Pieter Huisman: Wild and Free
Dutch filmmaker and cameraman Pieter Huisman has seen every side of the television industry since starting as a clapper loader in 1996. He now follows his lifelong passion for wildlife film-making and he has worked for major broadcasters such as Channel 4, RDF and National Geographic. Filming has taken him to Tanzania and The Gambia, while his most recent project, ‘Wild Dog Island’ for Animal Planet, was in Zimbabwe. Rob Hull spoke to him about his career and shooting experiences and why he always brings his trusted Canon XL H1 along.
What inspired you to become a cameraman?
I always wanted to be a wildlife cameraman. When I was young, about seven or eight, I was given a camera for my birthday and I was always playing with that. It was photography that first inspired me but later, in high school, I chose video as it was coming into fashion. My love was always for wildlife, and filming animals, so I went to film school and got a general education.
Was the training useful – even though it wasn’t wildlife orientated?
Yes, very much. My background was as a clapper loader for two years and then I worked as a focus puller for three years, as well as being a general camera and production assistant along the way. It’s valuable to know all of these areas and to move up from being an assistant.
Click here to watch aerial footage shot by Pieter from a helicopter. Pieter explains: “This was shot with the XL H1 and the Canon 6x HD Wide Angle XL3.4-20.4mm around noon. It was harsh light yet gave good contrast, detail in dark areas, and the whites even maintain reasonable detail. The wideangle lens has no distortion on the horizon and is very sharp, and crisp, with no ugly flares. It performs like an HD broadcast camera with a USD 20,000 lens."
Was there a moment you said, "I have to get back to filming wildlife"?
In 1999 I assisted a wildlife cameraman called Anton van Munster, who sadly passed away recently. He was a famous wildlife cameraman who worked with Hugo van Lawick – a filmmaker who spent many years on the Serengeti producing films about wild dogs, elephants and leopards.
I assisted Anton on a production that we shot in Africa – and which was my first time there. It proved to be a ‘double whammy’ - I got to see Africa and I worked with this very experienced man. It made me think that this was originally what I set out to do – and that I should work my way to becoming a wildlife cameraman.
Pieter Huisman.
Do you become very involved in your projects? Does it become more than work?
The last film that I made for Nature Conservation Films – coincidentally the production company that Anton used to work with – was like that. I travelled through Zimbabwe four times in a two year period; for around a month on each occasion. The film that we made, ‘Wild Dog Island’, is about a project called Painted Dog Conservation. It’s a programme that is run by two English conservationists based in Zimbabwe - Peter Blinston and Greg Rasmussen. Its mission is to increase the range and number of painted dogs in Zimbabwe, and Africa in general. I got to spend quite some time with them. It’s about the people who work with the dogs as much as the dogs themselves.
You often shoot using a Canon XL H1?
I’ve previously owned a Canon XL1 and now have an XL H1. It’s very valuable to me. I have a lot of Canon lenses, especially the EF photographic lenses, and for the wildlife shoots it gives me a very long reach. The Canon XL H1 has a 1/3” chip and I chose the HDV 25F mode to get closest to the quality of DvcPro HD that I had used on previous shoots. In Zimbabwe I not only needed the telephoto reach for the behavioural activity of the dogs, but also a great wideangle lens to film the people tracking the dogs from boats and to follow them as they walked across the island. Filming in warm early morning and late afternoon light, but also in the harsh midday sun, would put any kind of lens to the test.
To get the wider angle, I’ve tested various converters in front of the 20x HD lens that comes with the Canon XL H1 in the past, but have always been disappointed: soft edges, excessive flares, decreased contrast, distortion on straight lines so a converter was not an option!
Enter the Canon HD wideangle 6x zoom XL3.4-20.4mm. It was put directly to the test in the field and I was pleasantly surprised - it gave crisp and contrasty images, horizon lines that remained absolutely straight, a razor sharp image from corner to corner (even in the widest landscapes with the finest details!), and even a beautiful lens flare when the sun hit the coating! The lens has a maximum aperture of f/1.6 (f/2.6 at its slightly longer end), making it great in low-light conditions. To prove it, I even shot a short scene by moonlight, opening the aperture to its maximum (helped by +18dB gain and 6fps), as the painted dogs chased a waterbuck along the shore and into the water.
Do you have particular presets on the XL H1?
