Here's a recent chat I had with Creative Director Heidi Volpe for A Photo Editor. We touch on conservation photography, the viral nature of Big Lonely Doug, the process behind exploring and capturing images of forests and logging in BC, and more: https://aphotoeditor.com/2022/03/07/the-daily-edit-ancient-forest-alliance-tj-watt/
Anna's Hummingbird in Winter, BC
in Wildlife
Here are some portraits of my hummingbird pal. I hung out with this guy all day yesterday, thawing his feeder and watching him buzz about. These beautiful birds sure can survive harsh weather. At night they enter a state of ‘torpor’, a hibernation-like mode where their metabolic rate drops by as much as 95% and their body temperature lowers to a hypothermic threshold barely sufficient to maintain life. During the day, their body temp climbs to 40C and their tiny heart beats 1200 times per minute while flying! They’re essentially a rainbow glitter ball that eats half its body weight in sugar each day with the ability to fly forwards, backwards, sideways, and even upside down. How cool is that. Their iridescent feathers are incredible too - an effect created by microscopic air bubbles that refract light at different angles. I’m sure there’s plenty of magic involved as well ;)
CBC Doc Project: Big Tree Hunt
I recently worked on a CBC Doc Project podcast where I discussed photography & old-growth conservation and took a journalist on remote big tree bushwhacking adventure in Barkley Sound! We found some big ones, but will they remain standing? Read the article and listen to the podcast to find out more. And yes, I've been doing this awhile but no, I'm not in my early 40's as described ;)
Bomb Cyclone hits British Columbia
in Landscape
A record low pressure weather system slammed into the coast of BC this past weekend. I love storm watching and witnessing the front arrive along the coast was a wild and humbling experience! Here are a few pics as the first of it passed overhead.
Aerial View of Old-Growth Logging in the Klanawa Valley
“World’s best forestry practices"?
These recent images from the Klanawa Valley highlight the brutal impacts of clearcut logging on Vancouver Island.
Until recently, this mountain was one of the last largely intact stands of unprotected old-growth in the valley. Now a sprawling 30-hectare cutblock, a web of roads from Western Forest Products scar the hillside here in Tree Farm Licence 44, north of Nitinat Lake in Ditidaht and Huu-ay-aht territory. This is what ‘talk & log’ looks like.
Speak up! Send a message to John Horgan and the BC NDP, demanding they take action to protect endangered old-growth forests in BC: https://ancientforestalliance.org/take.../send-a-message/
PX3 State of the World 2021 Shortlist
Excited to share that my before & after series has been shortlisted in the PX3 State of the World 2021 photo contest in Paris! View the entry and the other selections here: https://px3.fr/winners/curator/2021/1-100089-21/
Red Bull: Protecting Our Elders - Interview & Photo Essay
This spring I was super surprised and thrilled to have a chance to share my before & after images and story with Red Bull - yes Red Bull! Their magazine, The Red Bulletin, has a monthly readership of 2.2 million and getting images of both the beauty and destruction of BC’s ancient forests in front of as many people as possible is always one of my main goals. The international audience this year has been huge. John Horgan and the BC NDP, the world is watching! Read the interview here: https://issuu.com/redbulletin.com/docs/0521_uk_drucklowres/20
Patagonia: The Ancient Tree Hunter
Here's a feature length interview I did for Patagonia on a life of searching for giant trees, documenting their beauty & destruction, and trying to see them saved. Big thanks to Jayme Moye for the words and Jeremy Koreski Gallery for the photos in the field: https://www.patagonia.com/stories/the-ancient-tree-hunter/story-99992.html
