Member Bios
Scott Ainsworth
I am an amateur photographer whose love of nature, especially animals, far predates my first camera. After a long hiatus from careful photography pursuing a career and raising a family, I have returned to this love with camera in hand. I live in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA, so most of my photographs involve water in addition to wildlife. Making water look "right" is one of my biggest challenges, especially during the golden and blue hours.
Technically, I have a fairly good grasp of cameras, lenses, and other equipment-and-most of my images look rather, well, technical. This points to areas in which I desire to grow: adding feeling and creating images that wow and inspire rather than look best in a science paper.
My current kit was selected with low weight and mobility as the main criteria. I shoot with an OM System OM-1 Mark II camera and either an M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 or M.Zuiko 100-400mm f4.5-6.3 lens. The 40-150mm lens is for hikes in the woods, and the 100-400mm for open areas and around water. I also have a short zoom and macro lents. I nearly always shoot freehand and normally to reserve tripods for microphotography work.
Cindy Marple
I am retired and living in the Phoenix area in Arizona. Photography has been a lifelong interest, starting with a Kodak Instamatic X-15 camera received for Christmas while in grade school. Nature subjects have always been the primary interest, starting with landscapes and flowers. When digital came along, it made it easier to pursue wildlife and birds, and today birds are my favorite subject.
I love to travel and have taken many photo tours and workshops over the years. Since I retired I’ve been able to do more of that, and have now visited all 7 continents. My favorite locations are remote polar regions, and more recently I’ve enjoyed the tropical regions of Central and South America where the bird life is incredible. When not traveling I spend a lot of time at a local Riparian Preserve photographing birds.
I’m an active member of several local camera clubs. I enjoy giving programs for photo clubs and local Audubon chapters, as well as judging for other local clubs.
You can see my work on my Smugmug page: www.cindymarplephoto.com.
Group Admin
Larry Treadwell
I am retired and living the good life in south Florida. I have always had a love affair with the wilderness and the natural world. This naturally led to an interest in photography so I could bring home memories from my adventures. I have thus been involved in photography for more than 40 years and have worked as a semi-professional including work for the PGA and LPGA as well as shooting sports for various local colleges and have photographed over 800 weddings
My favorite photographic locations are Everglades National Park (the hardest place I've ever found to photograph), the Great Smoky Mountains and Rocky Mountain National Park. That said, I will go anywhere to get a good image. I enjoy shooting the Milky Way and the night sky, a real challenge, and I enjoy using long exposures.
I have taught photography on the college level, belong to several local camera groups and have served as a photo judge at local clubs and competitions. During the last 18 months I have had the honor of serving as a judge for some international photo exhibitions with affiliations to the PSA and have found this to be a most rewarding experience. My photos have been hung in the U.S. Botanical Gardens Hall in Washington D.C. and I have had several exhibitions in the South Florida Tri-County area.
I am a member of the online group called The Nikonians and shoot Nikon cameras currently using a D800 and D810. While I have a collection of Nikon only lenses my favorites are my 24-70 and my baby, a 200-400 f4 beast that weighs 7.3 pounds. My hiking buddy is my tripod that goes everywhere I do.
Butch Mazzuca, BPSA
I hail from Chicago, Illinois, a graduate of the University of Dayton, and a former Naval Aviator (USMC). I spent my business career in Denver and after retiring I moved to Vail, Colorado in 1999 where I was a ski instructor for the Vail Ski School and wrote commentary for the Vail Daily Newspaper. I bought my first camera in 2008 for a trip to Africa, and my philosophy about photography can be summed up as follows: Impact, Visual Interest, and Storytelling are the fundamental characteristics that most often succeed in competitions and what I try to incorporate into my own photography and look for when reviewing images of others. I believe that light, composition, and technical proficiency are not stand-alone aspects in photography, rather they are the essentials necessary in creating impact and visual interest.
You can see my work on: Butch Mazzuca
Bud Ralston
For almost 60 years, I photographed a multitude of outdoor subjects, especially wildlife. Over time, I used every major camera manufacturer's gear. I finally settled on the Nikon mirrorless system. Enhancing raw photos with Ai computer software gives me joy. Calling attention to our natural world is my passion.
All this makes life worth living.
You can see my work on: Bud Photo Displays and Bud Photo Sales
David Kepley
David's father was in the military, so he was raised in many different places, but went to high school on the north New Jersey shore. He went to college at Gettysburg College and graduate school at the University of Maryland. While working at the US Forest Service over 40 years ago, he was inspired by one of his colleagues to take up photography. A trip in which he visited some of the great parks in the American west cemented his lifelong love of trying to capture the beauty and majesty of the natural world. After his retirement, David has taken a number of different classes and workshops to perfect his craft. He is currently first vice president of the Vienna Photographic Society. His works have been juried into Nature Visions Photo Expo for the past four years, as well as the Joseph Miller Abstract Photography Exhibit. His work has also won many awards at his photo club. A passionate devotee of our national parks, during the 2016 centennial year David and his wife visited 10 different parks, capturing thousands of images of them! He hopes that the sense of awe and majesty that he sees in the natural world will inspire you as well.