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.

Back in Borneo to Start the New Year

by

Happy New Year and greetings from Indonesia! I am excited to be writing to you from the town of Ketapang on the island of Borneo, our jumping off point as we prepare to head into Gunung Palung National Park.


We just celebrated the new year with the whole team from the Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program, known as Yayasan Palung here in Indonesia, and are preparing to head up to the research station in the park where I have spent so much time over the years.

This is Year 30 of my wife Cheryl Knott’s orangutan project and so our focus on this trip is two-fold. First, we want to capture this historic achievement of this long-term project by filming the various team members sharing their stories. Our timing is also exciting in that there is a major mast fruiting event going on it the forest. This phenomenon only happens about once every five years, when trees of all different species fruit in synchrony. So our second objective is to film orangutans and other wildlife feasting on this bounty.


It’s exciting to be starting off the new year with this important project and to have a chance to spend time with family, friends, and colleagues old and new in the rainforest of Gunung Palung. You are welcome to join us virtually by visiting www.savewildorangutans.org. (There is more info below).

I look forward to sharing new content from this trip with you all in a future update, but in the meantime, here are a few favorite images from my Gunung Palung archives.

Rhinoceros Hornbills in the canopy. One of my favorite shots of all time when everything came together after a pre-dawn tree climb near a fruiting fig. Three hornbills in the foreground, perfect mist in the canopy in the background….
Male orangutan with leaf umbrella. During a rare orangutan follow where this male tolerated me nearby as he fed on termites on the ground, I was in position to catch him pull this leafy branch over his head as is started to rain.
A giant strangler fig tree (Ficus kerkhovenii) which has long since killed its host tree stands supported by its many prop roots. I once climbed this tree to photograph birds feeding in the canopy, but it has long since fallen and died.
Aerial view of the lowland rainforest canopy during the mast fruiting of 2018. During these mast fruiting events, the normally green rainforest canopy bursts into color. This is what we hope to document, this time with a full film crew, during our January 2025 trip into the park.

As always, thanks for tuning in. I wish you all a healthy, happy, and successful 2025. If you are into lifelong learning and supporting good causes, see below for a few ideas for 2025.


Warmest regards,
Tim Laman

A Few Ideas for 2025

Sign up for the “Save Wild Orangutans” Newsletter.
https://www.savewildorangutans.org
Every month, the team from the Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program puts out their “Code Red” newsletter reporting on their activities, discoveries, and events in and around Gunung Palung National Park in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. It’s a wonderful window into the lives of wild orangutans and the people working to protect their habitat and ensure that the communities around Gunung Palung are also thriving. The newsletter if free, but I hope you will be inspired to become a monthly contributor. It feels good to be making a small contribution to orangutan conservation each month, even if its just the price of one fancy coffee.

Sign up for the “Lukas Guides” Newsletter.
https://www.lukasguides.com
Every week, David Lukas, a gifted naturalist, thinker, and extraordinarily curious observer of nature publishes a newsletter with his unique insights and research into a topic that takes his fancy. I look forward to these brief reads, where I always learn something that I find myself thinking about later when I’m out in the field. Again, David’s newsletter is free, but if you find it as worthwhile to read as I do, he offers an option to be a paid subscriber and support his work. Do check it out.

Commit to Improving Your Photography.
Https://masterclass.TimLaman.com
Are you interested in photographing birds or wildlife in general? In the photo workshops that I sometimes teach for Lindblad/NatGeo Expeditions, I find that many photographers are obsessing about camera settings and not focusing on thinking creatively in the field about the elements that make a strong wildlife image. So I created my own Bird Photography Masterclass called “Getting Creative”. It could be just the thing to help you take your photography to a whole new level this year. If you are more of a beginner, there is also a course to get you started in bird photography called “Birds, Camera, Action”.


How to Start Playing at Betzoid with a £1 Minimum Deposit