Best of OC!

Fox TV's The O.C. comes to the real OC, sort of.

We met cast members Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson at 5th and Sunset Los Angeles photo studios along with photographer Jorge Salas and make-up artist Jeffrey Paul. Together, we helped the kids engage in a classic Orange County activity that stretches back to 1950, when Richard Nixon rode Helen Gahagan douglas like a rented mule.

"I know the light here: everything is really light, almost washed-out, almost monochromatic, even— from the street to the colors of the buildings to the sky. It's almost monochromatic. Which I like. What's perfect is that I'm here for a bit. When I've had enough monochromatic, I leave. I'll go to New York."
—Artist Tommy Dougherty
Photo by: James Bunoan

When I surf, I'm thinking about God. I think about what I want to make of myself.
—Surfside's Lauren Stinson, aspiring professional surfer and participant on MTV's Surf Girls
Photo by Jeanne Rice

Things that aren't there anymore: Costa Mesa's Kona Lanes, Wally George, Anaheim Nazi Hangout The Shack, 405's fast lane, and "Your defending World Series champion Angels."
Photo by: James Bunoan

Suburban Gothic, Hootenany
Photo by Jeanne Rice

Doobie, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Photo by: James Bunoan

5 PLACES NOT TO SHOOT PHOTOS

1. NIXON LIBRARY & BIRTHPLACE. Shooting a story about the library's expansion into weddings and trade shows, I was told by that officious, butch-looking lady in the background, "Go do your art project somewhere else." I should be grateful: she didn't call me a dirty Jew.

2. ROCKET SHIP PARK, FULLERTON. I was shooting examples of Googie design when neighbors called police to report a child pornographer photographing kids in the park. How did they know I was a predator? My low-top pink Chuck Taylors.

3. SANTA ANA COURTHOUSE. Similar to No. 2 , different city.

4. BACKSTAGE WITH FAT ROCK STARS. No sense of humor.

5. HUNTINGTON CENTER. It's practically like Tombstone outside the abandoned Levitt's, but the rent-a-cops don't want you shooting punk bands there.
—James Bunoan
Photo by: James Bunoan

The Prospector, Long Beach
Photo by James Bunoan