Back to Borneo

Dear Friends,
My first trip of 2025 back was to Borneo, to the research station where my wife, orangutan researcher Cheryl Knott and I have worked for over 30 years.

I have a special guest author for this installment of Wildlife Diaries! Accompanying the new photos from our January trip below is an essay by Cheryl about this special trip. I think you will enjoy it. She does a good job of capturing the multi-faceted nature of our trip, and why we have been drawn back to Borneo for so much of our lives.

It’s Earth Month, and I hope you’ll consider learning more about the Gunung Palung Orangutan Project by reading below, and perhaps checking out more about all they are doing for orangutan conservation and human welfare in that part of Borneo. This is a challenging time for research and conservation funding, so I am trying to help them grow their grass-roots support. Please check them out at Save Wild Orangutans.

Male Orangutan in Contemplation

It’s easy to anthropomorphize with orangutans, who are so similar to us. So I may be guilty with the title of this image, but it sure looks to me like this male orangutan, named Balon, is lost in thought as he rests one morning between feeding bouts. Balon is one of the males that we followed in January at Gunung Palung that Cheryl talks about in her update below. The mast fruiting event drew more orangutans into the study area, and we had an exciting time documenting them.

Guest Essay by Dr. Cheryl Knott - Director, Gunung Palung Orangutan Project

The Magic of Mast Fruiting at Gunung Palung

Thirty years ago, when I first arrived in Gunung Palung National Park, the forest was thick with the smell of ripening fruit and the largest trees emerged from the canopy resplendent in colors of orange and red. This phenomenon, when many of the tree and liana species fruit simultaneously, is unpredictable but happens every four years or so, providing a bonanza of food for rainforest creatures. This past January, I returned to Cabang Panti Research Station with my family and once again experienced this remarkable transformation of the forest.

The setting sun lights up ripening seeds in the canopy.

With the abundance of fruit, orangutans appeared in unusually high numbers. In the two and half weeks that I was there, we saw as many as 10 individual orangutans on a given day. By the end of January, 27 new orangutans had entered the study area! And we only found 5 of the orangutans that usually call Cabang Panti home. It's a bit of mystery where all these orangutans come from, but one possibility is that they normally spend their days in the large expanse of peat swamp that extends outside the study area.

Balon, a male with an especially large throat sac.

Among these new arrivals were three flanged males. For years, the dominant male in the area had been Alfred, but when I last saw him in August, his condition had declined. He was notably smaller and weaker, often traveling on the ground and feeding primarily on termites and low-lying vegetation instead of climbing trees. He was last seen on September 15. Then in November, the team sadly discovered the skeleton of a male orangutan that we strongly suspect was Alfred. His disappearance, though, paved the way to a new beginning as the mast brought in these new males to take advantage of the abundance of fruit. The first such male we saw had a huge throat sac and so we named him Balon (balloon).  He was surprisingly habituated for a new individual. Balon was in excellent condition and impressive! He did bear multiple scars on his cheek pads, attesting to the likely numerous fights he had had with other males.

“Mr. Perfect”, a male exceptionally perfect large cheek pads.

But, then came "Mr. Perfect", as we jokingly called him. He has the most perfect cheek flanges I have ever seen, with no blemishes or scars, just a flat rigid circle around his face. His literally flawless condition, along with his unworn teeth and lighter hair, signaled to us that he was a young, newly flanged male. He long called an extraordinary 15 times the first day we found him!  Long calls announce a male's presence to the females, and other males, in the area. Often, males will long call back in response, and charge in the direction of the other males, sometimes resulting in a physical confrontation. But Balon, despite being only about 100 meters away from "Mr. Perfect", was not provoked. He remained silent—perhaps a sign of experience in avoiding fights he could possibly lose.

A juvenile watches while a female orangutan opens a durian fruit, one of the delicious and calorie-rich species that fruit during the mast.

Mast fruiting events allow orangutans to accumulate fat reserves that sustain them during leaner periods. This is when they look their biggest and healthiest. The increase in energy intake also influences female reproductive cycles, raising hormone levels and increasing the chances of ovulation and conception. Often mast fruiting result in new births, and on February 26 I received the news that female Kabar was pregnant again with her second baby after more than 8 years! We hope that Bibi, another female who lost a pregnancy earlier this year, will also conceive during this period of high fruit availability.

The benefits of mast fruiting even extend to the humans who call this rainforest enclave home.  Normally we can't eat the wild fruits of the forest – they are too bitter and have compounds that make them hard to digest. But the mast is different. Each day we'd come back to camp, and find bowls of wild fruits on the table, and rice sacks full of durians ready for all to consume.  As we followed the orangutans, we gathered fallen mangosteens, Baccaurea, Garcinia, and durian, enjoying them much as the orangutans did. That simple act, sharing in the abundance of the mast, reinforced our deep connection to these apes and their rainforest home.

This exceptional visit to Gunung Palung was a reminder of why protecting this ecosystem is so vital. As the forest provides, the orangutans thrive, and we, as stewards of this planet, must ensure this continues for generations to come.

Cheryl with field assistant Herman, and student Ziya watch an orangutan at Gunung Palung. Cheryl’s project employs many local people, and gives many opportunities for Indonesian students to get involved in field research and conservation. Developing the next generation of conservationists in Indonesia is critical to the survival of orangutans.

Cheryl hikes through the rainforest in Borneo, followed by son Russell, daughter Jessica, and other team members.

I hope you enjoyed Cheryl’s essay. Working at Gunung Palung is a family affair for us, as we have been taking our kids there every summer since they were little. They are now adults, and both involved in work there. Russell is part of the photography team, while Jessica, who is still an undergrad, is getting involved in the orangutan research.

Thanks for reading and taking an interest in our work in Borneo. I hope you found it interesting and inspiring.

Warmest regards,
Tim Laman

PS. Please consider checking out https://www.savewildorangutans.org/ and becoming a monthly donor, even for a small amount. Every supporter is a big help during these challenging times when big grants have been cut.

Underwater Photography Workshop in Raja Ampat

Dear Friends,
This is a special announcement for the underwater photography enthusiasts out there! As those of you who have followed my work for a while probably know, although I do a lot bird and primate photography, I am also passionate about exploring the underwater world with my cameras, especially to document the diversity of life on coral reefs.

My underwater stories for National Geographic have included “Fiji’s Rainbow Reefs”, and “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish - Why are Coral Reefs So Colorful” (yes NatGeo cleared the title with Dr. Seus), as well as other projects mixing topside and underwater coverage, like “Mangroves” and “Biodiversity Hotspots - Philippines”.

My favorite place to dive, ever since I spent considerable time there working on two stories for German GEO magazine in 2007, has been the Raja Ampat Islands of West Papua, Indonesia. This region has the highest coral and fish species diversity on the planet, and reefs that are in excellent health. It also doesn’t hurt that these islands harbor birds-of-paradise (which can be seen on morning excursions from the dive resort).

I am thus excited to announce that later this year, I will be leading two Underwater Photography workshops with my good friend and colleague Zafer Kizillkaya. You can read more about the workshop and learn how to sign up at this LINK. There are two sets of dates: 20-29 August on the live aboard Coralia, and 31 Aug - 10 Sep at the resort. If you are interested, please sign up soon. Space is limited, and spots have begun to fill already.

