Member Bios
Group Admin
Brad Ashbrook
My father Stan Ashbrook, got me started at a young age and I have been shooting for over 40 years. I shot the newspaper and yearbook all through middle and high school. I attended Rochester Institute of Technology and received my bachelors in Imaging and Photographic Technology in 1987. The first couple of jobs were photography related including a sales manager with Sinar Bron. After that, I worked in the computer industry for several years and finally landed in the audio visual industry for the past 24 years.
I started out with Minolta film cameras and purchased my first 1.3mp camera in 1999. I then upgraded to a 3.1, and finally bought my first DSLR, the Nikon D70. I have switched everything to Sony and I own an a7s, a7R4, a9 and about 10 lenses and a bunch of accessories.
I really enjoy shooting sports photography, nature, birds, astro, landscape and travel. I also enjoy trying to new techniques such as HDR, panoramic, time lapse, photographing lightning and anything that can use a cool gizmo. I have been a member of PSA a couple of different times and at one time participated in Stereo Exhibitions. I currently write some articles and I am involved in 4 print and 2 online circuits.
I use a lot of different software and I prefer Capture One Pro. However it is pretty expensive so I have switched back to Lightroom. I use Aurora for HDR's and PTGui for the panoramic landscapes.
I was born in Florida, went away for college and lived for a few years in Atlanta. I have been back since 1992 and I am always looking to travel somewhere for photography.
I have recently re-married and I have 2 children from my first marriage. My eldest daughter is married and in the Navy and my son has a statistics job with a mortgage company and is also married. No grandkids yet, it could be a while.
Rizwan Choudhry
I am a Chemical Engineering graduate from University of New Brunswick, Canada. I was born in Pakistan and moved to Canada in 2001. Currently, I live in Fort McMurray, Alberta and work in Oil and Gas Industry.
I have been taking pictures from an early age, with my dad's film camera. In 2003 I bought my first Digital camera, which was Sony point and shoot camera. I bought my first DSLR in 2012, a Nikon D7000 and learned how to shoot in Manual mode. Mostly, I have been taking family and travel photos. Last year I upgraded to full frame Nikon D800 and have developed new passion for photography. I took a couple of courses at Burwell School of Photography, for Landscape and Wildlife Photography. I also own a few lenses, for birds I use Nikon 300mm f4 Prime and 150-600mm Lenses.
I recently discovered about PSA and joined as a member and am really eager to learn from the members here.
You can see my work on: Instagram and Facebook and https://www.tiktok.com/@rizwanchoudhry67?_t=8kM5bynAmso&_r=1
Lauren Heerschap
Lauren Heerschap is a Shoreline, Washington native that has let photography take her all over the world. She has taken many award-winning landscape, nature and creative photos. She uses an Olympus OM-D E Mark 2 camera, and formerly used a Canon 6D. She has served as President of the Puget Sound Camera Club for four years and is currently the Vice-President of the Northwest Council of Camera Clubs. She is a member of the Photographic Society of America (PSA). She has won many awards from these organizations. Her work is regularly accepted and displayed in local art shows, such as the Mountlake Terrace Art Show, Edmonds Art Show and Kenmore Art Show, the Washington State Fair in Puyallup and the Evergreen State Fair. She has been trained in the PSA Image Analysis Course. She has judged prints in the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, the Clallam County Fair, Seattle Photographic Society, the NW Dahlia Association, and various flower shows. More images can be found at www.laurenheerschap.com. Her prints are for sale, and can also be purchased unframed, or printed in different sizes.
Jon Allanson
Living in the UK, I am retired after 29 primary school teaching and 8 years working part time for a major photographic retailer. My main interest other than photography is travelling and I undertake 3 or 4 trips each year often to Africa and the Far East plus visits to other parts of the UK and Europe.
My interest in photography started at the age of about 11 with developing and printing black and white photos, and I carried on, on and off for many years and in the 70’s started using slide film. I became involved in club photography in 1985, when I joined the North Cheshire Photographic Society, producing monochrome and slide work to start with and then later doing my own colour printing.
More recently I became involved in the Royal Photographic Society and am currently the North West Regional Secretary. I was actively involved with the Lancashire and Cheshire Photographic Union - the umbrella organization for photographic clubs in the region; for a number of years. I organized the folios of prints circulated around the clubs and introduced the digitalization of them. This has led on to making digital copies the over 7000 images (prints, slides and lantern slides) that are held in their archive. This work for the LCPU has been recognized by being placed on their Roll of Honour (Hon LCPU)
From the early 1980’s, I used Pentax equipment, but have now converted into using Fuji equipment .
I first started with digital in 1996 using PhotoDelux and currently use CC and Lightroom on Macs, outputting to Epson R3880 and Canon 8750 printers.
