1st Open PDI Competition (2026/27)

The 1st  Open PDI competition of the season was judged on 24th September by Steve Hitchen (EPAGB, AFIAP, BPE5*) from Atherton & District PS. With 86 images to judge, it was quite a long night, and although scoring was reasonably high and a number were held back, only a small number achieved top marks.

The top scoring images are listed below.

GroupMember NameTitlePts
IntermediateBrian ClarkFlying Grey20
AdvancedAndy OgilvieShoe Rack20
AdvancedGordon WatsonThe Horn Section20
AdvancedCarol WatsonThe Vagabond And His Hound20

The featured image for this competition is Shoe Rack by Andy Ogilvie which was one of four images to score the maximum 20pts.

Shoe Rack

Shoe Rack by Andy Ogilvie


1st Open PDI Image Gallery

Please click on an image to launch the slideshow.


Note: The copyright of all images on this website belongs to the author and no unauthorised use, or copying of these images, is permitted without the agreement of the author.

Bob Robinson Trophy – Call For Entries

The Bob Robinson Trophy will be held on 14th November. This is an L&CPU competition in memory of Bob Robinson – past president of the L&CPU, which is only open to club members who do not have any photographic accreditations (PAGB, BPE, FIAP, RPS). This year the competition is for Mounted Prints, which means prints from any previous Print competition (including Photoshow) could be used. Each club is allowed to enter up to 20 images, with no more than 3 images from a single member. Images must not have been used previously in the Bob Robinson Trophy – if you are unsure whether an image has been used, you can view last year’s entry at the 2025 Bob Robinson Trophy page, or for earlier years, ask Carol.

If you wish to enter, please use the link from your Members Home page (login first) to load your digital copies. If we receive more than 20 entries, Carol will select the club entry, and if your image(s) are selected you will then be asked to provide the prints. To allow time for the selection process, the Uploader will close on 14th October and the selected prints will be required in time for the competition on 14th November.

New Member’s Evening

We will be holding a New Member’s Evening on Wednesday 30th September at 7:30pm in the Carlton Room (the back room to the right of the entrance hall at the Well Church Hall). Whilst all New Members should have been provided with a joining pack, the evening is an opportunity to raise any questions and to meet other new members as well as some of the Council.

The evening is also open to anyone who has joined in recent years and wants an update on the club organisation and what events are available.

2026/27 Season Competitions

For the 2026/27 Season the following rules will apply to Competitions. Competition dates and the associated Hand-In dates can be found on the syllabus page.

Competitions 1 to 8

  • The 2 league system will be reformed – Advanced and Intermediate – the groupings were advised in the 20th July Newsletter. When you enter images into Grouped Competitions, your Group will be identified automatically on the Uploader.
  • There will be 3 Open PDI competitions and 3 Open Print competitions – both competition types will have their own Intermediate and Advanced leagues.
  • There will be 2 Set Genre competitions as previously advised – People and Portraits (PDI) in November and Nature (Print) in February.
  • The Set Genre competitions will be discrete, stand-alone, competitions and marks from these competitions WILL NOT be included in the overall Print/PDI league tables.
  • The Set Genre competitions will be “ungrouped”, that is ALL entries will be judged in a single group.
  • Marks from the Set Genre competitions WILL be included in the Club Photographer of the Year standings.
  • At the end of the season, there will be a 2 up/2 down promotion/demotion between the leagues, based on league position.
  • Should several members share the same points total at season end then a “Count Back” system will be employed where the total number of 20 marks gained will be used to differentiate – if still a tie, then we use the 19 mark category. This “Count Back” will stop at 16 marks and if there is still a tie then all tied members will be promoted/demoted.

Competition 9 

The final competition of the season will be a Fun competition, with the following rules:-

  • PDI Competition, 2 entries per member.
  • Marks WILL NOT  contribute to the overall PDI League or Photographer Of The Year.
  • Subject to be advised.

Photoshow 2026 – Public Vote

The public votes from this year’s Photoshow have all been collated and counted, so we can now announce the winners. In terms of individual images the top three with the most votes were:-

  1. Pass With Care by Mike Williamson (24 Votes)
  2. My Best Friend by Peter Cotton (22 Votes)
  3. How Does This Thing Work by Mary Kirkby (21 Votes)

Pass With Care!

Pass With Care! by Mike Williamson


My Best Friends By Peter Cotton

How Does This Work By Mary Kirkby

In terms of total votes for members work, the top three places were:-

  1. Mike Williamson (91 Votes)
  2. Peter Cotton (94 Votes)
  3. Carol Watson (70 Votes)

So well done to all mentioned above, and in particular to Mike, who topped both lists. If you have not received your feedback slips, please see Christine Round.

Renewal Or Joining LSAPS

It is now time to renew your LSAPS membership, or to join us if you are a new member. The registration evening is Thursday 3rd September, however you can also apply to join at any time in advance of that evening using the website Application Form. Joining on-line will allow you to by-pass the queue on the registration evening and allows us to process applications more quickly so that we can concentrate on new members, so everyone wins!

