If you’ve ever played any of the Pokémon video games, you probably know it feels like to spend hours or days trying to capture a rare monster in order to fill in another entry in your Pokédex. National Geographic photographer Tim Laman knows that feeling through his photography project titled Birds of Paradise. Laman spent a whopping eight years photographing all 39 birds-of-paradise species in the rainforests of New Guinea — the first time it has ever been done.

The behind-the-scenes video above shows how Laman spent countless hours perched atop trees, patiently waiting, hoping, and praying for the birds to land on a nearby branch.
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