are known locally as Sailau, and are filmed in the Louisiade Islands of PNG.
Destinations in this video include: Papua New Guinea: Louisiade Archipelago, Panapompom, Rara, Nivani, Conflict Islands, Panasesa, Vitu Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Garove Island, Witu, Alim, Iwa, Talele, Duke of York Islands, New Britain, New Ireland. Solomon Islands: Tikopia, Marovo Lagoon, Hele Islands, New Georgia Islands, Njari Island, Kennedy Island, Kasolo Island, Plum Pudding Island, Russell Islands, Pavuvu, Santa Ana, Tetepare Island, Vanuatu: Torres Group, Lo Island (Loh Island), Espiritu Santo, Tafea Province, Tanna, Mount Yasur volcano and many more.
A love letter to our planet …
Sacred Circle a breathtaking fusion of music & nature by Rosey Chan & Martyn Stewart aka / The Listening Planet. At its heart, the haunting sound of the whale, the timeless voice of the deep.
The ocean is a living symphony, but its voices are fading. Sacred Circle is both meditative, and a call to protect this ancient and wonderous world.
Immerse yourself in this sonic journey – Let Sacred Circle be your companion for mindfulness moments or a peaceful pause in your day… 🌊🐋
🎥 Watch the full video on our new YouTube channel (The Sonic Collective) – a home for music as a portal for connection and stillness.
🎧 Sacred Circle (first piece in a series of 13) releases today Feb 16th in all streaming platforms
On January 14th on my recent expedition to Antarctica with EYOS Expeditions, we sailed past Iceberg A23a, currently the largest iceberg on the planet. The enormous tabular iceberg is approximately 40 nautical miles, up to 400 metres thick and weighs just short of a trillion tonnes. Expedition leader Ian Strachan and I used a drone to photograph the iceberg, capturing images of man dramatic archways and caves that were appearing due to wave action and warmer waters as the berg drifts north. The images quickly got the attention of the BBC, who ran a story that evening with our footage and it is shared here below, along with a collection of our raw footage.
Iceland Divide
In late August 2022, after completing a short photography assignment in Iceland, I took the opportunity to ride my bike across the vast and remote interior. This unsupported crossing took me eight days and was one incredible adventure!
Read my full trip report with photos in this article on Bikepacking.com
And please enjoy this fun 5-minute video below, filmed on an iPhone and insta360!
Thanks to Icelandic group Hjàlmar for allowing me to include their track Leiðin okkar allra
My Shackleton Moment.
With the wreck of Shackleton’s Endurance having being found last week after 107 years on the floor of the Weddell Sea, I was inspired to revisit photos of an impromptu call at Elephant Island ten years ago whilst sailing by.
A tiny and exposed peninsula, it’s not often possible to land safety due to swell, ice and wind. However on this day conditions were favourable and we made a quick stop to see where Shackleton and his men had set up camp under their lifeboats before Shackleton, Worsley and four crew courageously and famously sailed 800 miles in the lifeboat ‘James Caird’ to South Georgia to seeking rescue.
I took this photo of our expedition leader Robin West holding the Zodiac here whilst on shore, and it was only after returning to our ship that I realised I had been standing in the exact same spot (with a pretty similar focal length) where Shackleton’s expedition photographer Frank Hurley took the famous image (overlayed) of the launching of the James Caird on April 24, 1916.
So quite a special moment! Two images nearly a century apart fitting perfectly together. If you haven’t read Shackleton’s story yet, it’s well worth the read.
Watch Spellbound on YouTube
After 17-months on the mountain film festival circuit, Richard’s award-winning poetic short film on the extreme sport of wingsuit BASE is now free to enjoy on YouTube.
About Spellbound
Wingsuit BASE jumping is often presented as a thrill seeking adrenaline rush. Spellbound takes us deeper into the more contemplative aspects of jumping, as David Walden and friends venture into the mountains around his home in New Zealand.Beautiful scenery and hypnotic cinematography eject us from our daily lives into a world of air, earth and flight.
Festival Awards
Best Short Film – INKAFEST Mountain Film Festival 2021
Best Short Film – Destination Unknown Film Festival 2021
Best Short Film – New Zealand Mountain Film Festival 2021
Best Short Film – London Mountain Film Festival 2021
Best Short Film – CSFF Mountain Film Unit 2021
‘Golden Nikau’ Supreme Award – AllShorts Film Festival 2021
Best Documentary – AllShorts Film Festival 2021
Honorable Mention – Mountainfilm Graz 2021
Special Jury Mention – International Air Film Festival 2021
Special Mention – Int. Mountain & Nature Short Documentary Film Festival 2021
Best Visual Effects – Outdocs 2020
Media Special Recommendation Award – Outdocs 2020
Enjoy the sublime beauty of Humpback Whales in this visual montage of Richard’s favourite whale cinematography from Antarctica.
More awards for Spellbound!
After a year on the global adventure film festival circuit, the black-and white-poetic short film on the extreme sport of wingsuit B.A.S.E. continues to pick up awards.
In the past week Spellbound has won Best Short Film at the Inkafest Mountain Film Festival in Peru, and received an Honorable Mention at Mountainfilm Graz in Austria.
Spellbound has previously been awarded Best Short Film at the New Zealand Mountain Film Festival, London Mountain Film Festival, China New Media Short Film Festival – Mountain Film Unit and the Destination Unknown Film Festival.
Spellbound continues to tour for the remainder of 2021 in Europe and into 2022 globally as part of the European Outdoor Film Tour.
See the full list of Spellbound’s awards.
