 
I was influenced to work in natural history because I was intrigued by the natural world as a child.
I'm just gonna move in a bit, because what I'm getting at the moment is a bit wide.
At five years-old
I was made a member of the Cousteau Society and I was given many of his books and posters and I was completely
captivated by these images.
V/O: Much of his work was done with SCUBA
which limited observations to depths of up to 150 feet.
TED GIFFORDS: I was simply amazed by the animals
he was seeing in the landscapes, in the blueness of the sea.
This character was traveling around the world and having adventures in the deep sea and submarines.
V/O:It was quickly realized that the diving saucer provided an excellent means for gaining much of this information.
GIFFORDS: As I grew older, I realized that camera work was a way of coming closer to that understanding it
The camera job was allowing you to be on an adventure.
In the course of my career, I've been on the ground, and on boats, on vehicles, and on helicopters.
That's interesting. The conditions are always difficult. it's not like walking down the street in New York.
I've fallen down cliffs, I've fallen into sewers, and I've been attacked by a now being attacked by harpy eagle. So it's got me into trouble often.
But I don't regret it because I'm still functioning, and you learn from it.
The moments when you get the shot, everything conspires to make it work. They're very rare, but they're worth waiting for.
When that moment finally arrives and the light turns on, the behavior happens, the iceberg flows past at the right angle...
It makes your heart beat faster. It makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck.
Oh, that's lovely. Really nice.
 
Those moments are so worth waiting for. They're irreplaceable.
You know it was until I was working on "Planet Earth," I suddenly realized I was actually doing
the job I had set out to do. I'm lucky enough to follow the adventures that I was reading about as a child.
That was a nice trip.
 
 
