Doug Allan, wildlife cameraman who filmed animals in extreme environments

Doug Allan, wildlife cameraman who filmed animals in extreme environments

There are moments in natural-history films when the camera seems improbably close: a polar bear’s breath fogging the lens, a seal’s eye lingering, an orca pod moving with intent beneath fractured ice. The illusion is of proximity without disturbance. The reality is colder, slower and less certain. It depends on patience, judgment and a tolerance for discomfort that most viewers never see. Doug Allan spent his career in such conditions. He worked…