Mell Kilpatrick's passion for photography first started as a hobby. Armed with his "Weegee" style camera, Mell gravitated towards the streets, tracking police calls and showing up at the scene of accidents taking images not meant for the squeamish. He became a familiar figure to the various police departments and insurance companies serving Orange County

Mell made his way to the Santa Ana Register, contributing his photographic work and working in the darkroom. Eventually he became a member of the photography staff.

Mell started his career as a news photographer at the Santa Ana Register on November 18, 1948 at the age of 40. During his 14 years at the Register, Mell covered Orange County in every possible manner - by air, on foot, by car, and even by boat.

Mell became one of the best known cameramen in Orange County during his time and rose to the position of Chief Photographer. Since Mell never wanted to miss a photo opportunity, he attached to his dash a small camera pointing out of the front windshield of his car. This was fixed up so he could fire the camera while he was driving to make sure he never missed a shot.

With Mell's devotion to his job, and with his ability to capture the images at the right angles, Mell started taking photos of the latest sensation to hit Orange County - the construction of Disneyland. He worked relentlessly to get the perfect shots. Even with Mell being a middle aged man, he would hang out of a light plane standing on its wing 5,000 feet above Disneyland holding a camera which weighed about five pounds. This daring act allowed him to get unique construction views of Disneyland.

Mell went on to take some of the best aerial views of Disneyland's first few years, and thereby captured memories of a time now gone by. On the ground Mell also took hundreds of pre-construction and construction shots of the park.

One year after ground breaking day, on July 17, 1955, Walt Disney's dream finally came true with imagination far exceeding our wildest dreams. Thanks to Mell, these images of the park being built literally from the ground up, will last forever.