Pelkey recently won the National Wildlife Federation's 2009 Photo Contest and also received a Gold Medal at the International Regional Magazine Association Conference in Santa Fe, NM for his photos in Adirondack Life Magazine.

Brian Pelkey taught high school biology for 33 years, and many of those years he also coached cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track. His own running ability earned him inductions into both his high school and college Athletic Halls of Fame. He has also been inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame where he coached. Brian was recognized many times for his teaching abilities in the classroom and the remarkable results his students obtained on both State and National exams. His biology classes won 6 National Biology Competitions despite the fact that the school was small, only graduating approximately 120 students a year. In 20 years of teaching Advanced Placement Biology, every student received a grade on the National AP exam that would qualify them for college credit, and over 80% of those students scored a perfect grade of 5.

Shortly before retiring, Brian and his wife, Lynn, purchased a camp on a lake in the Adirondacks. The lake is stocked annually with rainbow trout and splake. Landlocked salmon are also stocked by the NYSDEC occasionally. Up until purchasing this camp, Brian had become a fairly competent and successful walleye fisherman. He used much of what he already knew as he began focusing on one of the most beautiful freshwater fish, the rainbow trout. Brian and Lynn even named their new home "Camp Over the Rainbows."

Many mornings out on the lake there would only be one other person "avid" enough to get out of bed and onto the water early enough to see the sun rise over the mountains. This person was trying to catch another species, the loon. Of course, he wasn't using a hook or net, but instead he was catching them with his digital camera as he approached them silently in his kayak. The two early risers would become good friends and Brian was amazed by this gentleman's (Joe Woody) photos of loons and other animals he would spot along the shoreline. It was Joe who inspired Brian to take up digital photography.