I first met Ray at a workshop that he and John Sexton did together in 1995 at Canyon de Chelley. I chose that workshop because I had known of John's excellent work and reputation (and it was close to home). John is a wonderful instructor, but many of the participants had elevated him to God status (even dressing like him), so he was constantly surrounded by people hanging on his every word. I had never heard of Ray or seen any of his work before the workshop. I was immediately impressed by his quiet-spoken but very confident and passionate manner. He is very approachable and very willing to share his expertise with anyone who asks. And his photographs are absolutely phenomenal, with beautifully glowing tones and an incrediable dynamic range. He has published a book of some of his photographs, called Explorations: A Photographic Journey; definately check it out if you get a chance.
Likewise, I had not heard of Carol before this workshop. She too seems to bring an enormous amount of passion to everything she does. The techniques and exercises she introduced to us were extremely valuable in improving my vision. And her naturalistic abstractions of the Southwest, done in colored pencil, are stunning. You can see some of it in a book called Canyon Sketchbook.