Elaborate multi-camera rig elegantly captures giant redwood tree

[edesignuk]

For anyone who's taken a cruise down the Avenue of the Giants or went looking for Stormtroopers within Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park, you're apt to feel a great deal of appreciation for the image just after the break. Michael Nichols, a National Geographic photographer, rigged up a ridiculous camera setup that was strategically lowered from the top of a 300-foot tree to the ground in order to get an astoundingly tall (and downright breathtaking) shot. Oh, and while you're gawking at the pixels down there, feel free to mash play on that video to see how it all came together.

Engadget.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Wow, that is just amazing! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Unspoken Demise]

The ingenuity of man never ceases to amaze.
That is just...wow.
The size comparison between the man and the red wood really puts it all in perspective. A+ work.

 

[dukebound85]

very nice. woould be cool if they took another to get more of the forest imo

 

[Tilpots]

Reading that article now in Nat Geo. The writer, Joel Bourne lives in Wilmington. He's trying to Stop Titan, a big nasty cement plant, from opening in our area.

Anyhow, beautiful pic. Had to watch the video to see all the guys scattered in the tree. Amazing stuff.

 

[mags631]

Ah home... Impressive capture of a single tree -- but a redwood forest will make you feel absolutely Jurassic.

 

[caligurl]

WOW! that's simply gorgeous!!!!!

thank you!

 

[Consultant]

I thought it's going to look like the matrix bullet time.... =p

Maybe make a special effect so that the tree bends away from chain saw.

 

[FrankieTDouglas]

All right. It's a big tree, but I'm not really so sure what's special about the photograph. They built a rig? Filmmakers do this all the time, in addition to photographers. They stitched a lot of images together? That's basic digital work. The actual image itself is nothing special... so I guess, I'm missing the point.

 

[pachyderm]

that was pretty cool.

 

[edesignuk]

All right. It's a big tree, but I'm not really so sure what's special about the photograph. They built a rig? Filmmakers do this all the time, in addition to photographers. They stitched a lot of images together? That's basic digital work. The actual image itself is nothing special... so I guess, I'm missing the point.

In a recent lecture at National Geographic in Washington, D.C., Nichols described his frustrations. Eventually, though, he devised a way to do redwoods justice. It involved three cameras, a team of scientists, a robotic dolly, a gyroscope, an 83-photo composite and a lot of patience. (And, OK, maybe it's not the Biggest, Tallest Tree Photo Ever -- but it's the biggest one I've ever seen.) Here's how they did it:

I'd call that a fair amount of effort. Not just any idiot with a couple of cameras could pull this off.

 

[Sdashiki]

Take a photo from the ground pointing up a skyscraper...

What happens?

The lines converge because of your perspective. The building "bows" and isnt straight.

One has to use tilt/shift optics to get parallel lines, but even that has its limits.

This is THE ONLY way really to get such a "true to life" rendition of these trees without optical distortion of any kind.