A Huge Fig Tree in Orange, CA

[bobwysiwyg]

Wow! These trees make the 200+ year old oak in our yard look puny.

[sanking]

Veeerry nice Sandy!

Thanks for the comment, Kirk.

BTW, Bob Carnie in Toronto has a very large print (about 40X50") of this image hanging in his gallery space at Elevator Digital.

Sandy

[dperez]

I visited the tree on Friday; according to a plaque, it is a Moreton Bay Fig Tree and was planted in 1875, by a Henri F. Gardner, in honor of his wife and his 1st son on the day of his birth. I didn't make a photo on Friday as the tree was backlit. I made another attempt in the morning and was able to make two exposures.

I also visited the two homes on E. River St. Sadly, the Pine tree has been removed. I spoke with a neighbor who said the tree was believed to be over 350 years old, but a branch had fallen, and the home owners insurance would no longer provide coverage for the home with the tree there. The neighborhood hired an arborist, but it was to no avail.

The other tree & house were doing fine, I managed to make a couple exposures. I discovered that the tree is not a Maple as I had been told, but rather a Sycamore. The tree predates the house that was built in 1904. The house is on the market for $1.2 million.

I spent the morning hours driving around the downtown Orange area and discovered several other picturesque scenes, of which I recorded two.

[dperez]

A couple shots from over the weekend. Taken with my phone.

[dperez]

A few more.

-DP

[dperez]

I think most of these were taken on Friday. I went as far as to load a film holder in the camera, and I waited about an hour for the sun to drop behind another tree, but in the end I decided against it. I returned the following morning for a much improved scene. I only had to wait for people to enter my picture before making an exposure, which took maybe 20 minutes max.

Scans of the negatives to follow.

-DP

[JerryP]

I just found your post about the Moreton Bay Fig tree in Orange. I grew up in Orange in the 50's and 60's and remember this tree from my childhood. I've been checking out the light on another Moreton Bay Fig tree in Anaheim on West St. near the Mother Colony House. This tree dates back to the late 1890's.
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8360...!6m1!1e1?hl=en

[Drew Wiley]

There's another giant old fig in Santa Barbara, going clear back to the Mission days, already noted, which they claim is the biggest tree anywhere. There are arguments over this status. Depends on how the rules are defined. I hung a print in the office next door of what the Forest Service claims is the biggest tree in the world - the Bull Buck Tree, a giant sequoia. Their measuring rules state the diameter eight feet above the ground, specifically to preclude things like figs with vast spreading root systems above ground. But the NP Service claims the General Sherman tree is the biggest based upon cumulative wood mass or board-footage.
I like em all.