Meanwhile, below are a few images I shot during last years photo workshop.
Raja Ampat is one of the top diving destinations in the world, so if you are interested in improving your underwater photography, why not join us in Raja Ampat, a true paradise for underwater photography?
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at studio@timlaman.com as well.

The Colors of Raja Ampat

The reefs of Raja Ampat are bathed in rich currents, and under the protection of an overhang like this, soft corals often flourish, creating incredibly lush and colorful scenes. I found this spot on one of our last dives last year. I liked the windows to the blue water behind that added depth to the image, so I settled down and patiently waited for a fish to pass by. Eventually, as my air was getting a bit low, several surgeonfish swam past, and I managed to capture one perfectly framed in the opening. It’s this kind of small detail that can elevate an image above the ordinary that I am always striving for in my photography.

A Few More Recent Shots from Raja Ampat

Anemonefish are a very fun subject to photograph, and they are abundant and diverse in Raja Ampat. Here two Spine-cheek Anemonefish hang out in their bubble-tipped anemone.

One of the very charismatic and approachable photographic subjects common in Raja Ampat are schools of sweetlips like these guys hanging out on the reef.

The fish life of Raja Ampat is incredibly rich, even right under a jetty. Many villages have banned fishing near their villages to attract fee-paying divers. This has worked out as a win-win. Reefs are protected, villagers get income, and divers have amazing dive sites to visit.

A Glimpse Behind the Camera

Here is my co-leader, extraordinary underwater photographer Zafer Kizilkaya (@kizilkaya_zafer on IG) working his magic over a healthy coral garden. Join us in Raja Ampat this year, and we’ll help you improve your photography while you also enjoy some spectacular diving. If you have a housed dslr and strobes like Zafer, great, but if you have a simpler camera system, that is also totally fine and we will help you get the most of it.

Thanks for tuning in to my adventures. If you know any Underwater Photography enthusiasts who may not get this newsletter, please feel free to pass it on…. I really appreciate it.
Take care everyone, and be sure to get your dose of nature therapy! I hope to see you later this year in Raja Ampat!

Warmest regards,
Tim Laman

Back in Borneo to Start the New Year

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”.

Amazon Update

I just got home from a National Geographic Photo Expedition on the Upper Amazon where I was serving as a “photography expert”, teaching and helping others with their wildlife photography. From our home base on the beautiful boat, the Delfin II, we ventured out in skiffs to explore tributaries and oxbow lakes teaming with birds, monkeys and sloths in Peru’s Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. This reserve is located just beyond the end of the Amazon proper, where it splits into two big tributaries, the Ucayali and the Marañon.

Below are a few images I captured during the trip to give you a little overview of the amazing diversity of life that we encountered during our relatively brief seven day trip. Hope you enjoy it.

Cormorant Liftoff

On this Amazon tour, we spent most of our time looking for wildlife from the skiffs, and there were ample chances to photograph waterbirds along the river courses. On the Pacaya River, there were hundreds of cormorants, but if they did take off, most flew directly away from us, not making for great images. I kept my eye out for one that was taking off perpendicular to us, and tried to track it as it launched. These Neotropical Cormorants need a bit of a run and hop along the water’s surface to get airborne, so I framed the shot including the big splash behind the bird that he created with big push of his tail. A high shutter speed of 1/4000 sec froze every drop of water in mid-air. I love “freezing a unique moment in time” with a still photograph, so this was one of my favorite shots from the trip. Although many cormorant takeoff photos will be made, this exact photograph will never be repeated.

Glimpses of Life in the Amazon

An Oriole Blackbird takes a bath in the river.

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Rainbow Boa Constrictor. Our guide found this beautiful snake during a forest hike.

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The world’s smallest primate - the Pygmy Marmoset. We had an amazing encounter with this little pocket-sized monkey that primarily feeds on tree sap.

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Three-toed Sloth.

Hard to spot up in the trees, these strange mammals were a treat to see.

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A giant strangler fig towers into the canopy.

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Saddleback Tamarin, another small monkey who came down to check us out.

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In the skiff with guide Ericson and driver “Gato”. Thanks for a great trip guys! We wouldn’t have seen much if it wasn't for these amazing wildlife spotters!

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On our last evening, an Amazon sunset reflects in the river.

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As always, thanks for tuning in folks and hope you enjoyed this little glimpse of my Amazon trip. Have a wonderful thanksgiving and holiday season.
Warmest regards,
Tim Laman

PS. I have 6 calendars this year and my prints are on sale. Check it out at TimLamanFineArt.com

Report from the World’s Richest Reefs

Dear Friends,
Greetings from New England where it’s that beautiful time of year when the the forest bursts into fall colors. I’m overdue to share with you some new images from another very colorful part of the world - the Reefs of Raja Ampat.

Back in August I had the pleasure of co-leading an underwater photo workshop at the Papua Explorer’s resort in the Raja Ampat Islands with my good friend Zafer Kizilkaya, a leading underwater photographer from Turkey. I’m happy to report that the reefs of Raja Ampat continue to be vibrant, lack significant bleaching, and are teaming with fish. The diving industry there is thriving, and local communities are benefiting, which is great to see. Many villages are protecting reefs and creating no fishing zones, and profiting from fees paid by visiting divers.

If you are interested in joining us, we will be having our next workshops at Papua Explorers in August and September 2025, including a workshop on the live-aboard “Coralia”. To learn more send me an email at studio@timlaman.com, or send a query via the Papua Explorer’s website (papuaexplorers.com).

A Kaleidoscope of Life

Toward the end of one of our last dives of the trip at an amazing dive site called “Blue Magic”, I ducked under an overhang to get out of the current, and was confronted with this incredibly colorful scene. I loved the vibrant colors of the soft corals, crinoids, tunicates, and other creatures. The multiple windows to the blue beyond added great depth and interest to the potential photograph. I just needed a fish in just the right spot to create a silhouette in one of the windows to add that extra little something to the image. So I settled down and waited, taking test shots to get my lighting just right (the foreground is lit by two flashes). Before my air supply ran too low, a surgeonfish passed in just the right spot, rewarding me for my patience with this image.

Riches of the Raja Ampat Reefs

Zafer Kizilkaya swims over a healthy reef of Acropora hard coral. It’s awesome to see the abundance of healthy coral in Raja Ampat.

A school of sergeant major fish mixed with other fish species hover under a dock at a small village. The numbers of fish at some locations is mind-boggling, even right by villages.

A clown triggerfish swims against a wall completely covered by colorful invertebrate life. Raja Ampat is a great place to photograph not only wide underwater scenics, but fish portraits as well.

Fascinating small creatures also abound, like this so called “candy cane” crab, perfectly camouflaged in a colorful soft coral.

Raja Ampat not only has vibrant coral reefs, but also other fascinating habitats to explore, like the mangroves. Here in a view looking up through the sponge-covered mangrove roots, you see pajama cardinal fish taking shelter.

Raja Ampat not only has vibrant coral reefs, but also other fascinating habitats to explore, like the mangroves. Here in a view looking up through the sponge-covered mangrove roots, you see pajama cardinal fish taking shelter.

