Luna 8 lights when shooting video. Like almost any
working pro these days, I also travel with several GoPro
systems because they are so awesome for the point-of-
view action I like to shoot.
SF
// While I had known of your work, the first
time we spent on the road together was during your
assignment to document the Bahamas Underwater
Photo Week (see Page 64). I was impressed with
your dedication to your craft, for you were never
without a camera in your hand. I can’t imagine
how many digital gigabytes you shot that week, as
video represents huge chunks of data to manage
and archive. Yet you found time to post to social
media every day — not just a casual photograph
but often an edited video. To me that says your
postproduction skills must be impressive.
CD
//
It is true that I have had to become an efficient
editor in the field, or I could never do what I am
tasked to do for clients. Often I am traveling alone,
without an assistant or an editor or a soundman. I
go to remote places, and getting myself there is hard
enough. A large team would be expensive and often
intrusive for the intimate behaviors I am trying to film
about some shy marine animal or even a dangerous
predator. I can manage myself, but a larger crew might
actually get in the way.
To prepare me for what I currently do, I got a job
with a production company in Sao Paulo. I started out
as an assistant cameraman and then was promoted to
cameraman, editor and finally producer. In less than
a year of on-the-job training I learned how to make a
TV show.
What was most immediately obvious was that I
needed to know more about topside filming, because
underwater shots alone weren’t going to cut it for
the network. I’m now happy and comfortable shooting
above and below the surface. I film only nature though. I
don’t do fashion, products, news or events. To keep me
engaged, my work has to be about the natural world.
Having a background in biology has been helpful,
because I know when I am seeing unique behaviors;
however, just as when I was a Boy Scout, fieldcraft is very
important. I need to know how to spend time in the field
without suffering. An underwater photographer will never
achieve excellence without being a good diver first, and a
nature cinematographer requires field skills to flourish, or
sometimes even to survive, on some of these assignments.
SF
// Who are your primary clients these days?
It seems you’ve come a long way from shooting
souvenir videos of scuba divers.
CD
//
In Brazil I stay very busy with National
Geographic, Discovery Communications and the
BBC. If they have projects happening anywhere in
Brazil, I’m likely to get a call. I also shoot a lot for
our Brazilian dive magazine, Mergulho. I recently had
the opportunity to work on an IMAX project in the
Bahamas as well, shooting 6K video.
The one project that keeps me most occupied is our
television show, which airs to 50 million viewers each
Sunday. I am the researcher, shooter and presenter on
an adventure segment. We specialize in different locales;
lately it has been the Bahamas, U.S., Norway, Africa,
etc. I tell about 15 stories each year — it could be about
polar bears, elephant seals, lampreys or even mayflies.
As long as it is a strong story, one that is compelling for
our audience, I’ll go anywhere on the planet to shoot
it. My main goal is filming, of course, but I shoot stills
on location as well and one day soon will do a book
about my adventures.
If I may leave your readers with one final thought
about my work, please understand it is all about
cultivating a passion for nature. I want my viewers to fall
in love with the planet. All nature photographers and
filmmakers need to have a conservation mindset they
carry through to their work, for unless we protect what
we love we’ll be out of a job and, more important, out of
a place to live on this earth.
The things I do with sharks or tigers or crocodiles is
not to prove I am brave but to show we can all share the
same planet and coexist in peace.
SF
// Are you on the road as much as it seems?
Whenever I see one of your Facebook or Instagram
posts, you are in some distant and very remote place.
CD
//
I’m on the road about 70 percent of the time
at the moment, which is a lot, but I’m well adapted
to this lifestyle. My wife works with me and supports
my travels, which is extremely important. I know that
right now is the time for me to do what I do. I’m 39
years old and recognize that I won’t do this forever,
but for now I have momentum and I like this crazy
existence. Next week I go way south to Patagonia and
then way north to the Artic. Life is too short to be
bored.
AD
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FALL 2014
IMAGING
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S H O O T E R
