About

A self-portrait to remind me that some days you're the pigeon and on others, you're the statue
A self-portrait: “Some days you’re the pigeon and on others, you’re the statue.”

Thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment. I feel I should explain my policy about comments you leave. I will edit your comments to remove typos and some grammatical errors without changing the “spirit” of your comments.

I would hope someone do the same for me. Sometimes we get so carried away by what we want to say, we don’t proof-read before we hit the “submit” button.

If I feel your comments are out of line because of your choice of language, they’ll be removed. I actually encourage dissenting views because I believe I have to keep an open mind to grow.

That doesn’t mean I won’t allow dissenting opinions. It’s all in how you say it.

And one more thing… from time to time you might find an ad which is objectionable on the right sidebar. I make a concerted effort to monitor the kinds of ads. If one or two creeps in, I apologize.

With that said…

I haven’t been using a computer, specifically a Mac, for very long. I bought a G3 powerbook back in 2000. As one of the first staff photographers to shoot with a digital SLR at the newspaper I worked for, I had to jump in not knowing anything at all about Photoshop.

As with most workplaces, it was a sink or swim situation.

There was no re-training whatsoever.

It didn’t matter that most of my fellow photographers had no idea what photoshop was. Somehow we survived the transition from film to digital.

Needless to say, I ruined many an image because I didn’t know better.

When I left the newspaper in 2004, with only a shoestring budget, I bought a very used G4 1.25 GHz dual processor PowerMac.

I also bought books spent lots of time online, got involved with the local Mac user group and the result is my website.

Just about all the content you see on this site from videography, editing, compression, smattering of flash and of course the photography is mine.

Today, I freelance, shooting various events, a few weddings a year, and I also create portraits on location.

I also teach photography part-time at Riverside Community College, UC Riverside Extension Center and the Riverside Art Museum.

And I also teach my very own workshops: Small Flash Lighting

I’ve even been featured on tv by the local San Bernardino PBS station KVCR. This first piece was on a 97-year-old local community activist

The second occasion was for a workshop called

Hosted by UC Riverside’s California Museum of Photography, my good friends Carlos Puma and John Welsh, organized a seminar on how to photograph pets.

Carlos, also a professional photographer, and I showed kids how to handle digital cameras while  John, public information officer for Riverside County Animal Services, provided the animals.

The three of us worked together at the Press-Enterprise. Carlos and I were staff photographers and John Welsh was a general assignment reporter.

Feel free to comment or say hello. Thanks for visiting my blog and website.

 

4 thoughts on “About”

  1. Wow, why have you not mentioned this in class? You have done a lot more I am sure than is listed in your Bio page. Instead of showing “good internet pictures,” show what amazing places you have been to and the not-so-amazing and how you made that picture relate to others. I want to learn how to take pictures that amaze the eye and win awards like our friend Bobby. What am I missing? True, you have shared a few but let’s see more. Like share your visit to Malaysia in class and how you took those pictures despite any challenges.

    Jessica

  2. Thanks Rigo. The Eddie Dee project was an important one on many levels.

    The project showed me why I became interested in journalism in the first place. Telling stories. Ones that might make a difference.

    It’s a shame I didn’t reconnect with Eddie Dee earlier. When I worked at the paper, they discouraged any type of association with non-profit agencies. Some bs about conflict of interest as usual.

    It was all in the timing. After I had left the paper, she wasn’t as active due to her advanced age.

    But she still showed me that age is no barrier. Even education is no barrier.

    I donated all the video footage I shot to the Visionary committee named after her. Interested folks can visit this link.

    Carlos Puma and John Welsh had the original idea with the Pet Photography project.

    So I can’t claim all the credit. My part in it was involving Reggie Woolery, Educator from UC Riverside’s California Museum of Photography.

  3. Peter, really nice feature on Eddie Dee. I noticed her passing by reading our newspaper and website (PE) and was curious to know who she was. The video you posted did an outstanding job. Kudos to you for sharing her story so that people could know who she was prior to her death.

    Nice video on teaching kids how to photograph pets. That’s a heartwarming piece.

    Congrats!
    Rigo

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