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Tim Laman

| Wildlife Photojournalist

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Tim Laman – Bio

Tim Laman and and Cheryl Knott following an orangutan in Gunung Palung, Borneo. Photo by Robert Suro.

Tim Laman is a field biologist, wildlife photojournalist, and filmmaker.  Since getting his Ph.D. from Harvard for pioneering research in Borneo’s rainforest canopy, his cameras have been his tools for telling the stories of rare and endangered wildlife, and revealing some of earth’s wildest places.  He has photographed on all seven continents, and regularly travels to some of the most remote corners of the earth to explore and document poorly known species.  Working in extreme environments from the rain forest canopy in Borneo to the coral reefs of Papua, and from mountain peaks in New Guinea to the seas of Antarctica, Tim spends many months a year on expeditions to study and photograph the biodiversity of earth’s richest realms.  He is most well known for his long-term work on birds-of-paradise and orangutans.  He has published 23 feature stories in National Geographic magazine, as well as worked on films for National Geographic Channel, BBC, and Netflix.  His filming credits include the BBC’s “Planet Earth II” and “Seven Worlds – One Planet”, as well as Netflix’ “Our Planet – Jungles” which was nominated for an Emmy for Best Cinematography in 2019.  Tim’s work has garnered numerous awards, including the overall prize Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2016, twenty other winning images in that competition over the years, a 1st place Nature Story from World Press Photo, and the North American Nature Photography Association’s “Nature Photographer of the Year”.  Tim is a fellow of the Explorer’s Club and of the International League of Conservation Photographers, and is a Associate of the Ornithology Department at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, as well as the co-founder of the Birds-of-Paradise Project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Recent Film Credits:

  • The Mating Game (Cinematographer, Silverback Films, BBC1) 2021
  • Attenborough’s Life in Color (Cinematographer, Humblebee Films, BBC1) 2020
  • David Attenborough:  A Life on Planet Earth (Additional Camera, Silverback Films, NETFLIX) 2020 — Emmy Winner for Outstanding Cinematography
  • Dancing with the Birds (cinematographer, Silverback Films, Netflix) 2020. — Winner – Best Animal Behavior Film.  International Wildlife Film Festival 2020
  • Hunting the Helmeted Hornbill (director, cinematographer.  Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Geographic) — Winner – Best Wildlife Conservation Film.  International Wildlife Film Festival 2020  
  • Seven Worlds – One Planet, Asia (cinematographer, BBC) 2019
  • Our Planet – Jungles (cinematographer, Silverback Films, Netflix) 2019 — Nomination for Best Cinematography – Emmys and Jackson Wild, 2019 
  • Planet Earth II – Jungles (cinematographer, BBC) 2017
  • Person of the Forest (co-director with Melissa Lesh, cinematographer. A short-form film selected at over 30 festivals, winning multiple awards)
  • Mission Critical: Orangutans (DP, NatGeo Wild) 2016
  • Attenborough’s Paradise Birds (cinematographer, BBC2) 2015
  • Birds-of-Paradise – Winged Seduction (DP, NatGeo Wild) 2012
  • Great Migrations (cinematographer, Nat Geo Channel) 2009

National Geographic Magazine Credits:

Tim Laman has photographed 23 stories for the National Geographic to date. You can view all his stories in the National Geographic Gallery.

Awards:

Tim Laman’s major awards are listed on THE ARTIST page in the Fine Art Gallery.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2016
Multi-award winning short film

Tim shot for two award winning films at the International Wildlife Film Festival 2020.

Dancing with the Birds
International Wildlife Film Festival
Winner of Animal Behavior
Hunting the Helmeted Hornbill
International Wildlife Film Festival
Winner of Wildlife Conservation

It’s a Tough Job, but Somebody’s Got to Do it:

Thanks to all my colleagues and team members who helped capture these behind-the-scenes photos!  Your credits are in the captions.