Finally, its impossible to resist photographing the abundant and charismatic clownfish. Especially when you find one in an unusual blue-tipped host anemone.

Raja Ampat is truly a special place. The resort we partner with, Papua Explorers, is dedicated to empowering local people and partnering with them to conserve the reefs of Raja Ampat, one of the world’s truly important marine protected areas. It’s great to feel that by visiting and photographing this amazing area, one not only can help spread awareness, but also support its protection economically by giving the people good employment.

As always, thanks for tuning in.
Warmest regards,

Tim Laman

New Film and Story: Saving Mexico's Endangered Macaws

Last year I had an assignment from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to go to Chiapas, Mexico, and work with the non-profit group Natura Mexicana, to make a short film about their work trying to save the endangered Scarlet Macaws. My son Russell joined me as our second cameraman, and we worked with the awesome team from Natura Mexicana to document their work and the beautiful macaws. Our film is now finished and is live on their website: https://www.naturamexicana.org.mx

Natura Mexicana are taking a unique approach to a challenging situation. Poachers are stealing chicks for the illegal wildlife trade. Other solutions having failed, the conservationists are pulling young chicks from the nests before the poachers get them, and hand-rearing them. It’s a labor of love, but its working and over 200 chicks have been raised and released. Adults don’t make good pets, so once free and wild, the birds are safe from poachers.
You can read the full story on the National Geographic website

Ultimately of course, these drastic measures are only a stopgap solution. We need to educate people and remove the demand for wild-caught parrots as pets so this illegal wildlife trade will end. It was great to have the opportunity to work with Russell to help tell this story, and I hope you will watch the video and read the story and share it with others. Awareness and education is the only way we can eventually solve this problem.

Below I share a few more images from our coverage in Mexico.

Primary Colors in Flight

I love photographing birds in flight, and a water tower at the research station provided me an elevated viewpoint where I could photograph macaws coming and going from some of their favorite trees. I like this image because I managed to capture the spectacular Scarlet Macaw with its wings and tail fully spread out as it came in for a landing, revealing the full extent of its striking primary colored plumage.

More Outtakes from our Macaw Story

The Central American subspecies of Scarlet Macaw is notably social, often gather in flocks at roosting and feeding sites, and that made for some striking photo opportunities like this one of a whole group landing in a tree.

Macaws form long-term pair bonds and are constantly hanging out with and interacting with their mates.

Scarlet macaws nest in natural tree cavities, and both parents take turns bringing food back for the chicks once they have hatched. Here one adult waits for the other to emerge from the nest cavity so it can go in.

Beating the poachers at their own game, researcher Raul Mendez climbs a rope to a nest site to remove a chick for captive rearing, placing it in a bucket to lower to the ground.

Once a chick has been brought into captivity, there are many weeks of intense labor involved to raise it by hand. Here Griselda Quintana and Rodrigo Leon feed chicks at the captive rearing facility.

It was great working with my son Russell on the shoot. He is an accomplished photographer in his own right, and captured some unique images like this one that added to our coverage. You can see more of his work at www.russlaman.com.

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As always, thanks for tuning in. As I mentioned above, please share the links to our film and article, and help spread the word about the crisis of the illegal wildlife trade. Only awareness and education can bring these cruel practices to a halt, and allow birds like the Scarlet Macaw to raise their young in the wild the way they are supposed to.

Best regards to all!
Tim Laman

PS. We continue to add new images and update our galleries at TimLamanFineArt.com throughout the year, so be sure to take a look from time to time and see what’s new. Thanks!

PPS. If you are a wildlife photography enthusiast or know one, do check out my online courses at “Bird Photography Masterclass” I can be your guide to help take your photography to the next level. Available as gifts as well.

When I use the "Spray and Pray" Technique

I hope your summer is off to a good start. I recently returned from a trip serving as the “National Geographic Photography Expert” on a small-ship expedition to Norway’s Fjords and Arctic Svalbard with Lindblad Expeditions. It was exciting to see my first-ever polar bears and walruses. But as a bird photography enthusiast, I was especially enthralled by the seabird nesting cliffs where we were able to see thousands of murres, kittiwakes, and even a few puffins nesting.

During the voyage, my duties were to help guests get the most out of their own photography by giving talks and sharing examples of my own photography during the trip. I’ve heard some photo instructors who make fun of people who “spray and pray” with their cameras. In other words, just aiming their camera toward the subject and shooting a long burst hoping for something interesting. Well, as I share in the example below, there are times when combined with a little thought about framing, this approach actually makes sense - like when you have a swirling mass of birds and you want capture a moment with them in nice positions within the frame. Every technique has its place!

Bear Island Pinnacle

This scene captured the feeling of rich arctic birdlife for me. Super strong winds prevented us from approaching the nesting cliffs on Bear Island by zodiac, but the views from the ship itself, while not offering close views of the birds, were very dramatic. The clouds pouring down from the plateau above, the backlighting, and the dramatic pinnacle all added to the shot. But for it to be a successful image, I needed to have a satisfying arrangement of the birds. This of course was impossible to control, so my solution in a situation like this with the birds swirling is to just shoot a lot of images, sometimes known as the “Spray and Pray” technique. I then went through a couple hundred shots and chose this frame, which had a nice balance of birds around the frame and one nicely positioned right over the pinnacle.

Arctic Seabirds of Svalbard

Here are a few additional shots of seabirds I photographed around the cliffs of Bear Island and Svalbard.

A wider view of the scene in the image above shows the amazing clouds pouring down the slope to the sea. The closer you look, the more birds you see.

Common Murre like this one with its beautiful “spectacles” were abundant around the ship off Bear Island, a remote island between mainland Norway and the Svalbard Archipelago further north.

The Think-billed Murre was most abundant further north around Svalbard.

A curious behavior we observed below nesting cliffs were Thick-billed Murres fighting in the water. These are believed to be young non-breeding birds.

The nesting cliffs on Svalbard were a spectacular sight. Think-billed Murres occupy every small ledge, where they will soon balance their single eggs. They hadn’t laid yet when we were there, but were just claiming space.

A closer view shows how little space each bird has along the ledges. Murre eggs are very pointed on one end, so they roll in a very tight circle, making it much less likely they will roll off a ledge.

A wide view of the nesting cliffs at Alkefjellet, Svalbard. Amazingly, when pairs begin to swap incubating duties, they have to somehow remember the exact spot on the vast cliffs where their mate is waiting.

As always, thanks for tuning in. Hope you have enjoyed these images from my recent trip to the Arctic. Happy 4th of July if you are an American, and enjoy your summer!

Best regards,
Tim Laman

PS. Are you interested in improving your own photography? If you want to get beyond thinking about camera settings, and learn to think more creatively in the field, you might be interested in my online photo courses. Check them out at BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS.

Photographing Nesting Birds

This morning on a walk not far from my home in Lexington, Massachusetts, I found a Red-bellied Woodpecker’s nest! It’s that exciting time of year when birds in New England are nesting or preparing to nest, and us photographers have chances capture the associated bird behavior, which is always special.

Just remember whether you are photographing or just observing nesting birds, be super sensitive to the birds’ well-being. Pay close attention to their behavior, and make sure you are at a distance where the birds are comfortable approaching to swap incubation duties or make food deliveries to chicks. As long as you do it responsibly, finding and observing nesting birds is a very rewarding way to enjoy spring!

