I am now back and settled into life in the UK. For a bit of a fun this week I shot this music video for my cousin’s band – Hell’s Addiction. It’s not my usual type of work film and because of that I am really proud of it. It was shot in just two hours at the bands rehearsal room and edited the following morning. I’d love to do more of this sort of thing and feedback is really welcome.

Hells addiction video still

Yesterday was my last day as the BBC Africa Bureau Cameraman and Editor. As of the new year I will be back working as part of the BBC Camera pool in London. I first came to Johannesburg for a three month attachment in September 2007 and, except for a small break in the summer of 2008, I have been in the post ever since.

Stick Fighting in Cape Town

It’s been an amazing and eye opening few years. When I first came to Africa I knew nothing of the continent except the cliche’s that we all imbibe growing up in Europe. I now know what a fascinating and diverse place Africa truly is, I’ve been lucky enough to film Tuareg tribesmen carrying salt from deep in the Sahara desert, spend time in a village with the ancient Turkana people of northern kenya, ride on pick ups with Libyan rebels and in armoured cars with the UN in Abidjan. I’ve got drunk in Ugandan nightclubs, ate home made honey in South Sudan and of course, met and married the love of my life.

I think the aspect of South African life that I will miss most is the township, the Kasi, the hood, the real South Africa. My Wife is from Soweto and I have been lucky enough to really experience and get under the skin of life in the township. I’ve always been welcomed and never made to feel like an outsider, for that I thank all of the people I have met over the last few years.

I’ll also miss amazing work colleagues, talented people from whom I have learnt so much. Reporters like Andrew, Orla, Will, Karen, Peter and many others. Producers like Tara, Kate, Nawaz and Gringo. I’ve leant something from all of you and will be sure to keep in touch. I’d particularly like to thank Andrew Harding who has been an inspiration, not only is he a real pro but he’s also a friend and an inspiring Dad to his kids – I’ve learnt a lot from him and was touched by the blog post he wrote about me.

Filming openly on the streets of Harare

I’m sure I will be back to Africa, I now have strong family ties to South Africa and professionally have a developed a huge regard and soft spot for the rest of the continent. For now it’s au revoir rather than goodbye.

I’ve just returned from a very brief visit to Zimbabwe to cover the ZANU-PF party conference. This year the conference was in Bulawayo, a lovely town in the south of the country. Unfortunately though we still had to travel via Harare in order to pick up our accreditation from the Media Commission. It’s quite difficult to get clearance to work as a Journalist in Zimbabwe and even with invitation letters and shiny new Zim Press cards we had a struggle to be allowed access.

me filming at the ZANU PF conference

Once at the venue security was tight. Mugabe’s yellow berets were out in force and as we arrived we were thoroughly searched. In a curious first for me, I was asked to remove my contact lenses as there was some concern about the tiny container of solution that I had in my pocket. The guards were all watching me intently as I took the lens out and showed it to them before I could proceed.

Like all political conferences the speeches were long, dull and dry. To make matters worse the location was dark and due to Bob’s old age we were forbidden to put lights directly onto the stage meaning his speech was very poorly lit.

If you want to watch the film we made for that nights BBC Ten o’clock news then please follow this link

On the whole I must say that Zimbabwe would be a nice place to work if it wasn’t for the incredible bureaucracy, the constant accusatory questions about who you are and what you are doing and the difficult and expensive process of bringing TV equipment into the country.

Zanu PF Conference, President Mugabe is in the middle in a red jacket

The first time I was in Zim was in 2008 as part of the first BBC team to be legally allowed back into the country in eight years. below is the film we made then

Filming the Volcano in Congo

I’ve just returned from a fascinating trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. I’ve been to the DRC a number of times now and am always surprised, fascinated and angered by the place. It’s a tough place to film as bureaucracy is incredibly complex and many people seem to have a strong dislike of Camera’s.

On this trip though I had the once in a lifetime opportunity to view the new and powerful Nyamulagira volcano – an hours drive and a three hour trek from Goma.

