Photographing History
Last week the Orange County Parks Department asked me to photograph a historic event. The Irvine Company was to release 20,000 acres of open space wilderness land to Orange County Parks to be preserved and made available to the public under their stewardship for future generations. This increases OC Parks’ parkland by 50 percent to 60,000 acres. This is the largest single donation of land to the county in its history. Documentation of the Public meetings at OC Parks and the Orange County Board of Supervisors were required. With little objection the gift was accepted.
A year or so back I was lucky enough to secure a contract from the County of Orange to produce a new library of images of all their parks. This included regional, beach, historic, and wilderness parks throughout the county as well as the OC Zoo. While this was at times physically strenuous I enjoyed being outside and viewing Orange County from some place other then the 405 freeway.
It really is quite amazing how close we are to an unspoiled wilderness and what an excellent job OC Parks does in preserving this treasure and their efforts at making it assessable. Most of the time it is taken it for granted. Friday morning my wife Donna and I started a long weekend by traveling down to Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park for a bit of a hike before a weekend of too much bar-b-que and beer.
We rested in the cool air of a cave once used by rustlers and robbers, shared the trail with a rattlesnake, exchanged pleasantries with a mule deer, enjoyed the fresh air, a ever changing chorus of birds, the smell of sage, and the sun on our backs.
The wilderness parks that surround us are awesome. Thanks to Irvine Company and OC Parks it just got a whole lot bigger. Grab your sunscreen, water, camera, get off the freeway and enjoy!
Please keep Executive Portraits Orange County in mind for all your corporate branding needs.
Andy Templeton Photography
714 747-0556
