Filming in Paradise: My Experience on a KBS Shoot in Mauritius

I recently spent ten days in Mauritius working on a Korean travel program for KBS. This shoot turned out to be one of the most eventful and memorable ones I’ve had in a long time. My role was a mix of field producer / reporter, translator, drone operator, 2nd shooter and surprisingly an occasional on-camera presence.

A lot of my work centered around conducting interviews in both French and English, translating, assisting with logistics, and helping make sure everything ran smoothly on location.

One unexpected element was stepping back in front of the camera. I haven’t done any on-camera work in a while, so it was fun to get back into it — even if was a bit challenging from time to time.

We covered a lot of ground in ten days. One highlight was our visit to Casela Nature Parks. After experiencing the regular walking with lions tour, the producer and I were lucky to be granted access to a private session to get some additional shots. The Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 Macro G OSS II Lens (Sony E) with IS really came in handy for this shoot. The shots were stable and the auto focus performed really well.

Another highlight was a visit to Flic en Flac beach — calm waves, warm sun, turquoise water and perfect drone weather. My DJI Mavic 3 was put to good use that day.

One of our final shoots was at Le Morne Brabant, a dramatic mountain with deep historical roots tied to the island’s past. Prior to the trip, I’d done quite a bit of research on Mauritius’ history, and that context really added depth to being there, especially when visiting such meaningful sites.

Overall this was one of those jobs that reminds me of how lucky I am to do this for a living — working across languages and cultures, seeing beautiful places in this world and capturing stories that are worth sharing.