About the Tree Library Photos

It is Canopy’s goal to provide high quality illustrations for all species listed in the Tree Library. As a first step, in the spring and summer of 2011, professional and volunteer photographers created sets of photos to illustrate half the species currently listed in the Canopy Tree Library. For most of them these include shots of the whole tree, and close-ups of leaves, branches, and bark. In keeping with the local relevance of the Library, these photos were all taken in Palo Alto.

Canopy’s plan is to continue acquiring local photos to expand the collection in depth (number of species) and breadth (flowers, fruit, seeds, fall foliage variations, etc.), and offer new functionalities using the metadata collected for each photo, geo-referencing in particular.

Tree Library Photos Team

Susan Ellis, Former Canopy Chair, conceived and managed the project. She created routes for photographers and and handled the majority of the ‘back office’ tasks of collecting, processing, labelling, screening and selecting among more than 5,000 photos.

Marina Forte, Professional Photographer

Sairus Patel, Volunteer Photographer, Former Canopy Board Member

Lorenz Sonneman, Volunteer Photographer, college student

Pierre Martineau, Volunteer Database Architect 

California ReLeaf Funding

Funding for the Canopy Tree Library Photography project was provided by California ReLeaf and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection with funds from the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006.

California ReLeaf Logo



Sign up for local tree news, events, volunteer opportunities, and more.

Sign Up