Castle Giant & Big Lonely Doug – The Tree Projects Documentary Shoot

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, 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 shot. Often, climbers 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 in from logging. See examples of their tree portraits here.

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.

Steve uses a camera and cable system, as the imagery captured by a professional camera is much better quality than that of a drone in the forest. The professional climbers also use low-impact climbing 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 without a trace. It’s a remarkably safe way to highlight and document a world that humans rarely ever get to glimpse, with the ultimate goal of inspiring people to help protect these endangered 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 try and secure a long-term conservation solution for this spectacular place. Hopefully, the film and portrait add a unique and powerful voice to these long-standing efforts.

The second location shoot was Big Lonely Doug, Canada’s second-largest Douglas-fir tree. Doug stands 66m or 216ft tall, is nearly 4m or 13ft 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 beside it. In this portrait, TJ will be a tiny person standing on the branch for scale!

 

Despite some windy weather, washed-out roads, and lots of rain, the project was ultimately successful! Thanks to Ryan Senechal, Ryan Murphy, and Matthew Beatty for their expert planning, climbing, and rigging work.

Shout out to the amazing film crew as well: Joseph Nizeti, Rob Innes, Fraser Johnston, Momme Halbe, Dan Batchelor, and Matt Maddaloni.

We’ll be sure to share a link to the film and the tree portraits once they’re released!