Below are a few images of nesting birds I’ve had a chance to photograph close to home over the past couple years. I’m excited to see what new opportunities this spring will bring!

Featured Image: The Landing

A tree swallow comes in for a landing at its nest opening as its mate looks out, ready to swap. The great thing about photographing birds visiting their nests is that you get multiple chances to capture the shot you are after. The timing is tricky of course with small fast moving birds like this. The approach is basically to fire a burst of images as you see the bird come in for a landing. I usually don’t even look through the viewfinder in situations like this, but frame up the shot on a tripod, and then watch the movements of the birds, and start firing early as they approach so I don’t miss the shot. The goal is to catch the wings in a nice position like this, and the extra bonus of the mate peering out really makes the shot.

A Few More Nesting Birds from New England

A male pileated woodpecker visits its nest in a dead pine to feed its ravenous chicks.

Barn swallows nesting in a barn in southern Massachusetts made for a fun and easy to shoot subject, since they were accustomed to people and horses coming in and out and paid no attention to me with my camera.

This bluebird is delivering food to its chicks in its nest in a dead white birch tree, in an old woodpecker hole. Woodpeckers create nest cavities used by many other species of birds.

Here you can see the same nest from a different angle, as the male bluebird enters with food.

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For you photographers out there, are you keen to get out and do more bird photography this spring? If you are working on mastering your camera skills, I have a course for you called “Birds, Camera, Action”. Or perhaps you are ready to get more creative and take your photography to the next level? I have a course for you called “Getting Creative”

As always, thanks for tuning in, and for your support of my work and the causes I support. Spring is here so be sure to get out and enjoy it!

Warmest regards,
Tim Laman

Celebrating Orangutans for Earth Day

Earth Day is coming up April 22, and as I’ve done in the past, I’m taking this occasion to celebrate the efforts of the Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program. I use my photographs and films to help spread the word about their important work to safeguard one of the key populations of wild Bornean Orangutans in and around Gunung Palung National Park.

How about lending your support this Earth Day by:
1) Purchase an orangutan print from my store. 100% of proceeds will go to orangutan conservation work in the field. Or…
2) Visit SaveWildOrangutans.org, and make a one time donation, or sign up to be a monthly contributor, and know you are helping orangutans all year long.

Below are a few new images I’ve added to my online gallery. You can see all your options on my Fine Art Website.

It’s rare that I get this close to a wild orangutan. But one time a few years back, a big male orangutan at the Tuanan research station was traveling on the ground, and passed very close to me. I happened to be using a powerful telephoto lens, and as he paused with his hand holding this branch, I decided to capture this tight shot. We all know great apes are our closest relatives. But for me, that really hits home when I get a close look at their hands. They are amazingly similar to ours, right down to the fingernails and fingerprints. I think this image helps us to appreciate that kinship, and I hope inspires a desire to make sure we leave space on the planet for them to thrive as well.

More New Gallery Additions

“Mother’s Pride”

Do orangutan mother’s feel pride in their offspring? We don’t know for sure, but they are certainly dedicated mothers who care for their babies for eight years or more until they are able to be independent. That’s the longest dependency of any mammal except humans!

“Relaxing - Tapanuli Orangutan”. This is an adult male Tapanuli Orangutan in his prime. Tapanuli is the third species of orangutan (after Bornean and Sumatran), and only recognized formally in 2017. The Tapanuli Orangutan is only found in one small population in Sumatra of about 800 individuals.

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For you photographers out there, are you keen to get out and do more bird photography this spring? Are you still working on mastering your camera skills? I have a course for you called “Birds, Camera, Action”. Or perhaps you are ready to get more creative and take your photography to the next level? I have a course for you called “Getting Creative”!
Follow the link below to learn more.

As always, thanks for tuning in, and for your support of my work and the causes I support. Spring is here to be sure to get out and enjoy it!

Warmest regards,

Tim Laman

PS. I am offering a new “bundle” of my two Bird Photography Masterclass courses purchased together for a nice discount. Check it out HERE.

New Orangutan Prints are Online!

As many of you know, I am a big supporter of the Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program. I use my photographs and films to help spread the word about their important work to safeguard one of the key populations of wild Bornean Orangutans in and around Gunung Palung National Park.

I also from time to time, try to use my art to raise actual cash for this NGO, and that’s where you come in. From now until Earth Day April 22, I am offering to donate 100% of profits from sale of my orangutan prints to GPOCP. So you have a chance to collect one of my prints, and make a contribution to a good cause at the same time.

Especially for you collectors who have perhaps purchased one of my orangutan prints before, I have added a few new ones to my gallery. A couple examples are below. I hope you’ll find one you like that will put a smile on your face. And thanks in advance for your support.

Waiting Out The Rain

Did you know that orangutans often make umbrellas when it rains hard? They make a couple different types, and here you can see this female has made the “cape” type of umbrella, where she just pulls a cluster of branches together over her back to let a lot of the rain roll off. Her baby doesn’t seem to be particularly well covered, however, and is just toughing it out. Umbrella making is an example of a learned behavior, culturally transmitted from mother to offspring during the long learning period that baby orangutans spend with their mothers.

Visit My Orangutan Gallery

More New Gallery Additions

“Give Me Some, Mom” A baby orangutan pulls at her mother’s face as she feeds on flowers of the Fordia tree.

“Just Chillin” An adult flanged male Bornean Orangutan leans back for a rest in a tree high in the rainforest canopy.

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For you photographers in the group, especially you aspiring wildlife photographers, I am excited to announce that I have just completed the second of my online courses in my “Bird Photography Masterclass” series, and it is now live. In this new course, which I have called “Birds, Camera, Action” I share the camera settings and techniques I use for successful bird photography, especially focusing on how I shoot birds in flight.

Hit the image below to view the trailer for the course and learn more.

As always, thanks for tuning in, and for your support of my work and the causes I support. Spring is here to be sure to get out and enjoy it!
Warmest regards,

Tim Laman

Happy Spring to All!

Greetings as we welcome the official first day of spring here in the North!
For you photographers in the group, especially you aspiring wildlife photographers, I am excited to announce that I have just completed the second of my online courses in my “Bird Photography Masterclass” series, and it is now live. In this new course, which I have called “Birds, Camera, Action” I share the camera settings and techniques I use for successful bird photography, especially focusing on how I shoot birds in flight.

In an effort to get sales going, and since I know some of you may be eager to get out and work on improving your bird photography this spring, I’m releasing this course with a special introductory price of only $49 for a limited time!
Follow the link below to learn more, and sign up before March 29 to get this special price.

Spring Art Sale and Fundraiser

To celebrate the start of spring and give you a chance to freshen up your decor, I’m putting my entire selection of open edition prints on sale for 25% off.
Also, to continue my support of orangutan conservation in Borneo, I will donate 100% of sales from all the prints in my Orangutans Gallery from now till Earth Day April 22 to the Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program, also known online as @SaveWildOrangutans. So please consider making a purchase to support a good cause.

