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.

News

Flashback Japan – feature in Japanese National Geographic

by

Happy 20th Anniversary to National Geographic Japan, the first international edition of National Geographic magazine!

In honor of their anniversary, National Geographic Japan created a special section called Flashback Japan in their December 2015 issue, and I am honored to be featured.  They selected one of my images from my story about Japanese Winter Wildlife, originally published in the January 2003 issue of National Geographic.  Here is the spread from Japanese National Geographic. I have provided an English translation of the Japanese text below.

Here is the English translation of the text on the spread above, published in Dec 2015 National Geographic Japanese edition:

Deer and Sea Ice, Hokkaido, Japan

One morning, photographer Tim Laman was exploring the remote coast of Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido. While he was making landscape photographs of the sea ice, several deer appeared, walking along the beach. “I became very excited at what they might add to the composition,” Tim said.

Laman, a world-class wildlife photographer, is also a field biologist with a doctorate from Harvard. He says, “I like to capture images showing animals in their landscape.” After a while, two of the deer, coming from opposite directions, met and gently touched noses, perhaps in greeting. “It was a brief moment, but I snapped the shutter and captured it.”

Japan is a second home to Laman, because he was born and grew up in Japan — in Tokyo, Sasebo, and Kobe, due to his father’s job. So the story, Japan’s Winter Wildlife in NGM 2003 January issue, was like a dream come true. “I wanted to show the broader world the beauty of nature in Japan. I chose the winter season for its clean beauty,” he said.

On his assignment, he worked in Nagano, Iwate, and Hokkaido, to capture monkeys in Jigokudani or swans in Lake Kussharo, and many other subjects. Tim says some of his favorite photographs are those of Red-crowned Cranes in Kushiro Shitsugen wetland. “Sunrise on the river, and the roosting cranes backlit through the mist. Or a couple making a mating call as snow gently fell through the air. I had many unforgettable moments.”

Borneo Is Burning

by

Yesterday, National Geographic News posted Tim’s photo story on their website, Photos: Indonesia’s Rampant Fires Threaten Rare Orangutans.  A couple of weeks ago Tim was on assignment in Indonesia photographing the devastation.  He was on the front lines where people were desperately trying to put out the fires.  Not only is this a huge ecological disaster threatening orangutans and other wildlife but it is also effecting the air we breath.  Check out Tim’s Instagram (@TimLaman) to see other pictures of the wildfires.  To see more pictures of the endangered orangutans the fire is threatening, visit Tim Laman’s Wild Orangutan gallery.

2014 – It’s Been Quite a Year!

by

Wildlife Photographer of the Year award, Explorer’s Club membership, and a Canon exhibit and ad campaign make for a banner year.

Fieldwork is what I am all about…. Field research and exploration, and spending many months in the wild corners of the planet seeking those elusive, story-telling images of rare species and wild landscapes. This year was no exception, with a lot of field time on my “Documenting Orangutan Diversity” project in Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as shooting in some other locations such as the Maldives, the Sierra Nevada range, and China.

But as the year wraps up, I also realize that it has been a very special year for me. It’s very rewarding when all the hard work in the field yields not only published photos and articles, but also other types of exposure and recognition. These were some of the special highlights of 2014:

Canon’s 100 Million lenses campaign: As Canon reached the major landmark of producing their 100 Millionth lens, they created a print ad campaign in Japan that featured my Greater Bird-of-Paradise image and a shot of me with my camera up in the canopy in the New Guinea rain forest. I have been an enthusiastic user of Canon equipment for over three decades, so it was a great feeling to be selected to represent all the Canon photographers out there and the Canon brand for this ad.

The Explorer’s Club: As I combine video shooting on Canon DSLR’s more and more with my still photography, it was a milestone for me to receive my first filmmaking award at a film festival in January. We won the “Best Exploration Film” at the New York Wild Film Festival. The Festival was held at the famous Explorer’s Club in New York, and led to opportunities to meet many members and see the club. Subsequently, I was nominated and accepted for membership in the Explorer’s Club, which I am very excited about. I look forward to opportunities to meet more of the renowned explorer’s who are involved with this club, and to continue to make expeditions in the spirit of exploration the club represents.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year Portfolio Award: I’ve been entering photos in this granddaddy of all wildlife photography competitions for nearly twenty years. It is without a doubt the premier competition of its kind in the world. While at least ten of my images have received honors over the years, I had never one a major category or award. So it was a real career high point when my portfolio of six Birds-of-Paradise images won the new Portfolio Award category.

Canon Gallery Exhibit: In January, my year started out with a real milestone. Something I had dreamed about since I was a kid visiting Canon photo galleries in Tokyo. I had my own exhibit of my Birds-of-Paradise work shown in the Canon S Gallery at Canon Marketing Japan headquarters in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It was a thrill to see this childhood fantasy come true, and to spend time in Tokyo, giving a lecture to accompany the exhibit.

Meeting Sir David Attenborough: It’s pretty exciting when you get to meet a long-time hero and inspirational figure like Sir David. It was a real pleasure and an honor for Ed Scholes and me to meet Sir David in Bristol, UK this past April to work on a film project together. With our common interest in Birds-of-Paradise, we hit it off immediately. The film will be out in early 2015, so stay tuned!

2014 is going to be hard to beat, but here’s to 2015!