At first I only had the standard lens that came with the XL H1. I found it to be very clean and it had a nice action. What I did then was to add a Canon EF70-200mm f/2.8L USM photo lens, and I found that it had a little less contrast than the standard lens. I made some settings, to give that lens more contrast and to make it crisper, and I was very happy after that. So, now I have custom presets in the camera that are set for the 70-200mm zoom and I also have the Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens.
Click here to watch footage shot by Pieter of wild dogs chasing a waterbuck. Pieter explains: “This was shot handheld from a boat and on land with the XL H1 with a Canon EF adapter and the EF70-200mm f/2.8L USM zoom lens for EOS SLR cameras. It gives sharp images, and good contrast despite the EF adapter (SD glass). The waterbuck in the water was shot at the end of the day in low light with some at +3.0 and even +6dB gain at f/2.8, yet the grain is acceptable on HDV. The performance is great for a 1/3” chip camera."
What other Canon lenses do you use?
I’ve got the Canon EF50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro lens that is interesting when used on an XL H1. I’ve got custom presets with slight deviations from the norm for it – and the other lenses. There’s nothing too fancy. If there is any correction to be done I prefer to do that using colour correction during the post-production.
How did Canon become your lens of choice?
When I started out – in film and video – the rental companies I went to always gave you a Canon lens! Now it’s just personal preference. I put lenses next to each other and always end up choosing the Canon.
You shot some of Wild Thing I Love You (a 10-part wildlife series filmed during 2005 and 2006 and produced by RDF Media and Channel 4) on a Canon XL H1?
It was quite a big budget series, and was a 40 to 50 day shoot. I said if they wanted to do long lens shooting that it wasn’t going to be possible to rent XDCAM or Digibeta with the appropriate lenses. So, I suggested that I invest in a Canon XL H1. I already had the photo lenses and knew how reliable the XL1 had been. The production company said “yes”, we did some tests, and the Canon’s HDV held up nicely.
What have you noticed about shooting in HD?
I’d say the most critical thing when shooting HD is actually its big plus – clarity. But this is also what makes it difficult. The focus is critical. It is unforgiving if you are even slightly out of focus. In standard definition you could get away with more, with high-def you can bet that if you think you’re going to get away with it, you won’t!
What was the hardest part of shooting 'Wild Dog Island'?
They were many ups and downs but one of the hardest was on our second trip, which was where we put the dogs on the island. When we went out the six dogs were all given a mild sedative and unfortunately one of the females didn’t wake up. We had a very long trip – a 12-hour journey – and did regular checks. On one of these checks we found that one of the dogs had died. I was filming at the time and this was one of those moments when I felt uncomfortable shooting. You should always keep filming, unless someone tells you not to. In this case Peter Blinston (of PDC) actually turned to me and said, “stop filming". I had a good working relationship with him, where I respected what he said what I could and couldn’t do.
Do you find yourself in situations where you think, 'why are we doing this'?
Yes, where anyone in their right mind would have said, "hang on, this is a bit too risky". You’re out on Lake Kariba (in Zimbabwe) and you know there are crocs everywhere and if your boat sinks… I was out there for 20 days and every day you find yourself taking that limit, or that line, that you don’t want to cross and it moves.
But when you look at the footage and you know you’ve got a great shot...
Yes, you’re thinking it’s worth it. That’s right.
Can you tell me more about your Wildlife Workshops project?
We started doing Wildlife Workshops a couple of years back because people who were about to embark on a round-the-world boat trip wanted to make a film about it, but had no experience. We got in touch and they asked if my girlfriend – who’s more of a director than me – and I if we were willing to teach them the basics of making a documentary. We put something together, from camerawork to how to conduct an interview, how to put a wireless mic on and where does your light come from, and then moved on to editing. I really enjoyed doing it. This spring and summer we’re planning to do workshops on a more regular basis in a safari park called Beekse Bergen, in the Netherlands.
The XL H1 at dusk on 'Wild Dog Island'.
What golden rule or essential piece of advice stays with you?
On any shoot you should get the right specialist in the right spot. Get a wildlife cameraman if you’re doing wildlife, not just any cameraman. The same goes if you turn things around. For wildlife shooting I could never do what I do if I didn’t have an expert with me. You can read everything you like about barn owls but only an expert will tell that you they’ve seen that owl fly out in the last month but not in the last week and it’s about to start raining – and barn owls don’t fly in the rain!
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