A group of tree-lovers from Hamilton have used time-lapse, hyper-lapse and cutting edge editing with custom built camera rigs, drones and 30m long cable cameras to create ground-breaking new angles of the forest world.
The New Zealand Tree Project is having its official launch today at the University of Waikato's Academy of Performing Arts. This innovative film and photography venture has captured imagery of majestic trees and native podocarp forest from viewpoints that have never been experienced from the forest floor.
The project team of Catherine Kirby, a research support officer at Waikato University, Wintec's arboriculture academic Andrew Harrison, adventure photographer Steven Pearce and ecologist Jen Sanger spent a month deep in the Pureora Forest with a 40m rimu tree as their major focus.
The project is a New Zealand version of one of the most successful National Geographic projects ever undertaken. That American National Geographic project involved a 1500-year-old redwood tree which was portrayed in a five-page fold-out using hundreds of individual photographs.
Today, the group will present their finished photograph, created by spending more than 29 days in the forest to capture more than 120,000 images and 1200 video clips.