Ammonite Films – Night Stalkers: Leopards/Crocodiles – Nat Geo Wild

A double dose of daytime leopards! For the first time during our mega early starts, it really paid off how we wanted it too – using our night vision cameras followed by the daytime camera. We spotted a lone male on the plains and took a laying position on the other side of a bank and stayed there until the sun came up. That was my cue to take over from Howard and the starlight and get the dawn shots in colour. As the changeover took place, it got up and trotted along the bank, behind a bushy tree. Read more

Ammonite Films – Night Stalkers: Leopards/Crocodiles – Nat Geo Wild

Yesterday afternoon’s highlight was seeing a peacock displaying to the hens in his vicinity – a shameless show of masculinity, but he didn’t have any takers and departed with his feathers (beautiful as they may be) between his legs. Read more

Ammonite Films – Night Stalkers: Leopards/Crocodiles – Nat Geo Wild

So, today was the day we all got up at 3am to get into the park nice and early, a good couple of hours before dawn to see if our night vision cameras (starlight, infra red and thermal) could capture footage from a time of day (or rather, night) no other film crew in Yala has previously had the access or the capabilities of doing so. Read more

Ammonite Films – Night Stalkers: Leopards/Crocodiles – Nat Geo Wild

Today, certainly this morning was much the same as yesterday morning – got out and headed straight to ‘Croc One’, a waterhole with a good number of crocodiles in (I counted 23 in the area I was filming). No signs of leopards en route, but did stop off to catch a particularly beautiful sunrise. Read more

Ammonite Films – Night Stalkers: Leopards/Crocodiles – Nat Geo Wild

A morning of reptilians. Oh yeah, from yesterday, the guys didn’t have any luck finding the leopards again at the kill site, assumption is that now they’ve fed they’re not going to be quite so out and about… or on the other hand, they were just unlucky and didn’t find them! Read more

Ammonite Films – Night Stalkers: Leopards/Crocodiles – Nat Geo Wild

News got through last night that Tom and Howard had been filming four leopards at a kill, so the mission first thing this morning was to head straight back to the same site, to see if there were still any remains of it left – to finish off sequence, or at least be a day time interlude to break it up… We rushed out, and even a power cut at the official offices to get our day permit printed didn’t stop us getting through the gates before 6am. Read more

Ammonite Films – Night Stalkers: Leopards/Crocodiles – Nat Geo Wild

First day of proper shooting – it’s early mornings from here on in!  We, like everyone else, can only enter the park at 6am, so we needed to get up, loaded and out at 5:30am.  I am now doing my day time filming by myself – Tom and Howard are the night shift and I pick it up again at first light, to get as much coverage as possible.  I’m being assisted by one of the local trackers/naturalists, a charming guy called NK (not yet learned how to type his name in full yet).  He’s on board as a trained pair of eyes and advises me where to go…

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Ammonite Films – Night Stalkers: Leopards/Crocodiles – Nat Geo Wild

Today’s main task was to prep all the kit and the filming vehicle, a two-wheeled drive Tata – made by the company, which owns Land Rover, it looks the part (at half the price)!  There are several filming platforms jutting out from the sides and one on front – just need to change places of the tripod head to switch filming positions.

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Ammonite Films – Night Stalkers: Leopards/Crocodiles – Nat Geo Wild

All about the travel! Not stayed in one place for long since departing Heathrow at 2:30pm on Monday, eventually arriving at Yala Village Hotel at 7:30pm (local time) Tuesday evening… that’s about 25 hours straight!

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