In December 2008 I had the pleasure of taking my Polecam to the Masai Mara for (I believe) the very first time.   Using camera cranes to shoot wildlife has always been limiting, but the portability of Polecam has made crane shots very possible .

What started out as a 3-week hire enquiry ended up as a full-blown 2-week shoot, staying in 2 campsites on the banks of the River Mara.

I was using the Toshiba HD camera, shooting 1080i and recording to a Sony HDCAM deck.  The 4mm lens was used for most of the shoot but there were moments when using a longer lens proved most useful.

We set off on an incredible 7 hour drive from Nairobi to the Mara, through the Great Rift Valley, on roads in worse condition than those on the surface of the moon!

The main brief was to view the world through the eyes of the animals, from the female point of view. Polecams fexibility enabled me to quickly change from 'giraffe- cam' to 'lion-cam' quickly and without fuss.

The Rig was mounted on the roof of a Toyota Land Cruiser, which, meant my operating position was half in and half out of the car, this did raise an eyebrow from the guide as he pointed out that dangling ones leg in front of a hungry lion has interesting repercussions!

Shooting wild life with the Polecam requires a different style to that of conventional filming.  There is a massive dependency of the guides ability to spot suitable animals , assess their behaviour and most importantly, know where they are going.  When filming wildlife with the Polecam you have to let the animals come to you, not the other way round.  This requires large amounts of patience, but the rewards were fabulous.

One of the highlights was filming a male lion just after a kill.  We positioned the camera approx 18 inches above the ground and used tall grasses as the foreground.  After waiting for quite some time we were able to film a 15-20 track with the lion full frame and only 10 feet from the camera!!  A shot that traditionally, would only be achieved with the camera on a track.  In this environment that is simply not an option.

Just being in the Mara is an unforgettable experience, but being able to get really close to the wildlife and produce shots that were previously unobtainable was a great thrill.

Chris Taber can be contacted on 07747 043 911 or please visit www.pedestaltv.com