Here are a Few of my Favorites

An orangutan climbs into the canopy in this unique view from above, captured with a remote camera. Overall winner of the 2016 Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

Baby orangutans have to be able to hold on to Mom from birth, and they get a pretty wild ride through the rain forest as she travels daily to find food.

An adult male orangutan in his prime is an impressive sight to behold.

As always, thanks for tuning in, and for your support of my work and the causes I support. Hope you can get out and enjoy the spring weather if you are in the Northern hemisphere! It’s looking beautiful here in Massachusetts right now.

Warmest regards,
Tim Laman

PS. Just a reminder, we are only offering this introductory price of $49 on my new course “Birds, Camera, Action” until March 29 and then it will go up to $99. Why you ask? Well, I need a cash infusion after spending so much time making this course. So now is your chance to get a deal!

Pelicans and Surf in San Diego

Is WindowSight on your radar yet? With WindowSight, you turn your black TV screen (when you are not watching anything) into an art display for your home or business. A collection of my best images is included along with hundreds of other artists. This new startup has an offer right now where you can get a lifetime membership for the price of a year. Hit the button below to learn how to become an early adopter of what’s sure to become the “Spotify of Art”.

Last month I had a chance to visit San Diego and spend some time photographing birds on the coast. My visit corresponded with a Pacific swell that made for some spectacular conditions for bird photography along the cliffs of La Jolla. Below are are a few images from the trip for your enjoyment.

Pelicans and Crashing Surf, La Jolla, California

On the first morning of my San Diego trip I headed down to the La Jolla Cove area at sunrise and found amazing conditions. A big Pacific swell was rolling in and crashing against the cliffs. It was very windy, which seemed to encourage the pelicans and other birds to get on the wing and cruise up and down the coast. So the conditions were ideal for flight photography. But what captivated me the most was this scene of the backlit surf breaking on the rocks, and occasionally, groups of pelicans coming toward me that I could frame with this dramatic backdrop. Note that there are three pelicans in this shot, and the upper left bird, if you look closely, is a cormorant. I have been to La Jolla many times and never seen conditions like this. It’s a great example of how repeatedly going back to photograph the same subject in different weather conditions can lead to exciting images. I am always looking for ways to add drama to an photograph and make it stand out, and including atmospheric effects like rain, snow, fog, mist, or sea spray is a great way to do that.

A Few More Shots from La Jolla, January 2024

The breaking waves created dramatic backgrounds for capturing Brown Pelicans in flight as they soared up and down the coast in the windy conditions.

January is a great time to photograph Brown Pelicans in Southern California because males take on their spectacular breeding plumage, with bright red throat skin.

The spray from a crashing wave added nice highlights to this shot of a group of Brown Pelicans preening on the cliffs.

The California Sea Lions were also enjoying the heavy surf, including these three who all caught the same wave. It was amazing to watch animals like these sea lions engaging in spontaneous play in the waves.

As always, thanks for tuning in. I hope you are finding your own opportunities to get out and enjoy nature!
Warmest regards,
Tim Laman

PS. My Bird Photography Masterclass continues to build up 5-star reviews from happy photographers. If one of your goals in 2024 is to improve your own bird photography, you can learn more about the course at https://masterclass.timlaman.com

New Borneo Story, and a Tale of Two Covers

I hope your 2024 is off to a good start. A highlight for me has been the publication in the Feb 2024 issue of National Geographic magazine of my story “Borneo’s Wild Green Heart”, written by long time NatGeo contributor Jennifer Holland. When so much news out of Borneo is about forest loss, this is a positive story about an amazing rainforest area that still retains its full complement of biodiversity, from orangutans to flying frogs to clouded leopards and the giant dipterocarps and other trees that create the habitat for all this life to thrive.

This story is a very personal one, since I first went to Gunung Palung way back in 1987 as a student volunteer with Prof. Mark Leighton at Harvard, and subsequently, my wife Cheryl Knott has carried on her orangutan research and conservation program there for 30 years. Our kids Russell and Jessica grew up spending summers there with us, and now things have come full circle, and Russell, a successful photographer in his own right, captured the dramatic opening shot you see below!

I hope you enjoy the article, which you can read online at NatGeo, if you don't receive the magazine in the mail.

The opening spread of my story about Gunung Palung National Park in Borneo features an image made by my son Russell, who assisted me on the shoot, and did a lot of the drone photography. Working in cooperation with National Park staff and Indonesian drone pilot Tri Wahyu Susanto, we carefully familiarized this particular orangutan with our small drone by initially flying it at a distance from her but letting her see it and get used to it over a period of days. She is a female named Bibi who has been followed regularly by the research team for many years. At first curious about the drone, she soon ignored it completely, allowing us to get into position to capture a unique image that shows an orangutan feeding high in the canopy in the context of her environment - the intact lowland rainforest of Gunung Palung.
Photo by Russell Laman (@RussLaman on Instagram).

A TALE OF TWO COVERS

Wallace’s Flying Frog is one of the most famous and unique creatures found in Borneo’s rainforest, but extremely hard to find. It can’t really “fly” of course, but has the ability to use the huge surface area of its webbed feet as airfoils, and make controlled glides between trees. In October 2000, my fourth story was published in National Geographic magazine on “Borneos Wild Gliders”, and Wallace’s Flying Frog made the cover. It was my first NatGeo cover, and a very exciting moment in my early photography career. As editor Bill Allen said to me at the time, I had proven my ability to come back with images of nearly impossible subjects, because I had managed to get photos of not just Wallace’s Flying Frog gliding, but many other curious gliding species in Borneo that featured in that story.

Fast forward over twenty years, I was back in Borneo working on the coverage for my new story about Gunung Palung National Park, and we managed to find another Wallace’s Flying Frog and capture an image mid-glide. It didn’t make the cover of the US edition this time, but as you can see above, it adorns the cover of the international edition published in Indonesia. It’s a fitting tribute to the amazing biodiversity of Indonesia, and the young Indonesian biologists who helped me in the field. I hope this story continues to build pride and enthusiasm among our Indonesian colleagues who hold the future of their magnificent rainforest in their hands.

A FEW IDEAS FOR 2024

If you are into lifelong learning, supporting good causes, and being inspired, here are a few ideas for you to consider for 2024.

1. Sign up for the “Save Wild Orangutans” Newsletter.
   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 study them and 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.

2. 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 quick reads, where I always learn something that I find myself thinking about later when I’m out in the field. 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 to support his work and receive other benefits. Do check it out.
3. Commit to Improving Your Photography.
   Are you interested in photographing wildlife? 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 online course called “Bird Photography Masterclass: The Creative Process”. It could be just the thing to help you take your photography to a whole new level this year. And for being a newsletter subscriber, I’m offering you an additional 25% off the price right now. Just visit the course page at the link below, and use the code 25percent at checkout. There is also an option to give the course as a gift. Valentines day is coming up. Just saying!

As always, thanks for tuning in. I wish you all a healthy, happy, and successful 2024.
Warmest regards,
Tim Laman

PS. We continue to add new images and update our galleries at TimLamanFineArt.com throughout the year, so be sure to take a look from time to time and see what’s new. Thanks!

Happy New Year 2024

As we start the new year, I’m taking a few moments to look back and reflect on a some highlights from the past year.  It has been a rewarding year of great adventures and conservation photography projects.  I’ve selected a few photos to share as a little visual review of the year.  Thanks for following along, and hope you enjoy it!

