Capturing Tigers and Elephants

I found myself re-watching the BBC Planet Earth series this weekend and remembered how remarkable the series was the first time I saw it. The great plains disc is by far my favorite not only because of the adorable Pikas (cousins of the rabbits) but because of the amazing HD film and infrared technology that was used to capture for the first time on film a pride of 30 famished lions leaping on the back of an elephant five times their size, mauling and gnawing until they finally succeed in running the poor defenseless elephant into the ground.
While I found the footage hard to watch the behind the scenes diary that explains both the technology and filming technique is beyond fascinating.

For over six weeks the team follow a pride of 30 lions as they attempt to hunt elephants, using the latest night vision equipment they were able to capture this amazing natural phenomena.
The infrared night vision used by the crew pushes filming technology to the limits. It works by augmenting and converting the available ambient light or in lay person terms collecting the tiny amounts of light, that are present but may be imperceptible to our eyes, and amplifying it to the point that we can easily observe the image without actually using a visible light source.

This technology and artistry made it possible for mass audiences to see the rare behavior that exists outside our realm of consciousness and that was previously unable to be captured on film.