Charlie Hamilton James (born July 1973) is an English photographer, television cameraman and presenter, specialising in wildlife subjects. He started his career at 16, working on

David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...

's ''

The Trials of Life ''The Trials of Life: A Natural History of Behaviour'' is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the United Kingdom from 3 October 1990. A study in animal behaviour, it was the third i ...

''. His work has since been commissioned by

National Geographic Magazine ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

, the BBC's

Springwatch ''Springwatch'', ''Autumnwatch'' and ''Winterwatch'', sometimes known collectively as ''The Watches'', are annual BBC television series which chart the fortunes of British wildlife during the changing of the seasons in the United Kingdom. The p ...

/Autumnwatch shows and The Natural World. His first film made when he was just 26, was ''My Halcyon River''. Following its success, in 2001 he set up a production company, Halcyon Media, which specialises in wildlife productions. In 2007 he produced ''An Otter in the Family'', a short documentary series about the adoption of an

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...

cub called Grace and his attempts to raise her as a wild animal to be released into the wild. He also produced the four-part ''Halcyon River Diaries'', the first episode of which was broadcast on 16 May 2010 on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

. The series follows the wildlife found near his home. An additional episode was shown at Christmas 2010. Charlie lives in

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

, US having moved from

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

in 2015. He has three sons and all three have appeared in his television programmes. During the week of 30 May – 3 June 2011, Hamilton James presented a segment, comprising pre-recorded video and live commentary to camera, on the reintroduction of

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

s to the United Kingdom, as part of the BBC's

. In June 2014 the TV series ''I Bought a Rainforest'', about his £6,000 purchase of 100 acres of Peruvian rain forest, was screened by the BBC.

Awards

He was Wildlife Cameraman of the Year's 'Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 91/92' and was nominated in three categories for Wildlife Cameraman of the Year in 2007. He is also a

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

medal winner for cinematography.

Bibliography

* * (a satirical look at

The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...

film trilogy) * *

DVDs

Some of Hamilton James' programmes are available commercially: * Natural World – On the Trail of Tarka, BBC * Halcyon River Diaries

References

External links

Official website
* *

Digital Splash Event
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton James, Charlie Living people English television presenters English television producers English nature writers Photographers from Somerset 1970s births