Caitlin Bailey is a wildlife cinematographer based in San Antonio, Texas. She is seeking camera opportunities on natural history productions, including camera assisting. Her passions are filming animal behavior and exploring the unknown parts of the world, particularly the deep sea and polar regions. Caitlin has spent three cumulative years at sea and has been a part of the Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration video team aboard the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer since 2016. She has done 22 expeditions aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer as well as expeditions aboard E/V Nautilus and to the Arctic and Antarctica. She has extensive experience operating cameras on remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), doing topside work at sea, and managing large libraries of media.
In addition to camerawork, Caitlin also has extensive experience as a video editor. She specializes in short-form videos for Internet distribution. She has produced and edited over 100 videos for NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Ocean Exploration, with audiences ranging from middle school students to policymakers. Caitlin is also early in her underwater filmmaking career, practicing SCUBA diving techniques with her Sony A7iii and Aquatica housing. She kicked off her underwater career with a trip to Antarctica to film leopard seals and plans to make more content in the polar regions.
Caitlin is also a National Geographic Explorer. She was the inaugural participant in the Second Assistant Program with National Geographic Society, assisting David Liittschwager on a story about microplastics and plankton. She also completed an Early Career Grant from National Geographic Society, documenting the Texas Horned Lizard Reintroduction Project at San Antonio Zoo. She was part of National Geographic's Field Ready Program from 2022 to 2023 and has a mentorship with Mark Linfield from Wildstar Films. Caitlin did camerawork for Wildstar on an upcoming program where she filmed animal behavior with a VENICE 2 with CN20 lens and filmed behind-the-scenes materials with a Canon R5 C. She is also part of National Geographic Pristine Seas media team.
Despite Caitlin's speech impediment, she is passionate about teaching and sharing with the public, often speaking at schools and other groups about topics like underwater filmmaking and ocean exploration. She was recently onboarded as an Expert with National Geographic Expeditions, and will be sharing the natural world on trips with guests.
Caitlin has a Master of Fine Arts in Science and Natural History Filmmaking from Montana State University and a Bachelor of Science in Animal Biology from Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi. Her background in science gives her an advantage when documenting animal behavior and communicating research. Caitlin has done work for the Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration, National Geographic Society, Wildstar Films, Ocean Geographic, San Antonio Zoo, Bat Conservation International, TEDx San Antonio, TEDx Bozeman, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and MontanaPBS.
Her kit includes a Nikon D850, Sony A7iii, DJI RS3 Pro gimbal stabilizer, DJI Mini 2 drone, Aquatica housing, and Sola video lights. She is a FAA certified drone pilot.
Contact Caitlin at info@caitlinbailey.com.
View Caitlin's showreel: