Back to Borneo Again

Greetings once again from Borneo, where I’m still in the field in Gunung Palung National Park, photographing everything from orangutans to pit vipers as I document the incredible biodiversity of this park for National Geographic.
 
My forthcoming book, Bird Planet, is in production and advanced copies have already reached my studio!   Since I have had back-to-back assignments here in Indonesia, I haven’t been home to see it yet myself, but my wife and assistant, both very unbiased judges to be sure, say it looks awesome!  It will be available Oct 4, but in the meantime, here is a little more background on the book.  

Preening Mallard

Henry David Thoreau famously spent two years living in a simple cabin he built in the woods at Walden Pond and wrote about the importance of our connection to nature, becoming one of the pioneers of environmental thinking. I live just 5 miles from Walden Pond, and it is one of my favorite spots for escaping into nature for a while with a camera to challenge myself to create interesting images at a simple pond in New England, and to remind me that there is beauty in nature everywhere and that you don’t have to be in Borneo or Antarctica to appreciate it.  Here a male mallard preens amid reflections of autumn colors on Walden Pond.

As you may have guessed, birds are one of my favorite subjects to photograph and I have wanted to publish my own book for years.  Besides the satisfaction of sharing my work, I feel that appreciating the beauty of birds can inspire people to be better stewards of the wild places all over the world that birds need to thrive, and I wanted to share my images to spread that appreciation.  Along came the Covid-19 pandemic which reduced my travel schedule greatly, and allowed me to block out the time to create the book.  Working through my archive to select the images, and writing the accompanying text was a perfect Covid project.

For this book, I looked through my entire archive to select what I felt were my strongest bird images.  Every place that I have photographed birds, whether on assignments for National Geographic magazine, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, or any other group as well as all my personal photography trips were all fair game.  My goal was simply that this selection would represent my best bird photography.

To celebrate the publication of the book, we have created a special print gallery in my fine art store, featuring the most artistic images from the book that are now available as art works for your home.  Visit the gallery at  timlamanfineart.com/BirdPlanetCollection.  The above 3 panoramic images are available for purchase:  Cormorant, Cliff and Pine (Pano), The Spoonbill Tree and Marbled Godwit at Sunset.  As my newsletter subscribers I'd like to offer you a head start on my Bird Planet Collection sale.  Please use code BIRDS at checkout. We also still have a few of my signed editions of BIRD PLANET that comes bundled with a 12 inch signed print available for pre-order.  Please visit the website HERE to see your options.  Thanks again for following along on my journey and for your support.  I’ll be looking forward to getting home to New England in time to enjoy some fall colors (and to get a look at my new book!) 

All the best,
Tim 

Special Recognition from the National Geographic Museum

Dear Friends,

Imagine my surprise and pleasure when I opened an email from National Geographic  recently, and saw the banner below?  An advertisement for the re-opening of their museum with an exhibit of “The Greatest Wildlife Photographs”, and my image “Birds-of-Paradise Sunrise” was the featured image!  This image is one of my all time favorites from my long efforts pursuing the ultimate bird-of-paradise images, so it’s very satisfying to see it get some special recognition like this.

Featured image

Bird-of-Paradise Sunrise

For those of you who might be interested in collecting large-format limited edition prints, I wanted to remind you that “Bird-of-Paradise Sunrise” is one of the few in my Limited Edition Collection, and you can check it out HERE.  It is also available in smaller sizes as an open edition.  If you ever have any questions about my Limited Editions, don’t hesitate to hit to email us at Studio@TimLaman.com.
I know I have shared the story behind creating this favorite image in a previous Wildlife Diaries, so I won’t share it again here, but if you are interested in the full story, we have a 3 minute video produced with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that is now also linked via my fine art webpage HERE.

BIRD PLANET Update

I’m excited to report that my new book BIRD PLANET is now off to the printers (it will be in stores October 4). I’m really happy with the way it has come together.  It has been great to have a chance to review my entire archive to choose the most inspirational images from all over the world.

If you didn’t catch it already, I want to remind you that I am offering a signed copy of BIRD PLANET (personalized if you like) bundled with a 12-inch print for $100.  I’ll only have 100 copies to sell in this way, and more than have are already sold, so you are welcome to per-order now if you would like to lock that in.  Books will ship in October.  Follow this link to see the offer for the Signed Edition of BIRD PLANET. 

As a little sneak preview, here are a few shots from the book.  In selecting the images, my aim was to capture the diversity and beauty of birds, and inspire people to care for their habitats, and thus habitat for all wildlife and a healthier planet for all of us.

Galah Gathering, Cape York, Australia

Whooper Swans Awake, Lake Kussharo, Hokkaido, Japan

Cobalt-winged Parakeets at Clay Lick, Amazon Rainforest, Ecuador

These and other images from the book are also available now in my special BIRD PLANET COLLECTION gallery.

Thanks for tuning in as always!

Stay safe everyone, and be sure to get your dose of nature therapy.  It’s a beautiful time of year!

Warmest regards,

Tim Laman

PS.  For all you ORANGUTAN fans, I think you will enjoy a segment I shot of the early life of a baby orangutan for the new Netflix series “Wild Babies”, which is now streaming.  And to learn more about orangutans and the conservation work I’m involved with, please visit www.SaveWildOrangutans.org.

Celebrating Hornbills this Earth Day 2022

As I have done every year, I’m offering all my open edition prints on sale for Earth Day this year, and donating 50% of profits to conservation.  

In celebration of the upcoming publication of my new book, BIRD PLANET, I have selected the conservation group Rangkong Indonesia (Indonesia Hornbill Conservation Society) to support this year.  Hornbills have been a special interest of mine since my first trip to Borneo in 1987, and they feature prominently in BIRD PLANET.  In fact the first chapter starts with my experience of seeing a Rhinoceros Hornbill on my first day in the forest.  And as the charismatic fruit eating birds of the forest, they are super important seed dispersers and also ambassadors for rainforest conservation.

Rangkong Indonesia is the type of group I like to support because they work directly with indigenous communities in Borneo to protect forest habitat of the most critically endangered Helmeted Hornbill, as well as several other species.   You can learn more about their work at rangkong.org.

Here are a few Hornbill shots that made the cut from my 25 years of hornbill photography for my BIRD PLANET book.  They are all available in my print store and are on sale (but so are all my other prints, if Hornbills aren’t your thing!).

A young rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) tosses up a fig from a strangler fig tree (Ficus dubia) before swallowing it. A young Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) tosses a fig from a strangler fig tree (Ficus dubia) before swallowing it. Lowland rain forest of Gunung Palung National Park, Borneo, Indonesia.

Rhinoceros hornbills (Buceros rhinoceros) perched high in canopy with lowland rainforest behind.  Gunung Palung National Park, Borneo, Indonesia.

Helmeted Hornbill (Rhinoplax vigil) male arrives at nest tree with wings spread for landing.  The female is inside the dark opening visible on the left side of frame in the broken off branch.  Budo-Sungai Padi National Park, Narathiwat Province, Thailand.

Behind-The-Scenes

Almost all my hornbills shots are made from high in the rainforest canopy.  It’s a lot of work to rig ropes and build platforms and blinds in the tree tops, but it’s worth the effort to be able to capture moments of hornbill life in the wild.  Here is a behind the scenes moment that wasn’t too much fun though - getting caught in a heavy downpour while trying to build a canopy blind in Thailand.  You can see the video on my Instagram @TimLaman.

Hanging a bird print on your wall can help spread appreciation and awareness, which is what I’m all about.  So thanks for your interest, and for helping support the work I do and the conservation groups that I work with in the field.  Together we can make a difference!

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

Warmest regards,

Tim Laman

PS.  If you didn’t see the announcement about the special offer to pre-order a signed copy of BIRD PLANET, you can check it out right HERE.  Thanks!