The private life of plants

[digger]

:D Well today on uk tv the private life of plants has been running "back to back". what a fantastic series and of course the photography is stunning, It's even more interesting because we know the film camera man. Neil it is a fantastic series you mus be very proud of your achievement. friends have called today and i have been telling them "I am friends with the chap who has filmed this". they said "oh yes right digger," but then i say look at the credits at the end, The camera work is stunning Neil. Seeing your work on the tv, it is almost surreal that i actually met with you, on a slightly different note our horticultural club has the first meeting on October 29th , we are having a slide show about dahlias, this is when i shall pass out the leaflets and inform everyone about the cd rom that is getting used almost daily by me now, and of course people will be interested with the vast amount of photography on the cd rom, now i have actually seen your work on the tv i am a little awe struck. :D

[Neil Bromhall]

I'm feeling all bashful now.
I had the great pleasure of working as a freelance wildlife cameraman for 16 years and worked on a number of programs for the BBC. The Private Life Of Plants was the best because we had a good team of creative Cameramen and Producers and we were showing the fascinating life of plants never seen before.
I recommend being a wildlife cameraperson to anyone (the girls are just as good as the boys). For me it was the perfect career where I could watch wildlife and record it for others to see.
Before Private Life of Plants, I was supposed to be going to the Congo for six months to film Lowland Gorillas but I had a fall and broke both legs and my right wrist. Unable to do much, I built a studio and decided to specialise in macro and time-lapse.
I worked on the Private Life of Plants for 1 and 1/2 years after which I worked as cameraman for BBC's 'Dangerous Aussies' 'The 'Secret Garden',Thunderball, (about Dung Beetles) Lion Battle Fields, (I was nominated for an Emmy and was in New York for the Awards Ceremony returning to the UK two days before the twin towers were hit in 9/11) My last main series was working on David Attenborough's Mammals series.
Wildlife is physically hard work be it filming underwater, underground, on ice, climbing trees and so whilst carrying all my filming gear wading through mangroves filming Capuchins for David's Mammals series, I decided that I'd had a good innings and when I was finished I'd get a team together and make the interactive Plants Encyclopaedia.
Plants don't get up and move about so I can photograph plants into my nineties I hope.
I still do a bit of filming. I worked with presenter Nigel Marvens on his Nature Detective series and went to Australia to film dead pigs and maggots, where forensic scientists can figure out of a person has been murdered or not, so it's not all glamour - but still fascinating.