Feb 072013
 

Videomaker Magazine asked me to review the game-changing new production camera that is capable of capturing 13 stops of dynamic range, 12-bit color and all in raw format. I am lucky to have been the Editor in Chief of the magazine so I often will get first crack at reviewing what I think are the most exciting new products. And this is certainly one of them. In fact, if the camera does what Blackmagic claims it can do, I’ll be getting on the long waiting list like so many others (No, I don’t get to take cuts just for doing the review). Check it out at Videomaker.

Jun 092011
 

After 22 years and a few hair cuts, I may be returning to KHSL-TV (and now KNVN) to anchor the weather portion of the newscast on a fill-in basis when Kris, Robb or Cort can’t rearrange their schedules to cover for vacations and illnesses. Yep, 4th string weather guy…so no, I’m not leaving my day/night/weekend job of actually producing videos for my clients. It will only be an occasional gig that is fun and keeps me very sensitive to what I ask many of my clients to go through when they face the pointy end of my cameras.

While I’m not a meteorologist, I did take meteorology courses in college and became intimately committed to weather forecasting in northern California as an active glider pilot. I’ve been training with chief meteorologist, Kris Kuyper, to learn the the station’s new computer graphics system for the last couple of weeks and meeting the staff and crew, several of whom I had to supress the urge to blurt out that hackneyed quip, “you weren’t even born the last time I…”

Unfortunately, today, one of the young crew members declared that fact before I could deflect the obvious. To underscore that aged feeling even more, here are a few clips I found in a dusty old box along with a can of pretty toxic looking hair spray.
Then:

Now:

 Posted by at 6:50 pm
Apr 272010
 

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

Apr 122010
 

adobe_logo2

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.

Apr 082010
 

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
Brian Peterson(wearing watch) shooting news event
Jan 162010
 

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.

May 262009
 

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.

Feb 092009
 

Local up and coming drummer, Lou Mars, is getting propular. Lou recently came in first place in the national, Drum Your Way to Hollywood contest. From the notoriety gained from that exposure, Lou was asked to provide a demo tape to see if he would be a good fit for an upcoming Hollywood music video with a 1950’s feel. Instead of simply doing a straight drum demo, Lou and I decided to go one (make that five) steps further and create our own music-video-within-a-demo-video.  I brought in my 21-foot camera crane to provide cinematic opening and closing shots, used my broadcast HD video cameras, and used lighting that mimicked that of a Hollywood set.  Short story is, Lou’s incredible talent and showmanship got him the gig and the “demo” video was deemed so good, the producers actually cut many shots into the final music video. Check it out!

Lou and Brian
Lou and Brian