A Few Highlights from 2023

5 Feb 2023:  On the way to Antarctica on a Lindblad/National Geographic Expedition trip I found myself in a Zodiac surrounded by swimming King Penguins off the coast of Macquarie Island.  Not having an underwater camera housing with me, I trusted in the waterproofness of my iPhone, submerged it and fired as fast as I could.  This is one of the resulting shots.  And yes, the phone still works!

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12 April 2023:  On assignment for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology I filmed the work of the organization Natura Mexicana and their efforts to conserve the endangered Scarlet Macaws in the Montes Azul Biosphere Reserve in southern Mexico.  Our conservation film to help spread awareness about their work will be coming out in 2024.

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7 June 2023:  At night on a beach on the north coast of West Papua, I filmed a Leatherback Sea Turtle as she covered her eggs after laying.  This was on another Cornell Lab expedition where I led a team documenting the biodiversity of West Papua from coast to mountains for a film that was shown at the COP28 meeting in December.  You can see the film here:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPb1CQWty60   We will be sharing more from this project in the months to come in support of our Indonesian partners as they work to conserve the forests of Papua.

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16 July 2023:  I returned to Gunung Palung National Park in Indonesian Borneo to continue documenting the biodiversity of this refuge of lowland rainforest biodiversity, working with my wife Cheryl Knott’s team.  Stay tuned for a new National Geographic magazine article coming out in early 2024.  This is the female orangutan Berani, with her baby born in December 2022.  Learn more about the work in Gunung Palung and how you can get involved at www.savewildorangutans.org

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15 Aug 2023:  I led my first Underwater Photo Workshop in the spectacular Raja Ampat Islands based at the Papua Explorers resort with Zafer Kizilkaya.  It was a great experience and we will do it again in 2024.  The reefs of Raja Ampat are healthy, and the photo opportunities are amazing.  Come join us!  www.papuaexplorers.com/underwater-photography-workshop/

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20 Nov 2023:  I decided it was time to share some of my experience and knowledge about wildlife photography with others, and I created and launched my first online course:  Bird Photography Masterclass.  

The more photographers we have out there documenting the natural world and building appreciation for it the better, and I believe I can help by sharing the approach that has worked for me, and that I have developed over the years.  While I do teach some in-person workshops, the medium of an online course seems like a great way make my teaching available to a wide audience.  You can learn more at masterclass.timlaman.com. 

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Thanks for joining me on my adventures over the past year.  As you see from my photo captions above, several of my 2023 projects haven’t reached fruition yet, so stay tuned in 2024 for further developments.  And of course I’ll keep you posted on new projects as we get further into 2024.

I hope you are as excited about what lies ahead in 2024 as I am.  All the best for the New Year!

Warmest regards,

Tim Laman

PS.  As of right now, there are three opportunities to join me in the field on photography trips in 2024.  See below, and don’t hesitate to reach out to my studio email if you have questions (studio@timlaman.com). 

1. Norway’s Fjords and Arctic Svalbard:  May 15 - June 1.  www.expeditions.com
2. Raja Ampat Underwater Photography Workshop:  Aug 11-21.  www.papuaexplorers.com/underwater-photography-workshop/
3. Upper Amazon Aboard the Delfin II:  Nov 9 - Nov 19.  www.expeditions.com

The Stunning Harlequin Ducks

My new online course “Bird Photography Masterclass” has launched, and I’m happy to say is getting some very nice reviews.  For example, Penny A. says:

“Excellent! Highly recommended for all levels of photography!  It was an honour to be taken step by step through Tim’s creative process using his stunning images to highlight each point, and culminating in a true masterpiece!  I loved every minute of the course and can’t wait to get outside and practice!  Thank you!”

It’s nice to get the positive feedback and know that I’ve created something that can help other photographers improve.  One of my motivations for creating the course is to help the next generation of photographers with the tools to elevate their craft.  Birds are such great ambassadors for protecting wild places, and as former Cornell Lab of Ornithology director John Fitzpatrick is fond of saying “Birds can save the World!”.  So the more of us out there photographing and sharing the wonders of birds, the better.

If you happen to know a wildlife photography enthusiast who might benefit from my course, please consider giving it as a gift.  Its now super easy to do from the course website.   

The Waverider

With the arrival of winter, Harlequin Ducks gather along the coast of New England where they occupy a unique niche in the rough inter-tidal zones along rocky shores.  They appear completely impervious to the rough water as they dive and forage among breaking waves and rocks.  I made this portrait of a male cresting a wave at Halibut Point, a State Park on the peninsula of Cape Ann in Massachusetts.  This certainly has to be one of the most spectacular North American duck species.  What makes this shot for me besides the beautiful colors of the bird and background water, is the curtain of water is breaking over the duck’s chest in this shot.  It ads that little extra something that makes an otherwise straightforward portrait special.

More Harlequin Duck Action

The Harlequin Ducks often hang out in small groups like this trio of males coming into the surf zone to feed.

Flight shots are always fun to try for, and here I was able to capture a group of five males and one female flying together.  For this shot, I used a relatively slow shutter speed of 1/180 sec to add blur to the background.

The other way to shoot birds in flight, is to use a high shutter speed to freeze the motion like I did in this shot as a male Harlequin came in for a landing next to a beautiful little wave catching the light.  Shutter speed here was 1/1500 sec.

BEHIND-THE-SCENES

This was the location and my setup for all the above shots.  I got as close to the water as I could without getting into the spray zone, and shot with my 400 mm f2.8 lens and a 2x converter (thus 800 mm) with my Canon R6m2 camera.  A gimbal head on my tripod made for an easily balanced lens and smooth tracking of flying birds.  The red face is courtesy of the wind chill!

Thanks for tuning in to my adventures.  Enjoy the holiday season everyone, and don’ t forget to spend some quality time in nature, even if you live in the wintery North.  It’s well worth it!

Warmest regards,

Tim Laman

PS.  If you haven’t checked out the film about Papua’s forests that was just shown at the COP28 conference, it is now available to the public on the Cornell Labs Youtube channel at this link:   https://bit.ly/COP28PapuaForestFilm

Kestrel Landing - Capturing the Moment

Dear Friends,

Every image has a story behind it, and as I worked on creating my Bird Photography Masterclass over recent weeks, I came across many images in my archives that sparked memories.  Birds are creatures of habit, and one of the “tricks of the trade” in wildlife photography is being a good observer, and anticipating what birds are going to do.  “Capturing a moment” in bird photography isn’t just a matter of luck.

This series on the kestrel landing didn’t make it into my course, but is a classic example of how being a good observer of bird behavior can help you anticipate and enjoy an interesting moment of action.  I think this is something that all fans of watching birds and other wildlife in the field can appreciate, whether you are a photographer or not.  Honing our powers of observation makes for greater appreciation and enjoyment of our time in nature.

