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Ancient Forest Alliance Photographer TJ Watt has been working with photographer Steve Pearce and canopy ecologist Jen Sanger of Tasmania’s The Tree Projects. The amazing duo has been capturing portraits of giant trees, including the Castle Giant in the Walbran Valley and Big Lonely Doug near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory, as part of a new documentary film.

Steve has perfected a unique method of photographing giant trees around the world. It starts with establishing a suspended rope system that runs parallel to the tree trunk from the ground to near the top. From there, he raises and lowers his camera, capturing a series of high-resolution images later stitched together to create one final Tree Portrait. Often, people are placed at varying heights of the tree to provide a sense of scale. The result is stunning images that highlight the immense size, beauty, and grandeur of some of the world’s largest and oldest living trees, helping to raise awareness of the need to protect them and the forests they’re found within. See examples of their Tree Portraits.

The first location the crew filmed at was the famed Castle Giant in the unprotected Central Walbran Valley. At more than 16 ft (nearly 5 m) wide near its base with a massive candelabra-like canopy containing roughly two dozen spires, the Castle Giant is like a living fortress. It grows within the Castle Grove, perhaps the grandest remaining unprotected old-growth redcedar stand in Canada.

To create his unique Tree Portrait, Steve needed a subject tree with a clear view from the bottom to the top – a challenging thing to find in the dense rainforest! The Castle Giant, however, was the perfect fit. With some ninja-level climbing and rope work, the team got the system in place.

Instead of using a drone to capture photos, which is more susceptible to wind, rain and mist, Steve uses a cable and gimbal system with a high-resolution camera attached for better images and control. The professional climbers also use techniques that allow them to ascend the ropes themselves rather than the tree. No spurs are needed, and the few ropes that are used are removed after the climb, leaving the tree as it was. This blending of art and science is an amazing way to highlight a hidden world that humans rarely ever get to glimpse, with the ultimate goal of inspiring people to learn about and help protect endangered old-growth forests.

The push to protect the Walbran Valley, located two hours west of Lake Cowichan in Pacheedaht territory, has been ongoing for over three decades. Thankfully, the core of the Central Walbran Valley is currently under temporary logging deferral, providing time to help secure a long-term conservation solution for this spectacular place. Hopefully, the forthcoming film and Tree Portrait add a unique and powerful voice to these long-standing efforts.

The next location shoot was Big Lonely Doug, Canada’s second-largest Douglas-fir tree, which grows in the Gordon River Valley near Port Renfrew. Doug stands 66 m or 216 ft tall, is nearly 4 m or 13 ft wide near the base, and is likely around a thousand years old.

The sheer size of this tree always blows us away. You truly feel like an ant on a log when you’re beside it. For this Tree Portrait, TJ was positioned as a tiny person on the branch for scale. Best to not have a fear of heights when looking down from here!

Despite dealing with windy weather, washed-out roads, and heaps of rain, the gentle fog that Steve needed for the perfect shot arrived and the project was ultimately a success. A huge thanks goes to climbers Ryan Senechal, Ryan Murphy, and Matthew Beatty for their expert planning, climbing, and rigging work.

Hats off  to the amazing film crew as well: Joseph Nizeti, Rob Innes, Fraser Johnston, Momme Halbe, Dan Batchelor, and Matt Maddaloni. It was impressive to see you pull this shoot together under challenging conditions.

We’ll be sure to share a link to the documentary film and the final Tree Portraits once they’re released!