After completing the application form you can make your payment on-line by Bank Transfer, or you can pay on the evening by Credit Card or Cash.

2025/26 Awards Evening

The 2025/6 Awards Evening was held on 13th August at the Drive Methodist Church. Awards were presented for the top three places in the Season Print and Digital Competitions, for Awarded images in Photoshow and for the overall Print and Digital Photographer Of The Year.

Season Print Competition

  • 1st – Carol Watson
  • 2nd – Gordon Watson
  • 3rd – Mike Williamson

Season Digital Competition

  • 1st – Carol Watson
  • 2nd – Gordon Watson
  • 3rd – Mike Williamson

Photoshow Print Competition – 1st Placed Images

CategoryTitleAuthor
Best In Show — ScapesJamnik Church In The Falling SnowCarol Watson
ColourRossall Point Lookout PostMike Williamson
MonoIn Need Of A TowGordon Watson
NatureNorthern GannetChris Taylor
PeopleHow Does This WorkMary Kirkby

Photoshow Digital Competition – 1st Placed Images

CategoryTitleAuthor
Best In Show — ScapesAurora Over LofotenGordon Watson
ColourFinding Winter's StoreCarol Watson
MonoAll In A FlapGordon Watson
NatureOtter PairGordon Watson
People1920s GlamourCarol Watson

Photographer Of The Year

The Photographer of the Year awards take account of results in the Season Competitions, in Photoshow and also in the L&CPU Individual competition.

Print Photographer Of The Year

  • 1st – Gordon Watson
  • 2nd – Carol Watson
  • 3rd – Mike Williamson

Digital Photographer Of The Year

  • 1st – Carol Watson
  • 2nd – Gordon Watson
  • 3rd – Mike Williamson

Well done to all those mentioned above.

Photoshow 2026 – Awards Galleries

LSAPS Photoshow is held over two weeks during August each year and showcases about 600 Print and Digital images produced by our club members. The show is also a competition split across 5 categories –  Colour, Mono, Nature, People and Scapes in both the Print and PDI sections.  This year the Print competition was judged by Steve Proctor (MPAGB, BPE5*, PPSA) from Chorley Photographic Society and the Digital competition was judged by Diane Seddon (ARPS, AFIAP, CPAGB, BPE3) from Cleethorpes Camera Club in the North East Midlands Federation.  Each judge selected their 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed images in each category along with a number of Commended and Highly Commended images. They also selected their overall Best In Show image.

The Awarded Images from Photoshow 2026 are shown below in two Award Galleries. Click on any image in the gallery to launch the slideshow.


The award for Best Print in Show went to Jamnik Church In The Falling Snow by Carol Watson.

Jamnik Church In The Falling Snow

Jamnik Church In The Falling Snow by Carol Watson

Print Awards Galleries


The award for Best Digital Image in Show went to Aurora Over Lofoten by Gordon Watson.

Aurora Over Lofoten

Aurora Over Lofoten by Gordon Watson

Digital Awards Galleries


 

2026 President’s Challenge

Darylington Station

Darylington Station by Peter Flegg

The President’s Challenge this year was on the subject of Railway, and it was judged by Daryl on 9th July between the AGM and Photoshow results. There was only a small entry of 15 images this year. As time was short Daryl made just a few comments about why some images were held back or why they fell short.

Congratulations to Esther Parkinson, Peter Darby and Chris Round who’s images were all held back, and especially to Peter Flegg, who’s image of Darylington Station was the winner. Surely nothing to do with referencing the judge in the title?

President’s Challenge – Gallery


Note: The copyright of all images on this website belongs to the author and no unauthorised use, or copying of these images, is permitted without the agreement of the author.

2026 North Cheshire Challenge

The 2026 North Cheshire Challenge was held on Saturday 13th June, judged by Jeremy Malley-Smith (LRPS, EFIAP, DPAGB, BPE3*). The format is a knock-out club competition, with each club entering 5 images. In a knock-out there are a series of rounds, and at each round about 50% of the remaining images are eliminated. After 5 rounds, with only a handful remaining, the judge then chooses an overall winner.  Scores are awarded based on the round at which an image is knocked out, and the club with the highest total score wins.

There were 120 images entered from 24 clubs. LSAPS scored 18 points and came a very commendable 3rd place – a significant improvement on the previous two years. The competition was won by Southport who tied with South Manchester on 21 pts, but Southport won by virtue of having the overall winning image by Katherine Scorah.

Pass With Care!

Pass With Care! by Mike Williamson

Member NameTitleScore
Carol WatsonFading Floral Dance5
Mike WilliamsonPass With Care!5
Esther ParkinsonDistracted4
Anthony HullAvocets2
Gordon WatsonThe Artist2

2026 North Cheshire Challenge Images


Note: The copyright of all images on this website belongs to the author and no unauthorised use, or copying of these images, is permitted without the agreement of the author.