Kestrel Landing

I shot this image a few years ago while on assignment at the Annenberg Center at Sunnylands, in Palm Desert, California, where I was photographing birds on their property for an exhibition in their visitor center.  I roamed the property daily, and soon became familiar with the haunts of certain individual birds.  This kestrel is one example.  I often saw him perched in the same trees, and as he hunted around the property, he often returned to some of the same perches.  A simple shot of the bird perched wasn’t very interesting, so I had the idea of getting him coming in for a landing with wings fully spread.  One day when I saw him using this particular perch, I decided to stake him out when the sun was in a position to create nice backlighting on his wings.  Once I framed my shot with my lens and camera on a tripod, and focused on the landing spot, it was just a matter of waiting him out, with finger always poised on my cable release (less tiring than having my hand on the camera all the time).  He made a circuit to several other perches as he hunted, but eventually came back to this one.  When I saw him approach, I hit the trigger before he entered the frame and fired a burst at 12 frames per sec.  You can see the full sequence below.  The other frames aren’t worth keeping, but I succeeded in capturing the peak moment with wings and tail spread catching the light just a moment before he landed.  

The Kestrel Landing Sequence

Here is the sequence of images that came before and after the “keeper” shot.  For the camera nerds these were shot with a Canon 1DXII, 400 mm f2.8 w/ 2X, 1/2000 sec, f 8, ISO 1600.  The key thing being the 1/2000 sec to freeze the motion.

Shot 1:  Entering the frame.

Shot 2:  The keeper shot.

Shot 3:  Just landed, but awkward position.

Shot 4:  Perched and rather boring.

If you are a wildlife photographer and interested in checking out my new course  BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS - THE CREATIVE PROCESS, you can visit the course website to learn more.  You can even sign up to watch one of the eight lessons for free to get a sense if the course is right for you.  

Thanks for tuning in as always.  Whether or not you take a camera on your walks in nature, see if you can learn the habits of your local birds and anticipate their actions.  It can be very rewarding.

Warmest regards,

Tim Laman

PS.   If you haven’t ordered your calendars yet, there is still plenty of time to get them before the year end.  Check out my six different bird-themed calendars HERE.

Bird Photography Masterclass is Live!

It’s been a long time in development, but I’m excited to announce that my new online Masterclass is live!

I saw a need that I could fill - to help all bird photography enthusiasts learn to concentrate more on what’s important - framing you shot - not obsessing over camera settings.   

Yes, you need a basic understanding of photography and how to operate your camera.  But most cameras these days can be pulled out of the box, set to auto mode, and make decent exposures.  But you still need to have the idea of how to frame you shots!

That’s where my course comes in.  I have distilled the essential Creative Process that I use to create strong images.  These methods have worked well for me for twenty-five National Geographic assignments and helped me capture over twenty winning images in the Wildlife Photographer of the year.

I focus on birds in the course, but really the principles apply to all wildlife photography. If you are interested, you can learn more and enroll by checking out the link below.  You can also send it as a gift (just an idea).

Also, I know you realize it’s that time of year, but don’t forget that my annual holiday print sale is in full swing!  If a print isn’t in your budget, you might be happy to know that we now offer many other products, from mugs and coasters to puzzles and tote bags.  They all feature my images thanks to our printing partner.  Just visit the store and select any image to explore your options.  

Pileated Woodpecker Landing

A male Pileated Woodpecker comes in for a landing to deliver food to its chicks.  In terms of my approach to bird photography, this shot is a classic example of anticipating and pre-visualizing the image.  In other words, I observed the travel path of the bird as it flew to the nest, and saw how I could frame it nicely between the two trees as it came in for a landing.  In my new Bird Photography Masterclass, I take successful images like this and break down my process of creating them.  This image was made only a few miles from my home in Massachusetts, but I share stories and images from all over the world as well as my backyard as I teach students how to improve their creative process in bird photography.

A Glimpse Into My Bird Photography Masterclass

Here is a sneak peak into a small section of Lesson 1:  Anticipation and Pre-visualization, in which I share my thought process around anticipating the final image before it happens, and how to plan accordingly.  These are all frame grabs from my online course.

You are invited into my studio, where I review and analyze my best images, supporting shots, and failed images to give you insight into my creative process.

I share a supporting shot, to set the scene of where I am working on a particular image, and to introduce the subject and the challenges of the desired final shot.

I share how I chose the framing for the anticipated shot.  Camera settings are shared when relevant.

Frame one of the final sequence of the male approaching the nest.

Frame two of the landing sequence - this is the keeper shot.

Frame 3 of the landing sequence.  The optimal position is past…

 At the end of each lesson, Key Takeaways are shared for handy reference.  

If you are curious to learn more about the class, the link below will take you to a website with a short video introduction, and details on what I cover in the eight lessons in the course.  While I do assume that you have some basic understanding of the fundamentals of photography, I think that this course can benefit photographers of all levels.

Thanks for tuning in.  Happy Thanksgiving if you’re in the USA!

Warmest regards,

Tim Laman

Fall Splendor in New England

The fall colors have just peaked where I live in Massachusetts.  I hope wherever you are you have been enjoying the change of the seasons.  After a lot of time overseas this year, it has been nice to be at home for a while this fall.  What do I do when I’m not out on assignment, you ask?  A few things that have been keeping me busy are:

• Editing a National Geographic magazine story, coming out in Feb. 2024.
• Developing a pitch for a new orangutan documentary.
• Creating a new online Masterclass in Bird Photography (sneak peak below).
• Furthering my partnership with Windowsight - a way to display my photographs on your blank TV.
• Creating six different bird-themed calendars for the holiday season.

But when I need my nature fix, I head out into the woods, often to my favorite local haunt, Walden Pond.  It’s always possible to find beauty and inspiration even at this modest natural area outside Boston.  Below you’ll find a few images that I made there within the past week.

Walden Pond Double Sunrise

It was the first night of the season when the thermometer dipped to freezing, and since the water was still much warmer than the air, I knew there would be early morning mist on Walden Pond.  I arrived before sunrise, and hiked around, looking for interesting compositions.  This brilliant maple caught my attention, backlit by the rising sun.  By moving my camera position slightly, I could control the sunburst effect, created when sunbeams pass through a small gap in the leaves directly into the lens.  To my surprise, I discovered a camera position where I got two sunbursts - one from the sun itself, and another from the suns’ reflection in the glass-calm pond surface.  The result is the image you see here - my favorite from that beautiful morning.

“Walden Pond Double Sunrise” is not in the print store yet, but if anyone is interested in a print, just drop us a quick note at studio@timlaman.com.

Autumn at Walden Pond

Clouds are reflected in the glass-calm of water as the rising sun lights up the forest along the Western end of the pond.

Mist rises from the surface of the water as the sun breaks over the trees on the far side of Walden Pond.

Updates from the Studio

Calendars:  We have created six different bird-themed calendars for your personal enjoyment or gifting needs this holiday season.  The Birds-of-Paradise Collections were in the store last year, but the others are all new.  Hope you enjoy them.

Bird Photography Masterclass - The Creative Process:  My premise in creating this online course is that while there are many places you can learn the basics of photography and how to use your camera, I believe I have unique insights to offer on the most important part of making images - the artistic, creative aspect.  I decided to focus on birds, since birds are everywhere, and I hope to inspire more people to go out and photograph birds and and share their love of nature and the need to protect bird habitats.  Stay tuned and I’ll let you know when we launch the course!

Windowsight:  If you haven’t checked out Windowsight, I highly recommend it.  It is a way to turn your black TV screen into a place to display art.  You can choose from over 100 of my favorite images, and thousands from other artists.  It’s a new concept, but I think is sure to catch on.  After all, why have a big black screen dominating a room, when it could be showing art?  They are looking for fellow visionaries right now, who want to get a lifetime membership, and help this startup get going.  Check them out HERE

Tim demonstrates how you can use the Windowsight App to choose the image that displays as art on your TV.

Thanks or tuning in as always, and hope you are getting out and enjoying some time in nature!

Warmest regards,

Tim

Into the Mangroves - Papua Expedition Highlights Part 3

Dear Friends,

Have you ever seen a mangrove forest?  These habitats defined by trees that can withstand saltwater are incredibly fascinating and important.  Not only do they harbor their own unique biodiversity, but they protect coastlines, are nursery grounds for marine life, and are incredibly good at sequestering carbon.  In fact research shows they store five times more carbon than forests on land!

On our Cornell Lab expedition to West Papua over the summer, in collaboration with our Indonesian partners, we were able to visit and document one of the largest mangrove forests in the world, in a place called Bintuni Bay.  Indonesia harbors over 25% of the world’s mangroves, and over half of that is in Papua, where Bintuni Bay is one of the prime examples.

It was a challenge to capture the scale of these vast forests, but aerial images helped, and I hope you enjoy the glimpse of this unique forest and a few of its inhabitants in the images below.  If you want to learn more about mangroves, I’ll leave some links at the bottom.  

The Vast Mangroves of Bintuni

From the air, the mangrove forests of Bintuni seem to stretch on as far a you can see, cut by a maze winding tidal channels (in fact I was amazed our boatman could keep track of where we were and find the way back after hours of meandering).  Although mangroves in many parts of the world have been exploited or degraded for coastal development, shrimp farms, charcoal harvesting, and other reasons, this region, with great foresight, is being protected by the Indonesian government.  (This image is a stitched panoramic image made with the help of licensed Indonesian drone pilot Faizal Aziz.)

Life in the Mangroves

Top: Rhizophora mangrove roots create an impenetrable tangle along most of the river channels.

Left:  A mangrove monitor clings to a dead tree.

Right: When the tide goes out, you can get a glimpse of some of the critters that occupy this nutrient rich habitat, such as the mudskipper fish and mud crabs.

Behind-the-Scenes

To get into the vast mangroves of Bintuni, we hired a local fishing boat for a couple days and explored the seemingly endless channels.  Here is a behind the scenes shot of how I filmed from a tripod in the boat.  Stay tuned, and I will let you know in a future Wildlife Diaries when our video documenting the amazing biodiversity of Papua becomes available for public viewing.

Thanks for tuning in to my adventures.  Please feel free to share this newsletter with anyone who you think might enjoy it.  The more people who know about mangroves, the better.

Stay safe everyone, and be sure to get your dose of nature therapy!

Warmest regards,

Tim Laman

PS.  My new 2024 calendar is now ready, featuring images from my latest book BIRD PLANET.

Check out my calendar here.

ADDITIONAL INFO ON MANGROVES:

I photographed mangroves around the world for a National Geographic magazine story back in 2007.  Here is a gallery of my images from various locations:

https://archive.timlaman.com/gallery/Mangroves/G0000UjCNiCR6Ec0/

Conservation International has an informative page on mangroves here:

https://www.conservation.org/act/share-the-facts-about-mangroves#:~:text=Mangroves%20store%20more%20carbon%20per,per%20hectare%20than%20terrestrial%20forests

Infographic from National Geographic on Mangroves:

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/the-mangrove-ecosystem/

Birds-of-Paradise and Strangler Figs - Papua Expedition Highlights Part 2

Following our pursuit of the Leatherback Sea Turtles that I shared in the last Wildlife Diaries, our team moved into the interior of Western Papua, where we immersed ourselves in the riches of the lowland rainforest at a small village called Malagufuk.  From our base at a small guesthouse, it was a matter of a few steps and we were in the forest.  Our main targets were several species of Birds-of-Paradise, but we also hoped to film other lowland specialists, like crowned pigeons, hornbills, and even cassowaries if we were lucky.

However, the plant life could not to be ignored!  The forest abounded with spectacularly large strangler figs and many beautiful species of palms, so we also spent time trying to photograph and film them in interesting ways.  You can see a few of my efforts below as well as a few bird shots.  Western Papua, and the entire giant island of New Guinea of which it is a part, still harbors vast areas of forest, which is heart-warming to see as a conservationist.  Our main objective of this expedition in fact was to bring attention to this globally important area, which represents the largest intact rainforest region in the entire Asia-Pacific, and the third biggest in the world after the Amazon and Congo basins.  Both as a carbon store, and for its rich and relatively understudied biodiversity, these forests represent a global treasure.

Hope you enjoy the glimpses below into the lowland forest of Papua!

Inside the Strangler Fig

To capture this image, I stepped within the myriad of roots, and pointed my camera straight up.  I was in the space once occupied by the host tree, long since rotted away.  I’ve been fascinated with strangler figs ever since I first went to Borneo, and in fact I did my PhD research on fig ecology in Borneo’s rainforest.  These trees start life as a seedling sprouting high on a host tree, their seed perhaps delivered in a bird dropping.  They send roots down to the ground, and in the case of this species (there are many species of figs with different growth forms) the roots wrap the host tree so tightly that it eventually dies and rots away.  The fig keeps growing and spreading ever wider roots, creating the incredible and rather artistic structure you see here.

Life in the Lowland Rainforest

This spectacular palm in the genus Licuala, was one of many beautiful palms that graced the understory.

Climbing plants of all types festoon the forest, from small vines like these on a tree trunk to huge woody lianas.

Images clockwise from top left:

1. A beautiful caterpillar climbs a mossy tree trunk.  We only scratched the surface in documenting the invertebrates, but this was a spectacular find.
2. This curious looking Rufous Owl was a nice surprise.  It is a typical species of lowland rainforest.
3. An explosion of plumes is the illusion that a male Lesser BoP creates when he shakes all those feathers above his back.  Note that his plumes are greatly elongated and modified flank feathers, not tail feathers as many assume.  You can see where they originate in this shot.  His tail is brown and is tucked under the branch.
4. The Lesser Bird-of-Paradise was a primary target, and I was able to photograph at this lek where three spectacular adult males performed in unison in the foggy early morning light.  They prefer display branches just under the canopy, so they are not an easy species to get a clear view of, even by climbing a tree.  But by climbing intermediate trees and doing a little judicious pruning, I was able to create a window that afforded this view from the ground.  You’ll want to stay tuned when we release the video!

Behind-the-Scenes

Here is a view of the strangler fig tree in the featured photo above, shot from the side.

I couldn’t resist setting up this self-portrait with this amazing fig tree, and it should also give you a sense of scale.

Thanks for tuning in to my adventures.  Please feel free to share this newsletter with anyone who you think might enjoy it.  I need your help to spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of Papua’s forests!

Warmest regards,
Tim Laman

PS.  We will continue to add new images and galleries to TimLamanFineArt.com throughout the year, so be sure to take a look from time to time and see what’s new.  Thanks!