Brian Peterson Photography

Wild Time

Brian Peterson — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 01:08:06 +0000

A friend of ours, Dennis Gulla, is an experienced dog and exotic animal trainer. He recently moved out to California, in part, to assist with the relocation of the Barry Kirshner Wildlife Foundation facilities. The owner and operator is his wife’s aunt, Roberta Kirshner, who graciously allowed Dennis and his daughter to give my wife and I a private tour of the new facility today prior to its opening to the public. Many of the exotic animals cared for at the Foundation are former (and current) “actors” such as Nyla, a Sumatran Tigress who was the commercial Exxon tiger. Other big cats have recently appeared on the Jay Leno Show and soon on Konan O’Brien. These are wonderful animals that are well-loved and cared for.

Of course I couldn’t resist taking at least a still camera with me.

Photoshop’s cool new tool

Brian Peterson — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:01:03 +0000

As if Content Aware fill wasn’t enough, Adobe has unveiled a significant upgrade to their lens correction technology. Now included in Lightroom 3 and Camera RAW 6.1 (shipping with the CS5 Suite), is the ability to easily correct lens distortion, chromatic aberration, and vignetting. Now some of these controls have been available in earlier versions, but not in a one-click tool that also provides a great deal of manual overrides and the inclusion of both preset and custom profiles.

For the latest direct from Adobe

Adobe CS5 reviewed

Brian Peterson — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:56:40 +0000

I had the opportunity to review the groundbreaking new suite of media tools from Adobe, CS5 Production Premium, for Videomaker Magazine. For the last month I’ve been testing what I really believe is a revolutionary upgrade. For certain key tasks, like editing multiple layers of HD video, I’m seeing between five an ten fold increases in performance. When was the last time THAT happened in a mere dot upgrade? Check out my full review at Videomaker.

An Epic Water Event

Brian Peterson — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:23:04 +0000

For the past several years, I’ve been working under contract providing both photography and videography for one of the country’s largest water infrastructure projects. The Freeport Water Authority is a joint agency that has been coordinating the development and construction of an intake facility and pipeline that will provide both the greater Sacramento area and East Bay Municipal Water District customers with new access to fresh water from the Sacramento River.

Today was the ribbon cutting and grand opening featuring speeches from local, state and national dignitaries. In fact, if anyone was counting I think there were about 14 speakers. Yes, this was a big deal and the media coverage was impressive. I haven’t been in a news gaggle like this since my reporting days in the ’80s.

Brian Peterson(wearing watch) shooting news event

Lou Mars Goes for the World Record

Brian Peterson — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:49:19 +0000

A friend of mine, Lou Mars, not only operates SmartWebSales.com, but he also is a professional drummer. In fact right now, he is attacking the world record for marathon drumming right here in Chico, CA. You can follow his progress and cheer Lou on here; http://www.ustream.tv/channel/lou-mars-world-record

Or check out some pics of his continuing attempt:

http://www.brianpetersonphotography.com/Client_Proofs/Lou_Mars_Record/

The drum set on the right (the gray one) will be raffled off at the end of the attempt. Tickets are only one dollar and all proceeds will go to the charity Little Kids Rock, an organization that gives instruments and music lessons to needy children.

Spotlight on Solar

Brian Peterson — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:14:06 +0000

Solar arrays continue to pop up throughout the Northstate. I was commissioned to shoot a series of images for Chico Electric and Mitsubishi Electric today of two new arrays on the Butte College campus. This campus is now the most solarized community college in the state.

As the panels below are mounted on an angled scaffolding that is already about 8-feet off the ground, this shot required the use of my 21-foot camera crane to get an angle that showed off the project.

Butte College water treatment facility solar array

Solar Energy News Series Hits the Air

Brian Peterson — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:19:57 +0000

During the past couple of weeks I had the pleasure to again work in news with ex-colleague and friend, Debbie Cobb from Action News here in Chico. I produced a short three part news series from the footage I’ve acquired during the past 18 months documenting solar installations here in Northern California, the main one, of which was the record-setting rooftop array installed at the Sierra Nevada Brewery by Chico Electric. The first part aired tonight and the following two nights will feature parts two and three.

Solar Array Aerial Photography

Brian Peterson — Sat, 09 May 2009 22:00:25 +0000

Solar energy projects have been popping up everywhere. I recently was hired to provide aerial photography for five new solar arrays; one here in Chico on top of the Sierra Nevada Brewery installed by Chico Electric, two in the bay area, one just north of Bakersfield and one near Los Angeles by Perpetual Power. It’s really hard not to love your job when it includes grabbing quality images while banking hard turns a mere 1000-feet above the ground. Usually, I hire small Cessnas like 172′s or 162′s because they can fly nice and slow and two of my favorite pilots are Jimmy Bryant who flies air attack missions for CDF during the fire season and Amy Ellis of Bridgeford Flying Services. However, for the trip near Bakersfield, no regular fixed-wind aircraft were available, so I flew a little after midday in a very cool small ultralight. Now that time of day is when thermals make for a pretty bumpy ride in a regular plane…so I was very, VERY, glad to have fast optically stabilized lenses with me!

My take on being a professional photographer

Brian Peterson — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:43:26 +0000

The word “professional” can mean many things. As a professional photographer, I believe it must include:

Being courteous.
Being creative. But remembering it’s always your wedding, your session, or your company; not simply an opportunity to create “art” (the anti-Prima-Donna clause).
Taking the time to understand and exceed your expectations for fine photography.
Representing my abilities faithfully. This includes knowing when to refer you to another photographer if my abilities won’t meet your expectations.
Not just being on time, but a little early.
Maintaining primary photo equipment.
Maintaining backup photo equipment for when the unexpected happens.
Living a healthy lifestyle to allow for work at the peak of my ability.
Charging a fair price for my services.
Remaining a student of photography. Keeping current on industry trends and techniques along with regular upgrades to improve imaging and service

Barbarba Norman Stained Glass

Brian Peterson — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:51:09 +0000

Not only is local artist, Barbara Norman, getting a reputation for creating unique stained glass art pieces, she is also in demand for larger projects like this entryway she recently completed for a Forest Ranch couple. It looks wonderful during the day, but at twilight with the lights on inside, her work really stands out.

Stained Glass