What a glorious way to spend a year – filming at the UK’s only private nature reserve, Elmley.

We were commissioned to capture both the beauty of the changing seasons across the reserve and their thoughtfully designed accommodation.

Being a marshland the landscape changes dramatically over the course of the year from flooded wetlands in the winter through to dry and arid over the summer.

As the saying goes, the early bird catches the worm, and there were many (many!) early mornings to capture the epic sunrises.

Working with our fleet of drones we were able to capture Elmley from the air over the seasons.

We have filmed in a number of nature reserves and we’re learning which species of bird can behave aggressively towards drones and which ones are not bothered.

Top tip: always keep your eyes on the Oyster Catchers and gulls!

Elmley is still a working farm and was purchased forty years ago by pioneering farmers Philip and Corinne Merricks. The entire estate has been returned to nature and they continue to enable nature and biodiversity to flourish.

There is a variety of accommodation, designed as retreats, from the restored farmhouse through to shepherds huts. In the warm summer months, we spent many a ‘golden hour’ filming the sunset out the window of the farmhouse or sunrise in one of the strategically placed huts.

Read the full case study HERE.