Wildlife Books & Magazines



Wake Up!



A celebration of new life


“The photos are so gorgeous that this volume could double as a cocoa table book.”



News, reviews & a book trailer: Bugdreams.com/sweep.

Wake Up!


Among a Thousand Fireflies



An invocation of magic and wonder


“If this is a picture book for young children, then we are all young children.”

News, reviews & a book trailer: Bugdreams.com/sweep.

Among a Thousand Fireflies


Sweep Up the Sun



“…another winning combination of sensitive verse and striking photography”

“… heart-stopping for any naturalist … beautiful in an unabashedly artistic way. These photographs are as gorgeous as paintings.” – New York Times Sunday Book Review

News & reviews here: Bugdreams.com/sweep.

Sweep Up the Sun cover

Step Gently Out



My first picture book in collaboration
with poet Helen Frost.

  • ALA 2013 Notable Book
  • Starred reviews from Kirkus,
    Booklist, and Publisher’s Weekly.

All the news, reviews & a book trailer here: Bugdreams.com/sweep.

Step Gently Out cover

Whisper in the Woods Nature Journal

Whisper in the Woods

This journal’s Spring 2008 issue’s theme was Microwilderness, centered around my insect work.

In addition to the fearless wasp on the front cover and an olympic ant on the back cover, it featured a portfolio of 17 of my wildlife images, including the diaphanous snail below.

50 pages | 7″ x 9″

$10.00 including shipping in the continental U.S.

Order a signed copy using PayPal.






Reviews of Wild Light books:


Fantastic backyard bird photos – Rick Lieder, the talented sf/f artist whose backyard nature photographs have stunned me for years, has released a new book of photos of small birds on the wing, shot in his own backyard in south Michigan. Rick doesn’t use fancy fast film or other high-tech treats — instead, he just uses patience and care to capture these remarkable images. I just got a copy from Rick and discovered a lovely bonus: a short introduction by Kathe Koja, the fantastic writer.”
Cory Doctorow – Writer, Boing Boing blogger, activist


“These birds are living in the air as we live on the ground. They eat and preen, seduce and fight, without making that fatal Wile E. Coyote mistake of looking down and realizing that what they do is impossible.

Rick’s pictures make me think that birds don’t give a lot of thought to the empty spaces they fill. They’re too busy with life. Living between branches and fence posts and power lines, speed walking on air, taking care of business. His lens captures flight with the precision of a diamond cutter removing just enough to reveal the true stone.”
Mark Heath – cartoonist, No Brow Cartoons


“What a stunningly beautiful book.”
Anca Vlasopolos (Author of “The New Bedford Samurai”)


“Your work is absolutely stunning. I’ve loved birds and bird art ever since I was a child and your photos of backyard birds in flight elevate these humble avians to the lofty level of raptors or exotic parrots, which is where they belong.”
Alexandra Highcrest


“Exquisite, fragile, yet conveying great self-possession and everyday poise, there is so much going on in so simple an image it defies categorization and asks only to be seen as its own self. Marvelous.
Thank you so much for this enchantment.”
Pete Rogan


“I enjoy your photos of birds in flight so much. The airborne ecstasy brought about by the rhythmic push and pull of tiny wings fascinates me. Thank you once again for this bit of serendipity.”
Karen Gallagher


“Rick Lieder doesn’t find it necessary to prowl the forests of the earth, his world is only a few steps beyond his door. This photographer has more than a great eye, he has patience. His method is to set up where he knows the action will be, then just wait. For the subject, for the light, and trickier yet – from what I see – the pose.

See his action-packed bird shots. They seem intimate to me. Action tied to intimacy sounds like an oxymoron, but maybe it’s just because we’re raised on movies and think certain genres don’t meld.”
Fred Wickham [BullseyeRooster]


“These images capture life on the wing in a way that is unexpected and illuminating.”
Anne Harris (Author of “Inventing Memory”)


“Of the many things I find fascinating about avians is that they are the sole extant lineage descending from true dinosaurs. This is never more apparent than in, or better enhances one’s (read: my) appreciation for, candid action shots such as this wonderful collection.”
James Maiewski


“Bee Dreams is a beautiful little gem – bee portraits surrounded by the soft light, colors and moods of the garden. I’m eager to share it with my artist and beekeeping friends. Really the best bee photos I’ve ever seen.”
Tricia Grable


“I really like your book! What patience you have. What an inspiration your book is.”
Walter Denn


Comments about Wild Light
      “The pictures are beautiful, and I think they capture an important aspect of reality.”
– –  [ Vernor Vinge ]
      “Oh. My. God. You should see the amazing insect shots by Rick Lieder. I’ve never seen bugs with personalities before, except in animated movies.”
 
      “I just visited your crystalline parallel universe. You’ve shown these creatures, not as magnified monsters, but as delicate and tiny creatures poised within luminous and abstract spaces. Good luck in your rapturous adventure.”       “Some of the most artistic photography of insects you can find.”
 
      “It is like entering the world of the bug – as a bug!!!”       “I went to visit your show at the gallery in the Detroit Zoo. I stayed a long time. Your pictures are beautiful. I circled around to look at them again and again. And sat in the quiet and looked some more.”
 
      “These look more like an epic sci-fi movie’s concept art than photos taken in someones backyard.”       “Out of all the insect artwork I’ve seen, your style certainly stands out. So many people forget that the heart of science is poetry.”
– – [ Ted Snyder – Entomologist ]
 
      “I can only look in wonder. His larger than life-sized images pull you into their oft unseen realm.”       “Amazing macro-photographs by Rick Lieder take us on a spectacular travelogue tour of the world underfoot, the world where dew-drops are the size of melons, the blades of grass loom high overhead and where every neighbour seems stranger than the next.”
 
      “Rick Lieder doesn’t find it necessary to prowl the forests of the earth, his world is only a few steps beyond his door. This photographer has more than a great eye, he has patience. His method is to set up where he knows the action will be, then just wait. For the subject, for the light, and trickier yet – from what I see – the pose.”
– – [ Fred Wickham ]
      “Your work is absolutely stunning. I’ve loved birds and bird art ever since I was a child and your photos of backyard birds in flight elevate these humble avians to the lofty level of raptors or exotic parrots, which is where they belong.”
– – [ Alexandra Highcrest]