Tim Laman

| Wildlife Photojournalist

Wildlife Diaries

The Wildlife Diaries newsletter is the best way to keep up to date with Tim Laman’s latest work and travels, and to learn about photography and natural history as well. Read through his recent posts here or sign up to receive the posts via email using the form on the right.

Spring Greetings from the Tim Laman Studio!

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Dear Friends,

I have an exciting announcement.  One of the major filming projects I worked on recently will be released Friday April 5, 2019 on Netflix!  Called “Our Planet” it is an epic eight-part natural history series, including a “Jungles” episode featuring a sequence I worked on with Bird-of-Paradise Project colleague Ed Scholes.  We were approached by Silverback Films, the company producing the series for Netflix, about ideas for Bird-of-Paradise behaviors that had not been filmed before.  We pitched the idea of trying to capture the display of the Western Parotia from the point of view of the female.  I’m happy to say we were able to deliver, and in fact, our filming produced a reveal that was even more dramatic than we had imagined…. see below. We are especially excited to be a part of this film because it carries a very strong conservation message, and we believe that the Birds-of-Paradise can be great ambassadors for the protection of New Guinea’s rain forests.

Parotia’s are Birds-of-Paradise that display on a court on the ground, and are typically filmed from a ground level viewpoint, like in the top photo.  This gives a wonderful view of the male’s dance, but is not what the female sees.  She always watches from the perch above the male, and what she sees is clearly what is important in terms of the evolution of this remarkable display that occurred through female choice.  Over the course of more than a month of filming, we positioned remote cameras in many different positions around the court, including straight above.  Eventually, we managed to capture the view looking down over the female’s shoulder at the male.  At the climax of his performance, he plunges his neck in a way that flashes his bright breast shield up toward the female, producing the striking view you see in the image below.

Netflix has already released our Bird-of-Paradise sequence as a “Digital Exclusive” which you can check out on YouTube.  But be sure to catch the full film on Netflix if you can after Friday.  It was all filmed in 4K, so if you have suitable TV you will really be able to enjoy all the detail. 

Gallery Update: 

We are continuing to develop our Tim Laman Fine Art online gallery.  Our big plan for April is to launch a collection of my favorite Bird-of-Paradise images, made available as signed prints for the first time.  We will be offering a series of affordable 12 inch square prints (sneak preview above), as well as traditional large format prints for those with a little more wall space.  So please stay tuned for that announcement. 

Birds of Sunnylands: 

For any of you in Southern California this spring, please note that my exhibition commissioned by the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands is ongoing in their visitor center until June.  After making eight trips over two years to complete this project to document the diverse birdlife of their sanctuary in the Coachella Valley, it was very exciting to finally have a chance to visit earlier this year and see the gallery in person (photo below).  The positive reaction it was generating with guests was also very satisfying to see.  I hope you will have a chance to check it out in person, but if not, you can always view the images in my online gallery.

Thanks for reading and all the best,  Tim