I'm delighted to announce that wildlife artist,  Chris Wright, has used one of my images for his work entitled 'Hanging On'. A percentage of all sales are donated by Chris to the Born Free Foundation. Congratulation to Chris for being shortlisted for the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year 2011. Click here to see more of his wonderful art.

Thanks so much to Alison, Anthony, Heidi, Jo, Russ, Sandra & Robert for making this trip such an absolute joy. Spending time with a lovely group of people, gently gliding along the rivers of Borneo in search of wildlife ... is there a better way to spend a week ? Between us, we raised another $4000 to help the Orangutan Foundation in their work to ensure that orangutans have a long term future in the wild and were rewarded with some spectacular close encounters with a diverse range of wildlife. Here's a few random photos !

I'm currently working on a book called 'Close Encounters' which is a coffee table style wildlife book on how and where to meet the world's iconic wildlife. More info will follow nearer the time of publication but in the meantime here is a sample of the front cover.

"How lucky that we found Ian on the internet! Our trip to Tanjung Puting was brilliant; we have always wanted to visit this incredible place and Ian's knowledge and experience made our trip truly unforgettable." Lee and Derek

My April trip to Tanjung Puting blew all records of wild orangutan sightings away. By the end of our time in Borneo we'd seen an incredible 32 good sightings along with scores of close up encounters with the semi wild orangutans that visit the various feeding platforms in the park. Thanks so much to Marta, Janelle, Rajeev, Kylea, Derek and Lee for being a such a lucky group! With two books currently underway at the same time, life is a little hectic, so instead of writing any more about this trip here's a selection of photos ... after all a picture paints a thousand words ? To read a previous trip report click here.

I'm delighted to confirm that I've recently signed contracts on a new travel book. I'm currently in Sumatra for 8 weeks researching and photographing the area destroyed by the tsunami in 2004 for this book ... more info will follow !

" Our trip to Tanjung Puting was a marvellous experience. To get so close to the wildlife and particularly the orangutans made for a unique opportunity to see the rainforest as it should be. " Michael Helliwell ... (To see some of Michael's photos visit his website here.)

I'd had a week off in Sulawesi after my previous trip to Tanjung Puting and to be perfectly honest I was slightly nervous about this trip. Only because the last one had been so exceptional (click here for trip report) and we'd beaten all previous records for wild orangutan sightings. But Tanjung Puting is a special place and never ceases to amaze me. We had some awesome sightings of both wild and semi orangutans throughout the week and very nearly matched the record from the previous trip.

Thanks so much to Michelle, Sara, Mervyn, Sarah, Valerie, Michael and Ella for being so lovely and making this trip such a pleasure. Once again the holiday got off to the perfect start with our first wild

"It was incredibly special to witness first-hand wild orangutans and many other species living happy and free in the rainforest. Ian's knowledge of the region and his relationships with local people made the experience easy, enjoyable and unforgettable." Liz Vagg

About a month ago I was invited on a trip to photograph manta rays and whale sharks in one of the biggest feeding frenzies seen on our planet. The monsoon causes currents that lead to a massive bloom of plankton to form in a fringing reef in the Indian ocean. The whole area is only about the size of 2 football pitches but it fills with hundreds and hundreds of manta rays along with the odd whale shark passing through. Incredible !!! I've just got back and some photos will follow soon but I also shot some underwater video which has inspired me to upload my first You Tube video. (Depending on what device your'e viewing this on the video link below may or not work ... if not you can watch it directly at YouTube by clicking here.

It's been a pleasure to work with Maytree cards to make a new collection for their range. "The Orangutan Foundation collection" has an initial range of 18 different cards including both orangutans and other wildlife from Borneo. Maytree make a donation of 33% of the profit from each card directly to the Orangutan Foundation. The cards will be on sale via the Orangutan Foundation's online shop along with a wide range of outlets in the UK. (Info and link to follow soon.)

One of my photos has been selected for the finals of the wildlife photographer of the year 2010 competition in the One Earth award category. The image is of a Sumatran orangutan in the quarantine centre near Medan, N Sumatra. I was trying to capture the difference in the eyes of a wild and captured orangutan. This adult male Sumatran orangutan looks depressed (and probably is) as it's a terrible sight seeing one in cage. However there is hope for this orangutan as the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program (SOCP) have managed to re-release many of the orangutans that end up in the quarantine centre back to the wild.