First of all, who are these French Explorers with such an English name?
It is both an idea and an ambition, combined with exceptional audiovisual and human technical means. The idea of its founder, Olivier Chiabodo, is as simple as it is brilliant: to draw up an inventory of the Earth’s remarkable sites in ultra high-definition photos and videos (4K and 8K format)!
The ambition is nothing less than to make the general public aware of the beauty of the planet, based on the following principle, which has become the credo of The Explorers: “Better knowledge, for better protection”.
The Earth and its eco-system, it goes without saying.
But in order to show these magnificent images to as many people as possible, The Explorers released its participatory platform at the end of 2019. All the images, films, clips and photos can be viewed on The Explorers app, which can be downloaded on Android tablets and iPad/iPhone in the Apple Store and Google Store. Please note that some videos and documentaries can be viewed without a subscription, others require one, but the clips we share below can be viewed without creating an account, on computer or tablet.
It is in this ambitious, rewarding and civic-minded context that The Explorers contacted us one fine day in June 2020 to entrust Drone-Pictures with the task of producing all the aerial images by drone that they needed in the Southern Region! (read more)
The list was long and the need imminent. In the middle of summer, in other words in the middle of the high season for us image people, but our team, hyper-motivated by these great prospects, was able to take up the challenge in spite of a very busy schedule between film orders in progress, Live for NGE and SNCF and filming already scheduled for the National Geographic series Europe From Above!
We have been able to double up and not count the hours or the countless kilometres.
We were able to manage the unexpected, breakdowns, authorisations, tight appointments and short nights. But in the end, what a joy to find our images in the clips of the platform and to know that somewhere, on our scale, we contribute to the awareness of human beings on the imperious necessity, and the urgency that there is, to protect and preserve the beautiful Blue and the animals which compose it!
Let’s go to the pictures with our logbook and diary of these drone shootings with the teams of The Explorers who were in the South of France and in Marseille this summer!
Action, Engine, It’s on!
Wednesday 1st July : first shooting for The Explorers of some beauty shots of lavender fields around Valensole. The colours are there. Summer is here and so is the heat!
Tuesday 7th July : First big day with The Explorers team with drone shots in the Ochre massif, the Colorado de Rustrel canyon, the Carrières de Gargas and the Mines de Bruoux.
Watch the unsubscribed clip on the French Colorado at Rustrel in the Vaucluse, near Roussillon:
Thursday 09 July: Piemanson beach, Salins de Giraud, Bouches du Rhône: we film the guardians on the Camargue horses galloping along the beach at the end of the day. Sublime!
Watch the clip on the Camargue horse, also shot in a manade near Les Saintes-maries-de-la-Mer:
Friday 10 July: return to the Camargue to the ornithological park of Pont-de-Gau before the opening to the public to film the pink flamingos, which are very numerous at this time of year, and then fly the drone into a manade towards Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer to film the gathering of the bulls by the riders riding the Camargue horses,
See the film on the Pink Flamingos, shot by drone in the heart of the Camargue, at the ornithological park of Pont-de-Gau:
Saturday 11 July: Marseille – Vieux-Port and Sea: Sailing in the harbour of Marseille of the old rig Le Don du vent, between Vieux-Port and the Frioul islands, then in the wake of this, the exit of the Marseille barquettes (the pointus). The clip is not yet edited but we share some images of this epic outing to follow this wonderful boat!
Tuesday 14th July : harvesting of fine lavender by tractor at the Bonaventure mill near Oraison.
Clip on the fine lavender of Provence which grows on the plateau of Valensole, in the Vaucluse, shot by drone in the flowering fields and during the harvest in mid-July 2020:
Thursday 16 July: Przewalski’s horses in the Monts d’Azur biological reserve in Andon.
As soon as we arrive on the plain, which is situated at an altitude of 1100m, an hour’s drive from Nice, the feeling of being in the Far-West invades us. To capture the infinite beauty of this place, we take a flight for pleasure. Above is a picture that sums up what we felt. An incredible and timeless place. And we are not talking about the Reserve, which is worth the diversions to observe the prehistoric horses, the European buffalos or the deer and the hinds that populate this timeless and preserved place! Go there, you will not regret it, it is fantastic and unique!
Watch the video clip on the last wild horse in the world, about Przewalski’s horses, filmed with a drone in the Monts d’Azur reserve in Thorenc Andon in the Aples-Maritimes:
Thursday 30 July: a change of scenery, we went to the city of Grasse to the Perfumed Fountains owned by LVMH, then to the Château de la Colle Noire in Montauroux, which belonged to Christian Dior until 1957. These are private places, which cannot be visited, and we had the immense privilege of being guests for a few hours to film their singularity and beauty. Videos awaiting editing but here are some still images.
You can watch all these thematic mini-capsules without subscription or on subscription for the films of the collection, see the website The Explorers !
For the Explorers Network, Sami Sarkis presents the requirements of a drone pilot’s job.
