Member Bios
Group Admin
Bob Benson, FPSA, EPSA
Bob Benson lives in Schaumburg, Illinois, where he active in the Chicago council (CACCA) as a current board member and former president. Retirement became a reality in 2014, after being a food scientist, CFS for over 34 years. He co-founded the first all digital camera club in the area over two decades ago. Teaching Photoshop and Lightroom is a passion. He was the Division Vice President for PSA, and has written articles on Lightroom for the PSA Journal.
He started with version 3.5 on Photoshop, and is still learning all its intricacies. He currently is using a Canon R5 and a drone.
Tony Au Yeong
I remember shooting a film camera in my twenties. Then I came back to shoot digital about 10 years ago. I find huge technological advances in the camera industry these several years and the post processing maneuver is jaw dropping because I did not know much about dark room in the old days. Showing my photos to others is easy nowadays because of the media but is also apprehensive to me, as I find so many good photos in the Flickr or Instagram. About a month ago my friend in Canada suggested me to join the PSA and he is a member for many years. I hope I can learn from you.
Mervyn Hurwitz
I became interested in photography 60 years ago when I received a chemical set for a birthday present. My darkroom graduated from my bathroom to a permanent structure in my parent's garage.
Born in South Africa, I was able to combine my love of nature and wildlife with my love of photography. I have been a member of PSA since moving to Florida, USA, in 1990 and have enjoyed all aspects of photography. My first love is still wildlife and I enjoy photographing birds in flight.
About 5 years ago, I took some classes in fine art photography and gained a better understanding of fine art and black and white images. I belong to 2 camera clubs and a fine art group where I find I have learned the most from discussion with fellow photographers.
I have recently retired from practicing dentistry, and am enjoying more opportunities for travel and early morning nature photography.
Terry Palmer
I've been active in photography since high school in the '60's starting with a B&W darkroom. With work and family, I got away from photography until digital became more available. I'm an active member in several camera clubs in NW Pennsylvania / SW New York and in SW Florida as well as the Florida Camera Club Council. I'm a juried artist member of the Wilds Cooperative of Pennsylvania. My wife and I split our time between NW Pennsylvania and SW Florida. My interests in subjects and treatments are varied and include Landscape, Architecture (including historic, abandoned, and decaying structures), Nature (particularly shore birds), SCUBA photography, Travel, and Infrared. My goals are to improve my technical skills, compositional awareness, and my ability to see and record unique images.
Jose Cartas
A native Argentinean, José came with his family to the United States in June 1990 to work for the Interamerican Development Bank. In 2000, he moved to the International Monetary Fund. Both institutions are located in Washington, D.C.
He became a more serious amateur after joining the North Bethesda Camera Club in 1995. He took also several photo courses at the Smithsonian Institution.
Through his work, José has traveled to many countries, and has used this opportunity to photograph cities, landscapes and people. He switched to digital in early 2007, buying a Sony Alpha 100, which allowed him to use the Minolta lenses he already had. Most of his photography is straightforward, using Photoshop to perform only minor adjustments such as levels, curves, brightness/contrast, dodging/burning and, occasionally, some cloning.
Kirsti Näntö-Salonen
I am from South-West Finland, a pediatrician by profession, just recently retired. I have been married to an enthusiastic photographer for the last 40 years, and have shared his hobby from field trips through darkrooms to photo clubs and exhibitions, taking an occasional picture (on default settings) every now and then, never bio that I would develop a passion for photography myself. Two years ago, we participated in a creative photography workshop together. It was like being revealed a new language that I deeply enjoyed and felt able to learn. Since then, I have been busy trying to master the basics of the camera and photo editing, still on the steeply rising portion of the learning curves.
I am a member in a local photo club, and have participated several courses and workshops. I started with the wonderfully beginner-friendly Nikon Coolpix P900, and am now getting quite comfortable with a Fuji XT2. With my husband we share a number of Fujinor lenses (zooms 10-24, 18-55, 55-230 and 100-400 and primes 14, 23, 35 and 55 mm). For editing, I have been using Capture One 20 and Luminar 4.
As subjects, I am interested of people as well as nature and landscapes with the aim of capturing feelings, moods and atmosphere, telling a story.