Personally i found the trek hard (my fitness still lagging after five months with inflammation of the chest) and was so exhausted by the time we got there that i felt my Camerawork suffered. I’ve posted the piece we made below so feel free to have a look:

At night the volcano was awe inspiring

With my time in South Africa coming to an end I decided to recut my Showreel using mainly new material from the last couple of years here in Africa. I’ve embedded it below so feel free to watch and comment.

It has been an incredibly busy year. Multiple trips to Sudan and Kenya, covering a war in Ivory Coast and of course, the conflict in Libya.

At the amazing ancient city of leptis Magna

I returned from Tripoli three weeks ago and have been rushed off my feet with my personal life and making plans for the future. This is my last year as the BBC Africa Bureau Cameraman and I have enjoyed every minute of it (well nearly). At the end of this year I return to London to work for the BBC there. I’ll still be travelling but will have a world wide remit, not just Africa. It should be an exciting new challenge.

I’m not going to write a long post on my most recent trip to Libya but wanted to post this ‘authored’ film I made at Leptis Magna – the ancient city on the Med

And I wanted to share this little snippet that I filmed of Libya’s latest tourist attraction, the Bab al Aziziya, which was Gaddafi’s old compound. It is fascinating and well worth a visit.

I also spent time at Bani Walid, here’s one of the pieces we made.

The trip had a bizarre and slightly scary ending when my friend and colleague Andrew Harding fell ill and was rushed to hospital. You can listen to his report on From our own Correspondent here.

Filming Soldiers in Abidjan, April 2011

My first book is ready! “Lensman: working as an international news and documentary cameraman” can now be downloaded from my other website www.imagejunkies.com. It was great fun to write and I hope it gives you an insight into the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in international newsgathering.

I know there are the odd typo but – its free!

Sections include:

- Starting out, strategies to get your foot in the door

- The personal qualities and attitudes that are needed to progress as a news and doco shooter

- The kit that you will need

- The importance of understanding video editing

- Visas and paperwork, the dull stuff nobody warns you about

- War zones

- Embeds with the military

Basically the book covers everything I wish I had known starting out many years ago.

If you want to download it then please click here and fill out the subscriber form. Once you have clicked submit you should receive an email from imagejunkies – just follow the links and download the book. Anyway i hope you enjoy it and please do get in touch and let me know what you think.

Camels return home from pasture

I recently returned from a week filming in Kenya for the BBC News. Myself and Correspondent Will Ross travelled to a small airstrip in the town of Lodwa and then drove into the rural areas to make the following film about the drought and its impact on the local Turkana people.

The Turkana area of Kenya is beautiful, it is just such a shame that the goat herders way of life looks unlikely to survive against the back drop of continuing drought and modernisation.

I shot our film using small cameras, my Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Sony EX1. The reason for this is that I have been suffering from chest inflammation and couldn’t face lugging my heavy DSR 500 around. The pictures needed a bit of work to bring them up to scratch but I’m generally happy with the final result.

Filming the Kenyan drought with my 5D mark 2

If you want to read more about the technical side of how I put the film together then please visit my other website www.imagejunkies.com

On my most recent trip to Benghazi in Libya I became fascinated by the standard of anti-Gaddafi graffiti on the streets.

Here’s a few snaps I took – this is a very small example of what was around, they are everywhere.

Gaddafi Graffiti 1

Gaddafi Graffiti 2

Gaddafi Graffiti 3

Gaddafi Graffiti 4

South Sudan celebrates independence

I was lucky enough to be in South Sudan for the birth of the new nation on July 9th 2011. It was a wonderful experience and I decided to document a little of what it was like to cover the story from the Cameraman’s perspective.

I hope you find the short film an interesting and enlightening look at what goes into the making of a News film.

Thanks to my colleagues Correspondent Will Ross and Producer Gringo Wotshela for allowing themselves to be filmed.

For the techies out there I shot it on my Sony HX9V and cut it on FCP 6. I also used Quick looks for the opening and closing shots.

If you want to watch the actual main preview piece we made for the BBC Ten o’clock news then check here