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It’s not always easy to capture some of the most impressive phenomena in nature on camera.

Filming for natural history series such as ���˿��� One’s A Perfect Planet involves visiting parts of the globe with extreme weather and hard-to-reach locations. When they arrive, there’s then the small matter of having all the right equipment to shoot the impressive sequences we’re used to seeing on screen.

Here are five examples of times the crew dealt with tough environments, and kit issues, to capture A Perfect Planet perfectly. As you will read, it’s not the kind of job you should do without the suitable experience and training - especially where molten lava is involved.

Every lens has its day

One of the first sequences in the opening episode of A Perfect Planet (‘The Sun’) shows how fig wasps pollinate the trees which feed hundreds of animal species. With all of the action taking place inside an actual fig, it presented a challenge to the crew who wanted to get as close as possible to a wasp just 2mm long. These segments shot in an incredibly small environment are known as macro sequences.

The solution came from experienced cameraman Alastair MacEwen. He has filmed for series such as Planet Earth and Blue Planet, and is renowned within the industry for his skills in capturing macro sequences. After experimenting with a number of different lenses, Alastair found a pair of lenses in his kit he had been carrying around for almost 30 years, but never used, which enabled him to zoom further in than the usual apparatus. They turned out to be ideal for filming in one of the smallest environments the crew had ever had to deal with. It must have made every last minute of the the three decades spent carrying them around worth it.

Shooting in the extremes

Covering the globe means camera crews on A Perfect Planet face tough temperatures. It can mean a trip to the Arctic to film white wolves. They see humans rarely, so the team were something of a curiosity. But this was an occasion when the cold conditions made for some fascinating footage. While filming the wolf pack hunting oxen, the temperature was at minus 46 degrees centigrade. The perspiration caused by the animals’ pursuit sent a fog of condensation into the air.

Heat is also challenging. While filming Saharan ants in southern Morocco, the crew endured temperatures of more than 50 degrees centigrade. It was so hot that the cameras would shut down as their cooling fans were taking in air that heated up the equipment, rather than bringing the internal temperature down.

The solution was basic, but effective. Soaking cotton in water and wrapping them safely around the camera and its operator was enough to cool the kit so it could still operate and make the crew member comfortable at the same time. There was science involved too, the desert wind released the cooling water vapour through evaporation.

Are these our ants, by any chance?

The image of a colony of fire ants, clinging together to form a raft as they are carried by the tide down the Amazon, is a sequence from the ‘Weather’ episode of A Perfect Planet. It was also one of the most complex to complete as the site in northern Peru could only be reached via an eight-hour journey by boat.

With so many different species of ant living in the Amazon, finding the correct ones, and not just ones which looked similar, was also a tough task.

However, one way of knowing exactly when you’re in the company of a fire ant is if one bites or stings you. That is exactly what two of the camera crew went through. As soon as the raft of ants brushed past their leg or a camera tripod, they climbed onto them, leaving the operators with a few venom-filled blisters. That’s a good, yet painful, way to know you’ve got the right ants.

Navigating toxic waters

Lake Natron in Tanzania is one of the most toxic waters on the planet, due to its concentration of chemicals from the nearby Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano. The water is so corrosive it is capable of burning skin and is full of thick plates of soda crust.

Despite its toxicity, there is a time when the water level at Lake Natron drops far enough to expose raised mounds on the surface. These provide a perfect spot for the lesser flamingos of East Africa to breed, laying their eggs on the exposed mounds. Up to half a million birds can nest there, and filming them requires a great deal of care. The safest way to cross Lake Natron is by hovercraft, but even then it is seen as one of the greatest challenges to face a camera crew.

This involved a gamble. Finding the right sort of hovercraft and having it shipped over to Tanzania still couldn’t guarantee that any flamingos would nest on the lake while the team was there, but they took the chance and organised one anyway. Getting through the soda plates on the hovercraft was difficult enough, but in order to film the birds out on the lake, the camera operator, Matt Aeberhard, had to step off into the mud. He later said that although the smell of the water was unpleasant and it wasn’t always easy to see, his experience was rewarded with footage of nature at its most spectacular.

On the banks of a lava lake

There are seven lakes of lava around the world, where the temperature is consistent enough through the year to keep its contents at a molten consistency.

For the episode of A Perfect Planet which focuses solely on volcanoes, the team travelled to Mount Yasur on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu. It gave an opportunity to film directly into the basin of the crater.

Yasur is active, so the crew had to keep their wits about them. Despite being high up on the crater, they weren’t completely protected from the lava below. The gas coming up from the basin can be choking and the shockwaves from any volacanic activity were easily felt. A volcanologist (an expert on volcanoes) worked with the team and advised them to keep an eye on any lava bombs, which fly through the air from eruptions beneath them.

The best way to do this? Simply keep an eye on the trajectory of each lava bomb, and if it was getting too close for comfort, then move out of the way - quickly.

All episodes of A Perfect Planet are available to watch on ���˿��� iPlayer.