Pascal Kobeh: Into the Oceans

Following the Oscar-winning success of the nature documentary March of the Penguins, in April 2008 the Disney organisation announced it had set up a new specialist film unit, Disneynature, to produce wildlife and environmental documentaries. One of its first cinematic projects is the movie ‘Oceans’ – due for release in 2010 - for which Pascal Kobeh is the lead stills photographer. Steve Fairclough caught up with him to find out how he got involved and what the ‘Oceans’ shoot has entailed.

Although he speaks with a thick French accent Pascal Kobeh was born in Beirut and spent the first 15 years of his life being brought up in Lebanon by his Lebanese father and French mother. He reveals: “I went back to Paris and got an MBA, and I was a broker in the financial markets. I worked there until 1992 but I was a little bit fed up with that life, so I quit for a woman and went to the Maldives.”

From being involved in high-powered finance Pascal settled down to a more sedate way of life in the Maldives. “I started as the ‘underwater guy’ in the Maldives with a little boat operation as the dive master and started to witness a lot of underwater life. One day, in 1994, I bought a camera and started to make pictures.”

Just two years later Pascal went professional but admits: “I had always been taking pictures when I was on holiday, but they were topside pictures. When I saw this amazing world underwater and showed it to other people they liked my pictures.” He adds: “I taught myself. I had a lot of conversations with other photographers, read books - it was autodidactic.”

© Pascal Kobeh/Galatée Films

Cameraman with Great White Shark – Guadalupe, Mexico.

He left the paradise of the Maldives in 1998 to go travelling and the first major showcase of his professional career came in 2000 with the publication of the book ‘La Magie du bleu’ (The Magic of the Blue). It featured images shot after spending around 5,000 hours under the water. Pascal recalls: “It had quite a lot of success. That was a kind of an achievement as it featured five years of my work.” In 2002 the hardback tome was translated into German and published as ‘Magie der Meere’.

Since September 2005 Pascal has been the lead stills photographer on the ‘Oceans’ movie project: “Since 2005 my priority has been ‘Oceans’, which takes up about 90% of my time. Otherwise I am a freelance underwater photographer. When not working on this project I work for magazines on assignment or not. I have many contacts within the magazine world and they often want to publish images, so I sell my pictures to them.”

The underwater shoots have been all over the world with Pascal leading the stills photography team that also features two other key underwater stills photographers – the US-born shooter Richard Herrmann and Roberto Rinaldi from Italy. Hermann prefers to shoot with an EOS 5 while Rinaldi uses the EOS-1Ds Mark II like Pascal. There are also a couple of topside photographers working on the project. He reveals: “We are never together as there are just so many shoots – I’ll be in Australia and the other photographers may be in Sardinia or Mexico. They send all the images back to me and I do all the editing.”

© Pascal Kobeh/Galatée Films

Whale Shark – Mexico, Caribbean.

With close to three years of photography already shot in well over 30 locations around the world, how has such a major project been planned? “First of all, somebody scouts the area that we are due to shoot in and works out when is the best time to shoot particular animals. We have a pool of scientists who work with us and we also work with local divers. When we go we usually know that we have the maximum possible chance to shoot what we want.”

Pascal adds: “Underwater photography is already a challenge on its own. In this project we have two demands. First, we have been asked to make outstanding pictures, different than the ones we usually see in the magazines or the books. In three years we’ve actually had to cover fields or subjects where some photographers had spent decades to obtain the pictures they wanted. Sometimes we have spent only two weeks in some countries to shoot a rare animal that doesn’t show easily. Secondly, we were asked to take images in natural light, shooting close to the surface, when it was at all possible.”

There are a couple of main photographic obstacles to overcome on such a shoot. “The lighting is very difficult, as well as judging an encounter with an animal. With strobes very often you need to diffuse the light and work out the power of flash required. I never use full power – it’s important to have more natural light and less artificial.”

Pascal adds: “We also have to look at and predict the behaviour of animals to make the right angle for a portrait. You have to be patient – sometimes I can spend two hours in the water. We had a lot of problems with killer whales in Norway, and in New Zealand the weather was bad and they were very playful.”

With the stills photography on the Oceans project scheduled to end in late 2008 what has been the highlight so far? “The humpback whales in French Polynesia, the great white shark in Mexico, the sardine-run in South Africa, the blue whale in California… There are so many amazing animals and some pictures that were more successful than the others, such as the mantarays, narwhals and seahorses.”

So, have there been any dangerous moments during the project? Pascal replies: “Not underwater. Unfortunately we had a very sad accident with an ultralight in South Africa when the unit manager was scouting the whales from above. Another time one of the cameramen was in Madagascar during a very strong hurricane, which destroyed the resort where he was. Luckily he was safe. Galatée Films organisation has been very strict with the safety procedures. Sometimes we (divers) find them too strict.”

© Pascal Kobeh/Galatée Films

Lots of California sea lions.

The producer and co-director of ‘Oceans’ Jacques Perrin has also taken a very hands-on role in the stills photography side of the project. “He (Perrin) is very famous in France but he’s very human and very passionate. It’s a delight to work with him – he doesn’t behave like a star. We have spent three years together so he knows me, he likes my pictures and he trusts me. He knows what I will bring back and he wants to see all of the pictures,” explains Pascal.