Member Bios
Sherry Icardi
Passionate shooter that takes my camera everywhere. I have always kept a point and shoot in my car and office, but lately have found my phone is my go to if I want to capture an image on the spur of the moment (but clearly have not mastered) . I have done several photography treks with professional mentors and learned a great deal from them. As I have matured as a photographer I have developed a true love for animals and conservation. Living in Florida has certainly pushed conservation up on my scale of concerns . I love traveling and getting to witness all the unique animals around the globe!
My go to wildlife camera is a Sony a1 paired with a 100-400 mm lens. I will occasionally use a 1.4 Teleconverter but find it is not always as sharp as just cropping the image without the teleconverter. 58 mb raw file gives me lots of options. For landscapes or people photography, I use my Nikon 850.
I retired in 2016 after I realized that my life was all about work and little else. We moved to Florida to be near our youngest daughter and her family. I still miss the demands of a work life, but have substituted regular visits to local wetlands and NWR. I also love travel and resumed traveling after COVID restriction this year (2023). Can't wait to see what place I will go next!!
Butch Mazzuca, BPSA
I've been taking pictures since 2008 after a trip to Botswana, and consider myself an eclectic photographer-I shoot whatever catches my eye. I strive for three things in my own photography and look for the same when reviewing the work of others: Impact, Visual Interest and a Story.
I'm originally from Chicago but spent 25 years in Vail, Colorado, where I taught skiing with the Vail Ski School, basic digital photography at Colorado Mountain College and wrote commentary for the Vail Daily Newspaper.
My career was in commercial insurance and risk management but before that I spent four years flying airplanes & helicopters in the Marine Corps-including a tour in Vietnam '69-70.
My wife and I, along with our two Bernedoodles, now live in Tucson. The skis have been retired, but I still post weekly on my blog, take pictures whenever I find something interesting to shoot, and get my exercise these days on a bicycle rather than a pair of skis.
You can see my work on: Butch Mazzuca
Dave Ficke
Dave Ficke joined the Mountain News in September of 2015 as a sports photographer, covering Rim of the World High School sports. In 2017 he was asked to also write the sports articles to accompany his excellent photographs for the Mountain News. This is his first professional job as a sports correspondent; additionally Dave has done other articles on human interest and the environment for The Mountain News.
Dave graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a BS in Biology, earned his California Secondary Teaching Credential and taught high school college prep Biology, Physics and Field Biology in Upland, CA. He led field trips to Yosemite National Park for his Field Biology classes for twenty-seven years. Dave also earned a Masters in Environmental Education and is currently retired from a career that spanned 33 years, teaching high school through college.
During his time in the field of Education Dave has variously been the coordinator for the California Regional Environmental Education Network (CREEC) for all of Riverside, Inyo, Mono and San Bernardino Counties for over 20 years; he was a Teacher Ambassador for Cal Recycle, presenting professional development curriculum the Education and the Environment Initiative (EEI) to educators throughout California for seven years. Dave was appointed by California’s State Superintendent Tom Torlakson to help develop The California Blueprint for Environmental Education for the State of California.
Dave has retired from rock climbing and rapids riding, but still loves to hike and take backpacking trips. His informal avocation for photography developed into a second career for Dave; he currently shows and sells his landscape and wildlife prints at The Mountain Arts Gallery in Lake Arrowhead. He has won various awards for his photographs from The Orange County Fair, Inland Empire Professional Photographers, and the Redlands Camera Club where he was president for two years.
Dave, his wife Kathleen, also a retired teacher and guidance counselor, and their two dogs, Jordie a golden doodle, and Cedar, a golden retriever, love to travel in their fifth wheel RV for weeks at a time. Dave’s love of the outdoors and his passion for landscape and wildlife photography complement his love for the environment.
Raymond Tice
Raymond R. Tice, married to Marcia, living in Hillsborough, NC. Retired (or rather repurposed) in 2015 from the National Toxicology Program, my training was primarily in genetic toxicology and in the development and validation of animal alternative assays. We have a small flower farm, sold flowers bouquets at a local farmer's market for 12 years and just retired from that in 2022 although still selling flowers to long-time customers as a delivery service. We also sell several kinds of fruits (blueberries, blackberries, figs, pears). Have been interested in photography most of my life but only after 2015 started working at it. My initial primary subject was flowers given their ready availability, but am also interested in many other kinds of photography as the opportunity arises. Am a member of the Chapel Hill Camera Club where I serve as the chair of the competition committee. I primarily use LR, some PS, DxO, several Topaz products, HeliconFocus, PTGui, StarStaX. I primarily use a Nikon D850 with a 105mm lens for my flower photos.
Group Admin
Ian Cambourne
Born and raised in Sydney Australia, I have enjoyed all forms of photography since the late 1980's. All genres and subject types are of interest. The progression from film to digital has allowed the creative wings to get a stretch and work out. Being a member of a local camera club since 1992, the last five years have seen a diminishing desire to direct my photography towards just collecting points in competitions. My desire now is to produce images that I'm personally pleased with, while hopefully, other viewers may find some pleasing and some others different and unusual.
Elena Vtorushina
Bio Coming Soon . . .
Gary Jones
Gary Jones - Bio
I have grown to enjoy photography and consider myself at an intermediate level in terms of skills both with the camera and post processing. I live with my wife in Northeastern Wisconsin where we are surrounded by the waters of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. We have an abundance of shoreline, lighthouses, parks, and an assortment of wildlife and nature. I started photography many years ago with a Canon AE1 and didn't do much with it. Eventually I traded the AE1 for an early Canon Digital Rebel and that's when my interest and skill development began in earnest. I've progressed through the line of Canon bodies and lenses until today where I have a Canon mirrorless R5 and an assortment of Canon RF lenses. My wife and I enjoy traveling to the national parks in the U.S. and until COVID, we made 1 or 2 trips to the parks each year, with our preference being in the spring when the babies arrive or in the fall when the season is ending, and animal behavior is different.
I spent my career in IT and find my tech needs are fulfilled with the new camera technologies and post-processing software. I use mainly Adobe Lightroom with a bit of Photoshop along with Topaz Denoise and Sharpen. I participate in a local camera club and a larger Wisconsin collaboration of clubs where I submit photos for competitions and judging. I find the competitions help me see great images from others and the judging helps me learn how to produce better images myself.