SR : You have many excellent memories of working with the late Peter Scoones , who was a hero to today ’ s generation of underwater photographers . Can you explain what made him such a unique figure ?
JR : Yes , thanks for asking and reminding me what a special experience it was to learn about diving and underwater photography from Peter . He was totally focussed , maybe obsessed with the underwater image , and had a deep knowledge of optical physics and electronics to coax the best out of an underwater digital video camera .
He was never fearful to go into the guts of a complex camera and fix it on the spot or tweak controls people would tell you to leave alone . He understood light and water colour and would always take maximum advantage , usually by filming as near to the surface as he could .
SR : It was refreshing to read of your filming experiences in Babbacombe Bay . Where would you say is the most rewarding location to go filming in UK waters ?
JR : I think the UK provides some of the most exciting diving in the world . Babbacombe I love for the easy and intimate views it gives you of European cuttlefish that come to court there in March . I spent quite a bit of time UK diving with the renowned underwater photographer Alan James , now retired , but who used to have a great underwater camera shop in Bristol . He organised photo workshops mainly in Scotland and Cornwall .
In St Abbs , near Eyemouth , a special memory was to find myself under a massive shoals of herring . There too I learnt some specialist techniques like filming huge dahlia anemones with selfmade time-lapse cameras . But perhaps the best dive ever was on the Runnel
Stone , south of Gwennap Head , Cornwall , where there is a truly awesome canyon you can swim through , lined with sea life .
SR : There are some great passages in the book relating your trials filming in the Eastern Pacific for the original Blue Planet . Can you tell us a little about the challenges that come into play when filming in such remote spots , in this case 350 miles from the mainland ?
JR : You are referring to the wonderful islands of Cocos and Malpelo off Costa Rica and Columbia . Malpelo in particular is one of the diving wonders of the world and very isolated as you say , and belongs to Columbia . You would need to go with a local contractor who knew all the sea conditions and had the right ship – something big and with a water purifier so that it could stay at sea for days .
The contractor would also need a good relationship and experience of the requirements of the Columbian military , who run the island . Danger-wise I would always be wary of strong ocean currents , not the sharks so much – that ’ s what we ’ d come to film and there are thousands of 2m-long silky sharks and scalloped hammerheads off Malpelo . On a Blue Planet shoot we had experts in all those areas with us – and one last thing I would say – listen to them !
SR : What has been your most satisfying filming experience ?
JR : Perhaps being the producer director who organised the team to film the blue whales for the first series of Blue Planet used in the opening sequence . The public response to both series of Blue Planet has been humbling but in truth I was lucky – someone had to do it I guess !
SR : What has been your riskiest experience when shooting a natural history sequence ?
JR : By far the most risky part of being a trained and supported working diver at sea is getting lost in current . Sharks will almost never harm you , but current will kill the unwary . Once I got dropped with the DOP ( Director of Photography ) in the wrong place in a night dive off Cocos Island with current pushing us out towards Costa Rica , 400 miles away across open sea in the pitch darkness . It ’ s frightening – how we got out of it was lucky , even if we did have some safety devices with us ( read the book to find out !).
The Blue Planet team at Isla Malpelo ( also right ) in the remote Eastern Pacific
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