Drone photography and videography for Steff Gruber | Aerial Visuals in Phnom Penh

Steff got in touch with me to provide drone photography and videography services for a long-term photographic project he’s working on about the community that live on the railway tracks behind the station in Phnom Penh.

He was trying to get permission to film from one of the trains to give the perspective from a train passing through the community. This proved too complicated and he came up with the idea to photograph and take videos of the area with a drone to complete the project before he flew back Switzerland the following day.

Steff has been visiting the area for several years doing a study on the area that is right in the centre of Phnom Penh but remains massively underdeveloped. While slightly daunting for Steff and I and the team, locals barely battered an eye-lid as trains passed centimeters from them.

Steff plans to host an exhibition of his photos and my drone shots in the coming months. He aslo got me to shoot some drone videography to be used on the website for the exhibition and who knows, maybe a couple of the clips may feature in the exhibition itself.

It was great to work alongside Steff and listen to advice from an accomplished filmmaker and photograper. It also good to see someone working on a long-term project that has spanned several years in a world that is increasingly becoming more instantaneous and disposable.

You can see more of my drone photography work here and other examples of my drone videography work here.

I look forward to sharing more information about the exhibition he’s planning. Below are some of the drone photos I took:

In the field as a cameraperson and drone pilot at the Elephant Valley Project, Mondulkiri

Angelo got in touch with me and wanted me to work as a cameraperson and drone pilot for him to film at the Elephant Valley Project (EVP) in Mondulkiri, Cambodia.

Angelo is a Portuguese actor who recently starred in the Brazilian Netflix drama Lady Voyuer. He was in Cambodia to shoot part of a pilot for a travel show. Having seen my work on Last of the Elephant Men, he asked me to come along for the ride.

It was great to catch up with some people I hadn’t seen for a long time and to be back in the jungle filming elephants. It was also great to meet Gee Pich (Diamond), the latest addition to the EVP family.

Gee Pich was born at the project after a heard of wild elephants entered EVP. Pearl ran away with the heard and 21 months after she came back she gave birth to Gee Pich.

While the staff at EVP would love to rewild elephants, this is not one of the aims of the projects as most of the elephants have lived in captivity for most if not all of their lives and simply don’t have the skills to survive in the wild.

Although the outcome is largely positive, unfortunately, this kind of encounter is becoming increasingly common as the wild elephants natural habitats are being destroyed. This changes their annual migration routes.

The heavy rain made for an interesting shoot - it was a challenge keeping all the kit dry, but it gives the jungle a wonderful enclosed atmosphere and makes for some great images.

Hopefully Angelo is successful in pitching the show and it’s coming to a screen near you!

You can see the trailer of the feature-length documentary about elephants I worked on as a cameraperson in Mondulkiri here and you can see other examples of my documentary work here.

Below are some frames from the footage I shot. All the images were shot in log and haven’t been graded.

On Location as a Camera Assistant and Drone Pilot for CNN in Cambodia

Work as a camera assistant and drone pilot on the Cambodia episode of CNN’s Nomad with Carlton McCoy for the second series.

It’s not often that you get a call from CNN at 2pm and by 4pm you’re onset, working for one of the most established production companies in the game. Zero Point Zero are the company behind Anthony Bourdain’s shows. If you haven’t seen the closing gambit from the Cambodia episode of a cook’s tour, it’s a testament to Bourdain’s writing and humanity.

The camera assistant / drone pilot who had travelled with the team from the US tested positive for Covid on arrival, so they needed someone to step in at short notice. Shortly after receiving the call, I was in the back of the van going over the kit with camera team.

On the evening of the first day, the DP tested positive, so we travelled to Siem Reap as a camera team of 2 before flying back to Phnom Penh less than 24 hours later.

When we got back to Phnom Penh the camera operator tested positive for Covid. Fortunately, CNN had flown in a DP from Thailand. We were the camera department for the next couple of days before the original camera assistant and drone pilot thankfully returned to the fray for the last couple of days.

It was an incredible learning experience to work with such an experienced team and a great crash course in lots of camera and lighting kit (and techniques) that I hadn’t used before.

Once again thanks to Nick at Hanuman Films for the recommendation. I look forward to sharing the show once the episodes airs. Below are a couple of drone photos I managed to snap along the way. You can see more examples of my drone videography here. Please get in touch about any video projects you have in Cambodia, SE Asia or the rest of the world.

Aerial Drone Photography of salt flats in Tamil Nadu, India

Looking back through the archives, I found some drone photography of the salt flats outside Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu, Southern India. I was lucky enough to get to travel there while working as a videographer for Wild Frontiers. I like the lines and the geometrical shapes of the salt flats when seen from above.

I often use the drone to shoot video and take photographs as a afterthought. I plan to spend more time looking at the creative possibilities and using drone to focus solely on aerial photography.

Innovations Against Poverty – An NGO video for SNV

I was commissioned to work as a videographer on this video showcasing the support that SNV provide to entrepreneurs in Cambodia.

The video focusses on WeVenture, a startup that provides clean, piped, drinking water to people living in Prek Chik commune. It was great to see how providing this water to people has a positive impact on their lives in many ways. Hopefully, WeVenture will expand their operations, as planned, and provide safe water to people all over Cambodia.