Our team includes three flight crews and a full support staff of lab, maintenance and office personnel. The principals, Bruce and Larry Bergman, often comprise one flight crew. In addition to their flying duties, the Bergman brothers oversee the daily operations of the photo lab, other flight crews, and the activities related to aircraft maintenance. Although Larry Bergman functions officially as a pilot and Bruce Bergman as a photographer, Larry also has extensive experience with photography and Bruce is a licensed pilot. Both Larry and Bruce possess an expert understanding of photo processing and printing since they participated directly in lab production for the first ten years that BPS existed. The following briefly describes the experience and education of the BPS staff:
BPS Chief Pilot:Commercial, Multi-engine, Instrument Rated,with over 11,000 hours of flight time. Of the total hours, over 10,000 were acquired performing aerial photography. BS, Production Technology, 1968, Oregon State University. Over thirty years experience with BPS, as a founding partner, in all phases of the operation including administration, customer service, training and flight operations.
Bruce A. Bergman, Secretary-TreasurerBPS Chief Aerial Photographer: BA, Commercial Photography, 1974, Brooks Institute Over thirty years experience with BPS as a founding partner. Over 8,500 hours experience as camera operator with small format, oblique and vertical, mapping (Zeiss RMK & TOP, Wild), video and digital equipment. Private Rated Pilot. Other major responsibilities include administration, accounting, bidding, research and development, and trouble-shooting.
Steve TankBS, Geography / Cartography, 1989, Oregon State University. Five years photography experience as stringer for UPI and Grants Pass Courier. Specialized education in cartography, aerial photography interpretation, drafting. Joined BPS in 1991. One year with other firms. Lead technician in LogE contact printing and aerial film processing. Also serves as a photogrammetric scanner operator.
Justin Atkinson, Lead Digital TechnicianBS, Anthropology, University of Oregon,1992. Joined BPS in 1994. Lead lab technician producing digital products and enlargements from both small and large format films. Skilled in mosaics and scanning projects.
Trevor GrayB.S., Biology, Bowling Green State University. Joined BPS in 1998. Camera operator, flight planner, film editor and GIS and mosaicking technician. Also serves as a photogrammetric scanner operator.
Ariel GibsonJoined BPS in 2002. Part time bookkeeper and lab assistant. Also works at an elementary school and has been known to come to work in her pajamas.
David JordanMaster of Applied Geography, Texas State University. Customer Services, GIS and image processing, flight planning, and back-up camera operator. Joined BPS in 2006.
Ellen Leathers-WishartBFA, Photography, Maryland Institute, College of Art. Camera Operator, flight planner, film editor, and lab technician. Joined BPS in 2007.
Dustin RadfordAirframe and Powerplant Inspection Authorized Mechanic (A&P/IA). Commercial and Instrument rated pilot, over 400 hours flight time. Ten years experience in light aircraft maintenance. Joined BPS in 2007. Responsible for aircraft and hangar maintenance and modifications. Photo pilot when needed for local projects.
