Natalie Clements
Photo by Natalie Clements
Wildlife Camerawoman Natalie Clements
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‘Natalie Clements, a former camera operator in fast-paced television, has embraced her passion for wildlife filmmaking, inspired by her countryside upbringing near Birmingham. Now based in Wales, she explores diverse environments, capturing the beauty of nature and the behaviours of animals. This December, she embarks on a solo adventure to Greece to film the endangered Dalmatian Pelican, aiming to raise awareness about conservation and eco-tourism. With insights on her filmmaking process, challenges, and the importance of community support, Natalie shares her dedication to both her craft and the natural world, encouraging others to respect and protect wildlife.’
Background
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I grew up in the countryside just outside of Birmingham, UK. Living in a small village and being surrounded by nature was pretty cool, we had a brook alongside the house and a decent garden with kingfisher, herons, hedgehog, ducks, sparrow hawks. But I actually trained from a very early age to be an artist. I was far from thinking I'd ever be a wildlife camerawoman!
I found my passion for cameras later in life and managed to build a career working in fast paced tv and live camera work as a camera operator. But my favourite things to film were always animals. So I decided to switch to wildlife about 6years ago and have loved every second.
Photo by Natalie Clements
What ignited your passion for the outdoors and inspired you to become a wildlife camerawoman?
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I moved to Wales for university and stayed, I have so much access to wild places here, I love spending time walking rivers, climbing mountains and exploring coastlines. Being able to take my camera with me is a dream and there’s a huge amount of biodiversity here. It’s been my stomping ground and allowed me to practice field craft, long lens and technical skills.
I’ve always had a strong urge to see the world, explore wild places and learn about different animals as well. I love seeing different environments and learning how life works in those places. I live and breath my camera and thrive off capturing animals, behaviours and cool places.
Photo by Natalie Clements
Some inspiration is from growing up in the countryside, surrounded by nature and understanding animal behaviours from just being in that space. As an adult, my drive to capture wild places on camera was a growing urge and something that looked like an impossible career. I managed to find opportunities and start making it work for me, probably more out of stubbornness to make sure I do what I want with my life.
But a lot also comes from support of others and seeing other women and my peers progress, share and learn together. For that, I’m in a group on Facebook called Wildlife Camera Women Community (also on Instagram @wildlife.camerawomen) which is a fantastic source of inspiration and full of practical support.
Photo by Natalie Clements
This December, you're heading to Greece to film the endangered Dalmatian Pelican. Can you share insights into this species and why it's considered endangered?
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I'm doing something a bit different to how I usually work for my newest project, I'm producing and shooting my own film in another country. I'll be travelling solo and meeting up with experts and locals along the way. The species that will feature in this is the Dalmatian Pelican, which a lot of people probably haven't heard of! Its actually the biggest of all Pelicans and one of the largest flying birds in the world. The nearest to us are in Europe, around Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and spread into Turkey, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Russia.
Photo by Natalie Clements
They did used to be in the UK but we lost them quite a while ago. Historically people have been a big threat with land management reducing their habitats, persecution, other animals predating on their nests and global warming contributing to the rise and fall of water levels are all factors in their decline. Their numbers dropped over the years significantly but have been, very slowly, through conservation efforts, begun to rise. They still have a long way to go, raising awareness of this bird will hopefully inspire future generations to continue this work.
I'll also be covering eco tourism and how connecting with nature responsibly can help save both the environment, wildlife and local economies.
What challenges do you anticipate while filming in December?
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These birds don’t really like people in some of the areas I’ll be filming, giving them lots of space is vitally important so they aren’t disturbed from filming. So long lens work on small boats will be necessary but tricky. You can see more wobble when you are zoomed in and the boats will rock gently. Having cameras with good stabilisation, limited people on the boat and clear communication to the driver will all help.
It’s also going to be cold, which can affect battery power, foggy lenses and keeping my body going. I have plenty of rechargeable warming things for my feet, hands, body. Lots of thermals, hats and gloves!
What unique characteristics of the Dalmatian Pelican do you hope to capture on film?
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In the winter the Dalmatian Pelicans start breeding, to help attract a partner their beaks will turn a striking red and they don some floppy hairstyles. So, their look alone is fantastic. Witnessing them flying is pretty cool to, they are huge so it’s quite impressive to see!
Photo by Natalie Clements
Why is it important to raise awareness about the endangered Dalmatian Pelican?
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For all endangered and declining species, finding a voice for them and allowing everyday people to care for them is an incredible thing to do. The effect from raising awareness is that a larger audience of people understand what the animal is and why it’s in danger, it’s easier to vital raise funds for conservationists and charities doing the work to save them and to educate communities on how they can support the ecosystem around them.
What type of equipment do you use for wildlife filming, and how do you choose your gear for specific projects?
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I mainly use mirrorless cameras for anything that involves travel due to weight and size, I currently use a Sony a7siii as it has great lowlight capability. I’ve got a range of zoom lenses and primes, gimbal, tripods of different sizes, little WiFi microphones and 2 drones.
Photo by Natalie Clements
Travelling alone or in a small independent team I try to keep my kit as small and simple as possible to just enable me to be a bit nimbler and more reactive to changing stories, but there’s a constant pull to want to take my bigger cameras, more lenses, extra batteries etc. Every shoot is different and all of them need a lot of thought and planning to ensure I have the right kit to hand. Contributing factors are how much kit I’m allowed to travel with, how close or far away animals will be and how much camera support I need to keep my shots steady.
Can you share any tips for capturing wildlife on film, especially in challenging environments?
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There’s a lot of very simple and practical things you can do to help you not get noticed by wildlife. Wearing camo or colours that match your environment so you’re less visible, not wearing heavy perfumes or freshly washed clothes so some animals can’t smell you (some people roll their clothes in fox poo to blend their scent in!) and learning to walk quietly and gently. Picking up extra skills like tracking can be super useful too!
Photo by Natalie Clements
The biggest thing in challenging environments though is to look after yourself, know your capabilities and know what you need to do to stay safe/protected. Nothing will get filmed if your completely broken from hiking, suffering from frozen body parts or covered in insect bites that send you to hospital.
How do you maintain your motivation during long filming trips, especially when faced with unpredictable wildlife behaviour?
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Keeping motivation on wildlife shoots is probably more about anticipation. You never know if or when something will happen, quite often you can be pleasantly surprised and entertained by other creatures whilst you’re waiting for the one you are there for as well. I have a lot of hope and even when things aren’t going to plan, visualising that moment really helps to keep me going!
What advice would you give to someone aspiring to enter the field of wildlife filmmaking?
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Honestly, it’s a tough industry to succeed in, most people can take 10 or so years before looking like they’ve ‘made it’, which sounds like a really long time!
But if you have a real passion for it, the adventures you can have along the way are so worth it.
Practice, practice, practice! Learn your local nature, find others with the same enthusiasm and take trips together, even if it’s just to a local reserve. Go to your local wildlife networking events, befriend people who work in other areas of wildlife so you can learn more about your own environment. The more you do, the more opportunities can appear.
Most of all though, be respectful to the environment and wildlife. Leave no trace and do your best not to disturb anything so we can all keep watching, filming and photographing nature at its best.
Photo by Natalie Clements
What do you think is the most rewarding aspect of your work?
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During filming, that moment capturing the perfect light with the behaviour or animal I’ve been waiting for, the adrenaline is up there! It’s a great feeling and something that is a driver to keep me going sometimes.
But bigger picture, seeing the people I have befriended and filmed with over the years working in conservation, seeing them grow as organisations, find funding and hitting conservation goals, has no words to describe it. Those are the best wins. I won’t get to continue my adventures if these people don’t exist and I’m so grateful to all of them for letting me into their world with my camera.
Photo by Natalie Clements