Nope... not a truffala tree. It's a Redwood. According to National Geographic, this is the Biggest, Tallest Tree Photo ever.
I gotta say, it's pretty tall. At over 1,500 years old this Redwood has grown to over 300 feet. Somehow it survived weather, loggers, and a mulitude of other variables to survive this long. Clearly they had to piece several photos together just to get the full magnitude of this giant.
It involved three cameras, a team of scientists, a robotic dolly, a gyroscope, an 83-photo composite and a whole lotta of patience. Here's the video of how they did it:
I am loving the Ken Burns doc. on National Parks this week. I have been to about eight of them so far, and it makes me want to see them all. Redwoods are awesome. I miss living in DC. (worked at the AIA hq and later on Conn. Ave., for ARCHITECTURE magazine). I used to visit the Smithsonians all the time. I still have a distant friend who works at one -- she is Thai and married to Corky Robinson. He works for Johns Hopkins and got a McArthur grant for his work overseas.
ReplyDeleteStopping by from SITs.....
I love this post and the video. I have kind of a redwood and sequoia fetish and love anything to do with them, so this was right up my alley. I once camped inside one -- we moved our little tent inside the trunk of a fire-damaged redwood when it started raining, and the next morning when we explored, we realized it was like camping inside a cathedral because the inside of the tree was hollowed out for 100-something feet. It was spectacular.
ReplyDeleteI do have a question, though, having wandered to say hi back after you visited me via SITS. (ouch; that sentence hurt) How is it that you are a mom of a toddler, work at the Smithsonian and have time to author 2 terrific blogs? Do you own a time/space generator you're not telling anyone about? Is there a cape involved?
The people at the National Museum of Air and Space do let me use their time/space generator. It's one of the perks. And I do have a special outfit, but it always include comfortable shoes.
ReplyDeleteIn reality, I drink a lot of coffee and have a really great husband that helps me get things done.