Charles Mahnken is a San Francisco Bay Area resident whose passion for landscape photography spans over 40 years. Charles has been awarded honors by the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain and has had images published in the Society's first edition of Portfolio One -- a photography book containing images from photographers around the world.Locally, he has been active in a number of photographic organizations including the Millbrae Camera Club, the North American chapter of the Royal Photographic Society.

Charles enjoys sharing his knowledge with others and has been a presenter for the Photographic Society of America. Charles is often amused when he is asked, "what camera do you use?" He feels this is like asking a symphony conductor what type of baton he uses. Despite the advances in camera technology, Charles still feels that 90% of a successful image is due to the knowledge and creativity of the person behind the camera.