ometimes just ‘reading’ about things isn’t enough to satisfy ones curiosity. This was the case for me regarding Opals and Pearls. Since I first became interested in gems in the late ‘60s I’ve loved both these materials. When I thought about them I wondered what it would be like to actually find them. Over the years this curiosity grew as did my personal dream to one day try my luck hunting for Australian opal and, at some point, hopefully (also) dive for pearls. Thus the seeds were planted... to one day see for myself what I’d only read about in books. How the first documentary project began: Some other interests of mine are amateur (ham) radio, photography and film making. Over the years I’d met, ‘on-the-air,’ many ham radio operators in Australia. Occasionally, when we talked via our radios, the subject of opal mining would come up as would offers of accommodation should I ever get to “VK” land. (VK are the letters at the beginning of Australian ham radio operators call signs.) About 1990 several things came together. I had become increasingly interested in film making and wanted to do a project which included my background in the jewelry field. The medium of video, as opposed to film, had become acceptable for documentary style work and computer video editing was becoming affordable for ‘independents’ like myself. For sometime I’d been acquiring video & audio gear plus assembling an editing studio and was engrossed in learning the medium of electronic video production. Additionally, several ham radio friends in Australia were encouraging me to visit. One day it dawned on me... why not make a documentary on opal mining! A couple of my American friends shared similar interests to mine; gemology, ham radio, audio engineering and travel. I guess my excitement was catching as I laid out my vision for the documentary. Our trip to Australia would also stop in Tahiti, New Zealand and the Cook Islands. We would explore the remote ‘outback’ of Australia and film opal mining the way it was really done. Before long I had a crew. Now the detail planning began. The trip was scheduled to take 3 months. With several lockers of video, audio and lightning gear plus what seemed like a small office of travel documents, itineraries, shooting scripts, release forms, etc., we headed “Down Under” with big plans and an openness to new experiences which lay ahead. Although the images on this website are only a sample of what we filmed I hope your imagination will fill in a few more. The “Didjeridu” music we recorded in remote caves near Alice Springs, the opal miners singing late into the night in their pub and the ‘opal strike’ we were lucky to film one afternoon in Mintabie (a remote mining area) are just a few of the highlights to remember as are the colorful miners we spent weeks alongside as they searched for opal. This documentary was entitled, “Fire Down Under... The Hunt for Australian Opal.” On our return to the US we stopped for some R&R the Cook Islands. The Cooks are a self governing country consisting of 15 islands approximately 500 west of Tahiti. (Read the ‘About Me’ page to learn how that Cook Islands stopover changed my focus in the jewelry business.) During later trips to the Cooks I became involved in pearl farming and, with another crew, over the course of a month, we shot a second documentary entitled, “A Gift From Neptune... The Black Pearls Of Manihiki.” Today pearls are my primary focus although I use many colored gems as well. My involvement with farming in the Cook Islands was a second dream come true allowing me to personally experience the thrill of diving for Black Pearls. As exciting as my later trips to the South Pacific have been I’ll never forget the magic of that first trip, our months in the Australian outback, memories from the Cooks and the journeys those experiences have taken me on since.” (click on the documentary titles above to see some scenes) Richard Paille Opal_Mining.htmlManihiki_Atoll_.htmlshapeimage_4_link_0shapeimage_4_link_1