Can we just stop for a minute and appreciate this planet that we call Earth? Our planet houses over 391,000 species of vascular plants and an estimated 7.7 million animal species. The biodiversity, incredible sights and sounds, and the varying forms of weather are simply breathtaking factors. And to think that none of us have witnessed even a fraction of what Earth has to offer is a crazy thought.
If you’ve visited or at least seen pictures of the Sequoia National Forest and the 1,193,315 acres of beauty there, surely you know at least some of our planet’s many wonders. And for those who don’t know, there is a 3,200-year-old tree located in this very forest that is over 200-feet-tall in height known as “the President.” You could never get this tree in a single frame, that is, until now. Not surprisingly, this news has gone viral and has reminded millions that our planet and its life forms are beyond mind-blowing.
With a 247-foot height, 27-foot diameter, and 2 billion leaves, the Sequoia giant would not be easy to photograph in one image. But Michael “Nick” Nichols, a National Geographic photographer, was destined to get a single picture of the massive beauty.
“We know that there are trees that have bigger trunks. But when you add up all of the wood, beside the main trunk, all of the limbs, all of the branches, all of the biomass above the ground, this tree is likely the biggest,” explains forest ecologist Steve Sillet of Humboldt State University.
Thanks to special equipment and the help from colleagues including Steve Sillet, it took Michael a little over two weeks to gather 126 images of the President. All the photos were put together like a puzzle, and in the end, created one single image of the tree. Looking at the photograph, you would never know that the picture included over a hundred separate photos.
“The reason we want to do these portraits, people get it. When they see the tree in its totality without distortion, they gasp,” Michael says.
While we are surely gasping, the President is still growing. In fact, this Sequoia grows an approximate one cubic meter of wood each year. It would be interesting to see photographs of the President growing over the years!
Your jaws will drop when you see how big the President truly is, especially in comparison to the crew! You can see the gigantic tree in the video below. Make sure to watch until the end to see the final image of the tree Michael and his team made!
Be sure to share this gem with your nature-loving friends when you’re done watching.
