APRIL 2026 - Filming Beluga Lagoon at the Barrowlands

A great couple of nights filming Beluga Lagoon at the legendary Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow, probably my favourite concert venue anywhere.

I was there filming material for an upcoming Beluga Lagoon project, capturing the atmosphere around the Barrowlands, some drone shots outside, and plenty of the live performances across two brilliant sold-out nights.

It was also great to meet Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson, who was there with her family and, it turns out, is a massive Beluga Lagoon fan.

A fantastic weekend in Glasgow, with just enough work to justify being there and a very enjoyable night out afterwards!

JUNE 2025 - Aerial Filming a very hard Rock climb for Britrock at Dumbarton near Glasgow

A fun bit of Drone pilot work and camera operator near Glasgow at Dumbarton Rock. I hadn’t filmed this face since 1998 with the Nick Tarmey film Cutting Loose with a bunch of us including Dave Macleod, who’s route we were here to film that he did way back in 2006 and is still ranked as one of the most physically hard routes in the UK all these years later, a little break down and history of it below:)

Rhapsody (E11) – Dumbarton Rock, Scotland

Rhapsody is one of the most iconic and demanding traditional rock climbs in the world. Located on Dumbarton Rock near Glasgow, it was first climbed by Dave MacLeod on 9 April 2006 and became the first-ever E11-graded trad route in the UK. It follows the upper half of the famous E8 route Requiem, then pushes through a brutal crux with minimal protection and huge fall potential.

MacLeod spent over two years working on the line, taking multiple 20–25 metre falls in the process. The climb was filmed in the award-winning documentary E11 by Hot Aches Productions, capturing the intense physical and psychological challenge.

The route is 35 metres long and breaks down into three parts:

• An easier lower slab leading to a small rest ledge

• A sustained diagonal crack (shared with Requiem) with small wire protection

• A desperate and bold crux sequence (around French 8c+ / 5.14c), with almost no gear and massive fall potential

What makes Rhapsody so infamous isn’t just the technical difficulty, but the seriousness. Falling off the crux results in huge falls, often past the resting ledge and dangerously close to the ground. It’s considered one of the most dangerous trad climbs in the world.

Since MacLeod’s first ascent, it has seen very few repeats:

1. Dave MacLeod (2006 – first ascent)

2. Sonnie Trotter (2008)

3. Steve McClure (2008)

4. James Pearson (2014)

5. Jacopo Larcher (2016)

6. Gérôme Pouvreau (2018)

7. Mathew Wright (2024)

Each climber has confirmed the exceptional difficulty and commitment required. Even years after the first ascent, Rhapsody remains a benchmark for elite-level traditional climbing.

In the words of Magnus Midtbø, who visited the route in 2024:

"Possibly the most dangerous route in the world."

We were here to possibly catch the newest ascent if all went well. Billy Ridal called Al Lee to say he felt he was getting close to being able to do it. So off we went to film it for Al’s Brotrock Films. Really interesting seeing someone do this route. I had seen Dave’s film and read his book where it features quite a bit. Billy comes from a competition background and by the sounds of the guys chatting hasn’t done masses of trad climbing. He said the route was definitely his style and he set about it in a very positive and keen way.

There were certainly a few huge whippers which I imagine pleased Al a lot as if he had just gone straight up it the story would not be quite the same lol. The thing that astonished me was hearing about people taking years to try and break those top moves on it after the very bumpy coverhanging crack below and trying to do such hard moves when tired and having to build towards it. Billy seems to be extremely strong for sure and I don’t know enough about it but I’d imagine the time he took is probably the fastest. So amazing effort and also amazing this route had stood the test of time since Dave first climbed it in 2006 the year Billy began climbing at 9 years old:)

The team plus Matt who showed up just 10 mins after)

Billy and Frances who belayed and had a few flying through the air moments:)

February 2023 - Drone Operator on a feature film near Glasgow

So I headed to Glasgow to work with one of my favourite filmmakers Andrew O’Donnell and the great Beluga Lagoon team. Andrew has been working on the script for a feature film for the last few years and building a hut for one of the locations. Now starts the ambitious bit of filming it and bringing it together. Andrew is Directing and DOP on it with the lovable Mark being the main actor in the film. Blaine and Willy also have some roles.

So I headed there to do the aerial shots for the film for the week and also help with the sound and lighting when needed. I even dressed up as an owl a few times too lol.

I still don’t know exactly what the film is about as Andrew keeps it close to his chest. As always with andrew he has also produced an album (Beluga Lagoon music) first before starting the film which will be the sound track to the movie. A very talented man!

We had a great laugh filming this film and enjoyed every bit of it. Also got Andrew camera operating on the DJI Inspire 2 on occasion which he took to effortlessly:)

The toilet scene. Mark and Willy peeing with me on sound and Andrew filming:)

JULY 2021 - Drone pilot and cameraman in Trossachs and North west Scotland for BBC Education

So another couple of days filming plates for the animation series. This time some geology of the Moon Thrust zone in the North West of Scotland. Around the area I did my honours project for geology on:)

Then it was off to the Trossachs in the South of Scotland for geography and forest filming:)

Loch Lomond

APRIL 2021 - Drone pilot and cameraman in Glasgow for ITV 'This Morning'

Had a fun few days filming with one of my best clients ITV ‘This Morning’. Here we were filming part of a series that tours round Britain looking into top spots for Indian food with Nisha Katona. This episode we were in Glasgow for the birth place of Chicken Tikka Masala and an amazing family run Pakora takeaway caravan. Pheobe directing on the right in photo:)

Totally unrelated but with cover hotels are pretty empty giving them a slight spooky feel. So the corridor in the bottom picture here has a definite ‘The Shining’ vibe about it eeeek!?!

Amazing tasting Pakora here:)

Definitely a bit of ‘The Shining’ vibe here!?!