Legacy Project Photography Workshop Series

Saturday, April 6

While documenting the transition of former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro into the Orange County Great Park, the Legacy Project members famously turned a giant jet hangar into the world’s largest camera and used it to take the world’s largest picture. Now, the Legacy Project is offering a series of free on-site photo workshops providing participants an opportunity to improve their photographic vision and technique while accessing historic MCAS El Toro.

Meeting the Challenge of Wide-Open Space: Wide-Angle and Panoramic Photography at former MCAS El Toro with Clayton Spada

At first glance, finding riveting wide-angle photographic vistas within the vast swaths of flat open space winding through the land parcel that is being gradually transformed into the Orange County Great Park might seem to pose a near-insurmountable challenge. However, this open space was once populated by more than 1800 structures which supported a strategically critical military airfield operation that deposited a wealth of visual surprises still remaining in the footprint left by the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro (MCAS El Toro).

This challenging 4-hour workshop will inspire participants to seek out and leverage otherwise easily overlooked environmental treasures as focal points for compelling photographic panoramic vistas of the wide open space of the Great Park parcel. A 40-minute presentation of visual examples emphasizing wide-angle and specialized panoramic techniques will precede a three-hour photographic field session during which participants will have the opportunity to work individually or in small groups, under the guidance of the instructor. Workshop attendees must provide their own photographic equipment and supplies.

Clayton Spada Bio:

Artist, curator, writer and adjunct faculty member, Cypress College Photography Department; former Director of Exhibitions and Executive Director of the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art. Works have been exhibited in Britain, Canada, Europe, the People’s Republic of China and the United States, and widely published in photography annuals, periodicals and textbooks; works held in several institutional collections, including the Doheny Memorial Libraries, University of Southern California, the Fisher Gallery, University of Southern California, the Digital Media Studio, University of California, Riverside/California Museum of Photography (UCR/CMP), and Huan Tie Times Art Museum, Beijing, PR China.

Photo courtesy of Mark Chamberlain.

FAQs

Are the workshops suitable for all ages?

Legacy Project Workshops are recommended for high school students and above.

What time should participants arrive?

Space is limited. Free admission passes will be distributed at 9:30 am.

Where does the workshop meet?

Workshops will begin at the Artists Studios in the Palm Court Arts Complex.

Will food be available?

Please bring your own lunch.

Should participants bring their own camera?

Participants must provide equipment and supplies.