1952—2004
Laurence Poh
Father of Digiscoping
Laurence Poh, December 2003
Laurence Poh was an experienced photographer who embraced digital photography in 1999. An avid birdwatcher and active member of the Malaysian Nature Society, he realised his two interests could be combined — and digiscoping was born.
Laurence pioneered the technique now known as digiscoping, which involves attaching a digital camera to the eyepiece of a spotting scope, using a homemade adapter. Over the years he photographed over a hundred species of birds in Malaysia using this technique, sharing his knowledge generously with a growing global community of birders and nature photographers.
Laurence passed away peacefully on 19 September 2004. This site preserves his pioneering work and the heartfelt tributes left by the worldwide birding community he helped inspire.
Read all 225 tributes →Laurence was an inspiration to me to begin digiscoping. His work has brought much happiness to the world, and that couldn't be a better legacy in this often unhappy realm. We will miss him and his work terribly -- although his past work lives on. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
Robert Longley United States