Dan Gibson

Dan Gibson (January 19, 1922 in Montreal – March 18, 2006) was a Canadian photographer, cinematographer and sound recordist. During the late 1940s, Dan Gibson took photographs and made nature films, including Audubon Wildlife Theatre. Dan produced many films and television series through which he learned how to record wildlife sound. He pioneered techniques of recording, and also helped design equipment to optimize results, including the “Dan Gibson Parabolic Microphone”. Some of his early recordings of the 1950s and 1960s were released on LP records, and started his Solitudes series, which was introduced in 1981.

Dan is well regarded for his contributions to the Friends of Algonquin Park, and his dedication to the Algonquin Park Residents Association. Having a lease of land in Algonquin Provincial Park gave Dan and his family (Wife: Helen, Children: Mary-Jane or "Kirkie," Holly, Dan, and Gordon) a unique opportunity to connect with nature, and it certainly fueled his passion for the study, preservation and interaction with wildlife.

In 1994, Dan was awarded The Order of Canada for his environmental works. In 1997, Dan was awarded the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at the Juno Awards ceremony in Hamilton, Ontario.

In 2004, he released his first DVD, Natural Beauty, which was originally shot in High Definition.

Major productions

• Wings In The Wilderness - Feature Film (Narrated by Lorne Greene)
• Audubon Wildlife Theatre - 78 episode TV series
• Wildlife Cinema - multiple episode TV series
• To The Wild Country - 10 episode TV series (Narrated by Lorne Greene)
• Wild Canada - multiple episode TV series

Film awards

• Whitethroat - Golden Gate Award - 1965 San Francisco Film Festival
• Land of the Loon - Best TV Film of the Year and Certificate of Honour for outstanding contribution to the art of cinematography from the CSC, 1967 Canadian Film Awards
• Adventure Trent Severn - Award of Merit, 1967 Canadian Film Awards
• Winter Potpourri - Michigan Outdoor Writers Award of Merit 1969
• Sounds of Nature - Etrog for Best Sound in a Non-theatrical Film, 1971 Canadian Film Awards
• Fly Geese F-L-Y - Blue Ribbon Award for Best Children’s Film, 1972 American Film Festival
• Golden Autumn - Teddy Award, 1973 U.S. National Outdoor-Travel Film Festival
• Dan Gibson’s Nature Family - Best Wildlife Film of the Year, 1972 Canadian Film Awards
• Return of the Giants - Best Wildlife Film of the Year, 1973 Canadian Film Awards
• Land of the Big Ice - Best Wildlife Film of the Year, 1974 Canadian Film Awards
• Wings In The Wilderness - Etrog for Best Sound in a Non-theatrical Film and Certificate of Honour for outstanding contribution to the art of cinematography from the CSC, 1975 Canadian Film Awards
• Return of the Winged Giants - John Muir Award for Best Ecological Film, 1977 National Educational Film Festival, USA and Best Wildlife Film, 1977 Saskatchewan International Film Festival

Album awards

• Solitudes albums have sold over 20,000,000 worldwide
• 15 Solitudes albums have been Certified Gold (50,000 units sold) in Canada
• 11 Solitudes albums have been Certified Platinum (100,000 units sold) or multi-Platinum status.

Discography

Until April 2012, about 234 albums (including 13 compilations) were released by Solitudes.

Some popular albums are:

• Solitudes 25: Silver Anniversary Collection ^[1]
• Best of Solitudes: 20th Anniversary ^[2]
• Listen to the Mockingbird ^[3]
• Loon Echo Lake ^[4]
• Natural Beauty DVD ^[5]
• Rolling Thunder ^[6]
• Wildlife Identification by Sound ^[7]
• Spring Romance, album by Dan Gibson 1998

References