I achieved by LRPS in 1998 with a panel of digital prints and the award of CPAGB in 1999 with a selection of traditional mono and colour prints. I had been regularly entering National and International Exhibitions in the UK for many years until 2011 when I started entering internationally. I currently have a BPE3* award (over 100 acceptances) for the British Photographic Exhibitions Circuit. In 2013 I achieved my AFIAP and I have recently received my EFIAP award (over 250 acceptances of which at least 10% must be prints, in over 20 different countries).
Becca Cambridge
My father was an optometrist. Being an optometrist meant dad introduced my brother, myself and the neighborhood kids to anything with a lens. This included dad's handmade lens telescope and multiple cameras. Dad must have placed a Brownie camera in my hand at birth. Like most kids, I rejected all his attempts at influencing me.
It wasn't until the early seventies while working on my master's in special education that I started to discover photography. I cannot remember the camera type, lens or settings I used. Mostly, I shot black and white which I developed in my bathroom. Of course, dad provided me with the enlarger.
From the seventies until the turn of the century, photography was not a priority. The priority became meeting the needs of educating kids. Those needs were met in a variety of ways from teaching, coordinating special education case conferences, directing a special needs infant/toddler program to high school counseling.
With retirement in 2013, my focus could return to photography. Currently, I use a Panasonic Lumix GH4 camera with my _go to_ 14-140 variable Lumix lens. For fun shots, I have a waterproof Nikon W300 underwater point and shoot. When reminded, I use my tripod or a Pladypod. Post-processing can occur in whatever I feel at the time: Lightroom, Corel Paintshop Pro, Photodirector 8, EasyHDR, SmartPhotoEditor, Snapseed and the Nik collection. I will continue to use Nik & Snapseed until they become dysfunctional. Sadly, they will become dysfunctional.
Photographic interests include macro/close up flowers, beautiful landscapes and water in all forms. I am driven however by two activities. First, I like meeting new people with the same interests. Second, I like going on Saturday or nighttime photo adventures with some of my jovial club members.
I belong to the Bloomington Photography Club in Bloomington, Indiana. The club offers some educational presentations, photo shares and a yearly gallery competition. There is no discussion on photos which is why I am interested in feedback. I have absolutely no idea what makes a competitive photograph. Therefore, I find selecting submissions challenging. I look forward to learning this skill.
Jan van Leijenhorst
I was born in the Netherlands and now live in Evanston, Illinois with my wife (who was born in Japan). I am retired: was an international banker and lived in several countries in Asia and Europe.
I started to take photographs at a young age with my dad's Kodak box camera, but I did not become serious about it until my early twenties when I took a correspondence course at the New York Institute of Photography. I had a darkroom and printed and enlarged my (b/w) photographs). In the years that followed I shot mostly slides (some of which I had digitized recently). I had a Canon camera with several lenses that I sold a few years ago.
I entered the digital age some 6 or so years ago, I took a Photoshop course, bought a (Olympus) DSLR and have been a �serious� amateur photographer since. I belong to a local photography group where we critique each other�s images once a month. I photograph mostly landscapes and flowers, but am trying to develop a more personal style. I am interested in photography that goes beyond traditional images in particular abstracts and impressionistic images. But I have not done much work in that area yet.
Danny Dunne, QPSA
Born in London a long time ago, I emigrated to Australia in 1977. I have worked in the computer industry for all my working life until retiring in 2006. I still keep up by developing and maintaining a few web sites.
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<br />My first real camera was a Yashica SLR film. Never really new much about it and operated on auto. And like most people just did family and holiday pictures.
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<br />Took up photography a bit more seriously after I retired.
<br />I joined the Forster Digital Photography Club and started entering the club competitions. Progressed from C grade to A grade over the years and from committee to President and back to committee, and have been the Webmaster since 2010.
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<br />Started entering National and International exhibitions in 2017.
<br />Awarded LAPS (Licentiate of Australian Photographic Society) in April 2018 , AAPS (Associate of APS)in March 2019 and FAPS (Fellow of APS) in March 2021.
<br />Awarded QPSA in June 2018 and PPSA in April 2020.
<br />Awarded AFIAP in March 2021. EFIAP in May 2022.
<br />My first DSLR was a Sony A100 which I used extensively to develop my camera and photography skills. Changed to a Canon 5d Mk111 in 2014.
<br />Use Lightroom and Photoshop, but still have lots to learn about these.
<br />Do most of my photography while travelling within Australia and internationally. And also at local events and market fairs etc.
<br />I like photographs of people, street scenes, places, architecture, landscapes and especially images that have a story. In 2018 I acquired a Panasonic Lumix TZ110. I needed a smaller quality camera that was easier to carry around especially when travelling.
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