In the center of Sequoia National Park resides The President, the second-largest tree known to man. The big sequoia is older than 3,200 years. It has 2 billion leaves and is 247 feet tall and 27 feet in circumference. The tree is probably the biggest on the planet when its whole biomass (the wood and limbs) are added together.
Photographer Michael “Nick” Nichols of National Geographic wants to immortalize the magnificent tree in its entirety for all to see.
This, however, posed some considerable difficulties. So he entered the forest alongside Steve Sillet, a forest ecologist at Humboldt State University, and his colleagues. Regularly scaling the enormous redwoods, the experts measure them inch by inch.
With a variety of gear, the climbers scaled the tree and produced a mosaic of 126 photos. The pictures were all completed over the course of more than two weeks, and the results are absolutely amazing!
Nichols might need to return and take another shot in the future because the President is still developing. Each year, it produces about one cubic meter of wood!
Here is a brief movie that shows how this incredible composite picture was made (which you can see below the video). At 1:35 in the video, the last image is presented! Check it out here: