Member Bios
Barbara Hunley
I am retired after working over 30 years and many long hours with the Texas Legislature and have the time now to enjoy one of the things I enjoy most, photography. It is a way of creating artistic images and sharing them with other people.
My interest in photography began in 2005 when I purchased my first DSLR camera. I decided to enter a picture in a local TV station contest and to my surprise it won Picture of the Month so I was hooked. Since that time, I have pursued my interest in photography taking classes, mentors, being in exhibits, and belonging to a local camera club. At the present, I shoot with a Nikon D850 camera.
Photography encompasses many forms of artistic composition through the lens of a camera whether it be portrait, landscape, nature, people or macro. I enjoy all genres of photography but I find what inspires me the most is macro or closeup photography. The mystery of detail found deep inside a beautiful bloom or the colorful detail on an insect is an awesome experience. Yes, detail is my thing!! Landscape photography is another medium that I enjoy and especially in the fall when trees are at their peak bursting with color.
Barbara Hunley
Neal R. Thompson, M.D.
It's been twenty-two years that I have been a member of PID digital dialogue. My father had his first darkroom in about l939 and I was eager as a young lad to follow his interest in photography. As a hobby it has served me well for the last eight-five years. My first camera was a Kodak 35 and some Kodachrome images still remain surprisingly good prints. I abandoned my color darkroom with its Ilfochrome prints in 2001. What a great advancement digital photography has been. Thanks Adobe for
Photoshop. Thanks also to Southern Oregon Photographic Association for many years
of companionship, gentle instruction and competition.
Alane Shoemaker
Alane has always loved taking pictures and traveling, traits inherited from her father. An English teacher, she has also loved writing as well as editing her photos, a trait inherited from her mother who was a talented artist. One of eight children, Alane has always documented family events with pictures. In 1997 she was fortunate enough to travel around the world with her parents and sister. Alane loves taking pictures of animals, people, landscapes, street scenes, tranquil and stormy nature, architecture, and anything and everything that strikes her fancy! When Alane traveled with her husband, who sadly died in 2013, they always included literary sites for Alane and all things train for Hal, an avid train buff! In addition to photography, traveling, theater, film, and literature, snorkeling and swimming are also major passions. Alane has fully submerged in the frozen Arctic Ocean, whitewater rafted at Iguazu Falls, caught piranha in The Amazon, ridden a helicopter over Victoria Falls, hiked a dirt road to a Namibian village, driven from Cincinnati to Alaska and back, ridden an Asian elephant in India and an African elephant in Africa, and placed a prayer for her husband in the Wailing Wall.
You can see my work on: Alane's flickr and Alane's LinkedIn
Group Admin
Charles Ginsburgh
Who is Charlie Ginsburgh (cginsburgh@gmail.com);, I am a 60 plus part-time artist, living in the San Francisco Bay Area. My full time profession is as a Research Biochemist, involved in the creation and support of Medical Diagnostic tests (the things Doctors and Labs use when they run tests).
However, in my spare time I design and create Stained Glass panels. Since normally I give away most of my works, I needed to generate a catalog to demonstrate my works to others, and this lead me into photography.
In trying to take good Stained Glass pictures I quickly learned four things; (1) taking pictures is easy; (2) taking good pictures is difficult (and more involved than I thought), (3) taking good pictures is really rewarding, and (4) if I really wanted to learn how to do this, a simple point-and-shoot camera was just not going to cut it. Fast forward several years and the bug is still there. I have gone through several digital and DSLR cameras, several sets of lenses, several classes, and have discovered the joys of the digital darkroom.
I find that I am attracted to capturing the normal in nature and especially in the macro world. I can be in a group of people overlooking a truly magnificent panoramic vista, and darn if I am not most-interested in the little weedy flower-thing nearly buried in the dust at my feet. Examples for my images can be found at charlie-g.sumgmug.com.
For those who care (and surprisingly some do) I currently use a Canon EOS d7 Mark II and d5 Mark IV DSLR camera, with either a Canon EF 100 mm f/2.8 macro, Canon EF 24-70 mm f/2.8L , or a Canon EF 70-200 mm f/2.8L lens set with the typical filters (UV, ND, and polarizing when I remember to actually use them). Why Canon, you might ask? It was easy to start with the EOS T3, and I just stuck with Canon, no other real reason at this point.
Murphy Hektner, APSA
About myself: I am a retired construction superintendent. I live with my wife Marilyn in northwest Washington State. We have two grown sons and three grandsons. Along with photography I enjoy nature, gardening, hiking in the Cascade Mountains, traveling, fine restaurants, and spending time with good friends.
About my photography: I am a long time member of both PSA and the Mt. Baker Camera Club. I started out using Pentax cameras and recently acquired some Nikon gear, so use both systems depending on the situation. My primary focus is on nature photography, and macro photography is a special interest. I also enjoy other types of photography. I use Elements 10 for post-processing, and also enjoy the many opportunities for creativity offered in digital photography.
Pierre Williot
I am now living in Crystal Beach, Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada and was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. My interests in photography started during my childhood. My father was using a manual single lens reflex camera without interchangeable lens nor light meter. Obviously the digital technology was not even dreamed about at that time.
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<br />I bought my first camera at the age 15. This was a film camera with interchangeable lenses and light meter. Autofocus did not exist at the time. The digital technology came 30 years later!
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<br />I use Canon and Olympus systems. I am mainly interested in Landscape and nature photography.
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<br />I am a member of two local photography groups (Science Museum Camera Club, Buffalo, NY and the South Town Camera Club, Hamburg, NY). My participation to local groups increased my interest for the art of photography.
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<br />I like to give and receive constructive remarks and comments as I want to perfect my technique and develop my own style.
Xiao Cai
I am a photographer, and my photography name is Alexander Image. I am specializing in environmental portraiture, fashion, and commercial photography.
In my childhood, I had five years of training in drawing and painting, but I never had a chance to pursue Art as my career, and after graduated from high school, I started to pursue Science instead. I got a Bachelor's degree in Mechanics in 1982 and then taught Mechanical Engineering at a university for 13 years. In 1995 I came to the United States of America from China to study Ocean Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science, and finally got a Master's Degree in Computer Science in 1999. Since then, I had worked as an Internet developer for 12 years.
In 2006, I accidentally got to know a fitness model Julian Fantechi, which triggered me to learn photography. Started to learn photography in 2007, I had taken some classes in the International Center of Photography, New York, New York.
Since 2012, I have mainly done stock photography.
Now I am retired. In November 2022, I started to do bird photography. In August 2023, I also started to do some Macro Photography.
You can see my work on: My Personal Website and My Profile on 1x.com and My FaceBook Page