A Photography Park

Some of you may have caught the hint a week or so ago. It doesn't matter. I think I have hit upon a simple -- yet unique -- idea that I would like to pursue. And under the heading of "no good deed goes unpunished", you my faithful readers get to follow along as I think out loud on my blog.

Come now, you've followed me from Safety Rep to retiree. You can follow along this path too. Because, the more I explore this idea, the bigger the possibilities seem. The more avenues I see it can go down. The more possibilities of all sorts.

I want to build the first park dedicated to outdoor photography. That's your first challenge (should you care to check.) Is there another park purpose-built for photography? In a quick (and very casual) search I didn't find one. I'm all for being the fist guy with the idea (and this post is indeed my claim stake saying, "Hey! Look at me! I was first!). But it isn't really important to the idea whether I'm first or not. And, as you'll quickly realize, anybody could steal this idea. Instantly. So what? So what if every single State in the Union wound up with their own photography park? That would be a good thing, right?

So, back to the idea. The photographers that follow me already have this idea in their head. There's no need to even explain it. They get it. Instantly. The General Public needs a little help. "Aren't all parks photography parks?" That's understandable. So here's an explanation. Follow along for a moment.

I photograph the sunrise every single morning (that my body will let me.) I'm fortunate enough to have a neighborhood where I can do that. But suppose I wanted to photograph the sunrise in the local park? Most parks are closed. I need to be on location one hour before sunrise. A lot of parks don't open until after sunrise. A lot of parks close at "dusk". That's the first thing that would be different about a photography park -- the hours. You'd be able to get in long before the sun came up and stay until long after it had gone down.

Quick, if I was to come spend the night with you and said, "I need a place to shoot the sunset", where would you take me? What location? Unless you're a photographer (or happen to be very, very lucky) I bet any place you take me would have either a utility wire or a streetlight marring the picture. Especially on the East Coast, it is hard to find a vista without a street light in it. In a park built for photography, there won't be an overhead wire. Or a streetlight. Getting the picture?

I've broached this idea with a few people already. I talked to a painter today. He, like photographers, immediately "got it". If a park is created to be "photogenic" you can be assured that painters will enjoy the scenes just as much. I'd be interested in hearing whether you "get it". Or not. I don't know where this is going to take me, but I'm excited about the journey. I've got a hundred ideas about it already but I think the first thing I'll need to look at is non-profit vs. not-for-profit. I don't know a thing about it. If you do, I'd love to hear from you. And then there's the fundamental problem of all ideas -- what do you call the thing? Well talk more. A lot more.

Don Brown
November 15, 2013