| 1975 | Began business d.b.a. Spectrum Color Lab in Oregon City as a three-way partnership in a rented space beside Mr. Pix Camera Store. Spectrum specialized in B&W and custom color printing using a Calumet basket line EP-2 processor. |
| 1977 | Our third partner was bought out with proceeds from a Small Business Administration loan, making the current partners (Larry & Bruce Bergman) sole owners of the business and its assets. |
| Purchased 1940 Piper J-3 Cub to supplant the need to use rented or borrowed aircraft and to further our penetration into the aerial photography market. | |
| Purchased the Portland building/property at 7816 SE 13th and Lambert as a residence. | |
| 1978 | Began construction on conversion of the basement quarters of the residence to lab space so the business could be moved from Oregon City to its current location. Larry Bergman took employment as an engineer in Argentina to help finance the project. Construction was completed primarily by Herman Bergman with help from various contractors in concrete, plumbing and heating and cooling. |
| 1979 | Moved business from Oregon City to its current location at 7816 SE 13th. Changed name of business to Bergman Photographic Services. |
| Kreonite KME-31 EP-2 processor was installed, changing our lives forever and making rapid service possible. | |
| 1981 | Fairchild KA-2 aerial camera was purchased and used with a borrowed Cessna 180 located in Denver, Colorado. This enabled us to produce higher quality vertical photography. |
| 1982 | Kreonite KM-10 C-41 processor was installed allowing rapid turn around of aerial and commercial jobs. |
| Cessna 180 purchased to replace borrowed aircraft. First employee hired. | |
| 1983 | Design and construction of addition to lab started. |
| 1984 | Construction completed on addition providing additional darkrooms and finishing space as well as studio facilities to allow more complete commercial photography offerings. |
| 1985 | Devere 8x10 inch enlarger added to allow rapid turn around on large format enlargements and mylar photo drawings. |
| IBM PC-AT installed bringing all the accounting and process control into computer age. | |
| Hired office manager (non-partner staff now at 4). | |
| Purchased a Durst Mini-printer to aid in high production jobs. | |
| 1986 | Through the purchase of a lot of Rajneesh Commune equipment, an Ilfospeed 2000 B&W processor was added to bring B&W capabilities up to production speed. |
| Purchased a Loran C navigational unit with a tie in to an RS-100 lap computer which allowed exact latitude and longitude to be entered into a growing computer accessed file of our aerial photography. | |
| 1988 | Purchased Zeiss RMK-A 15/23 mapping camera system from Keystone Aerial Surveys, opening new markets in aerial mapping. |
| 1989 | Purchased a new Log-E MK IV-C contact printer to allow fast service and high quality contact prints to be made. |
| Larry Bergman obtained Instrument Rating allowing near all-weather air operations. | |
| Incorporated business with Larry Bergman acting as president, Bruce Bergman as Secretary-Treasurer. | |
| Purchased a Cessna T210 for fast, high altitude mapping and delivered to Airmotive Engineering in Texas for camera hole modification. Arranged option to purchase Zeiss RMK-A 15/23 camera from Zeiss with FMC magazine. Took delivery of NT-2 Navigation Sight and AS-2 camera mount from Zeiss as part of camera purchase plan. | |
| 1990 | Purchased used Dupont 44" B&W processor. |
| Purchased Durst 184 enlarger and built a room in corner of studio to hold it and the Dupont processor. | |
| 1991 | Installed Kreonite 42" RA-4 processor. |
| Activated full-time pilot and camera operator as second crew. | |
| Purchased 52" Rolma roll paper dispenser. | |
| 1992 | Installed Global Positioning System in Cessna T210. |
| Purchased UDS-1 Contact Printer. | |
| Purchased Cessna T310 aircraft. | |
| Purchased Zeiss RMK-A 12" camera system. | |
| 1993 | Purchased Gevatone B&W film processor. |
| Completed first Airborne GPS Control projects. | |
| 1994 | Traded in one Zeiss RMK FMC camera for new Zeiss Top-15 system. |
| 1995 | Purchased Zeiss Top-30 camera and second control system. |
| Leased Lear 25 for high altitude mapping. | |
| 1996 | First used Differential GPS for precise photo triggering. |
| 1997 | Installed Kreonite 52” RA-4 processor. |
| Purchased and modified Aero Commander 680V turboprop aircraft. | |
| Purchased Wild RC-10 camera system with 210mm and 88mm cones. | |
| 1999 | Purchased Kodak Versamat processor and modified to C-41 process. |
| 2000 | Purchased additional Kodak Versamat for B&W processing. |
| 2001 | Built our first “digital darkroom”, started rack and network systems. |
| 2002 | Added the Chromira 50 digital LED printer and Creo IQ 2 scanner. |
| 2003 | Updated to Lacie monitors and more sophisticated network file servers. |
| 2004 | Constructed new hangar/office/shop complex at Aurora Airport. |
| 2005 | Purchased Leica DSW 500 scanner from Precision Photo. |
| 2006 | Purchased ER Mapper and ESRI ArcView software for new services. |
| 2008 | Purchased Zeiss T-AS gyro mount and RMK-15/23 FMC camera. |
| Purchased Novatel DL-V3 GNSS survey receiver. | |
| 2009 | Updated Cessna T210 to IFR approved GPS and electronic instruments. |