B&h Photography Podcast

 Professional tree planting is back breaking piecework—a combination of high intensity sport and industrial labor that requires both technical finesse and remarkable physical and mental endurance. Using techniques more often associated with high-performance athletes, experienced planters (commonly known as high-ballers) leap up and down through uneven and debris-strewn terrain, armed only with a shovel and 30-kg bags of seedlings on their backs. In recent years, tree planting has become a rite of passage among young Canadians not afraid of hard work and dirt under their fingernails.  As seasonal work, it attracts many students from Canada’s southern cities. Due to the brutal physical demands, most are under 30 years old. Out on the cut block inclement weather is common, and the swarms of biting insects are legendary. Working in—rather than on—the land for months on end, and sharing an isolated camp site creates a solid bond among planters. This has molded into a subculture of sorts, which is the subject of