  • Photographer Tim Laman high on the side of a giant Dipterocarp tree (Shorea sp.) in the rain forest canopy in Borneo. This tree has a strangler fig (Ficus dubia) growing on it, and Tim’s blind is partly visible in the upper part of frame.
  • Tim Laman filming a reef scene with a massive brain coral, Labophyllia sp., Raja Ampat Indonesia. Photo by Zafer Kizilkaya.
  • Self portrait of photographer Tim Laman with inner-tube blind on mangrove mudflats.
  • Tim Laman photographing along a beach in Antarctica. Photo by Jessica Laman.
  • Photographer Tim Laman wading across the Air Putih River while photographing orangutans. Photo by Trevor Frost Cabang Panti Research Station Gunung Palung National Park West Kalimantan Province Island of Borneo Indonesia
  • Photographer Tim Laman fording the Air Putih River while following a wild orangutan. Photo by Trevor Frost Cabang Panti Research Station Gunung Palung National Park West Kalimantan Province Island of Borneo Indonesia
  • Tim Laman closely observes a frog perched on a tree limb.
  • Tim Laman makes lunch under the shelter of a massive boulder on the Cape Melville Range. Cape Melville Range, Cape Melville National Park, Cape York Peninsula
  • Photographer Tim Laman in the front seat with pilot Max Ammer, taxiing in Max’s ultralight float plane before take off to shoot aerials of the Raja Ampat Islands, West Papua, Indonesia.
  • Tim Laman photographing from the National Geographic Explorer in the Lamaire Channel, Antarctica. Photo by Andrew Peacock.
  • Anand Varma (left) and Tim Laman aboard a helicopter flying west of Yasuni National Park, Francisco de Orellana Province, Ecuador
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  • Photographer Tim Laman shooting King Bird of Paradise from a canopy platform in lowland rain forest.
  • Photographer Tim Laman’s camera setup at a lookout point waiting to film hornbills. RED Digital Cinema Epic-W 8K camera, Canon lens. Photo by Drew Fulton. Halabala Wildlife Sanctuary Narathiwat Province Thailand
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  • Tim Laman photographs a landscape of termite mounds in Lakefield National Park, Cape York Australia. Photo by Drew Fulton
  • Tim Laman, wildlife photographer/field biologist and New Guinea explorer on mission to document all 39 species of Birds of Paradise, crossing a vine bridge in the Southern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea, en route to one of his blinds where he was staking out the Superb Bird of Paradise for a week, trying to photograph its display. Despite looking pretty dubious, these traditional bridges are plenty strong and were not too unnerving to cross.
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  • Tim Laman and and Cheryl Knott following an orangutan in Gunung Palung, Borneo. Photo by Robert Suro.
  • Tim Laman and son Russell shooting with a drone along the river in Gunung Palung, Borneo. Photo by Robert Suro.
  • Tim Laman photographs Riam Berasap waterfall in Gunung Palung, Borneo. Photo by Robert Suro.
  • Tim Laman and daughter Jessica take a moment to relax during an expedition to Riam Berasap waterfall, Gunung Palung. Photo by Robert Suro.
  • Photographer Tim Laman’s telephoto lens covered in ants in the Borneo rain forest. Sungai Utik Customary Forest West Kalimantan Indonesia, Island of Borneo
  • Tim Laman photographing along a beach in Antarctica. Photo by Jessica Laman.
  • Photographer Tim Laman crossing vine bridge in the rain.
  • Photographer Tim Laman stands waist to chest deep in a mangrove lagoon with his big lens on a tripod to photograph birds in the mangroves. Photo by Zafer Kizilkaya.
  • Tim Laman filming orangutans in the wild. Gunung Palung National Park. Photo by Russell Laman.
  • Tim Laman filming orangutans in the wild in Gunung Palung National Park. Photo by Russell Laman.
  • Tim Laman photographing orangutans in the wild in Gunung Palung National Park. Photo by Russell Laman.
  • Tim Laman carrying camera gear through the rainforest while photographing wild orangutans. Gunung Palung. Photo by Russell Laman.
  • Photographer Tim Laman at work in Arches National Park, Utah. Photo by Russell Laman
  • Photographer Tim Laman at work in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. Photo by Russell Laman
  • Wildlife photographer Tim Laman filming over-under mangroves and coral reef in Raja Ampat Indonesia. Photo by Zafer Kizilkaya.
  • Tim Laman filming a Green turtle, Chelonia mydas, Raja Ampat Indonesia. Photo by Zafer Kizilkaya.
  • National Geographic photographer Tim Laman prepares to dive in a mangrove forest.
  • Campfire under a full moon at Running Creek, Cape York Peninsula Expedition team members relax around the fire at the end of the day.
  • Campsite under the milky way. Piccaninny Plains Sanctuary, Cape York Peninsula Queensland, Australia
  • Photographer Tim Laman downloads pictures at the end of a day in the field. On the hood of the Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD vehicle during the Cape York Expedition. Photo by Drew Fulton

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Welcome to TimLaman.com. I’m a photographer, filmmaker, and field biologist with a passion for exploring our natural world. I hope you enjoy this website, and you can also sign up for my newsletter “Wildlife Diaries” at right to get updates on my latest adventures, photo tips, and news from the field.

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