I had organised two trips to this location covering Saturday 22^nd and Sunday 23^rd November. Due to a weather forecast of persistent rain on the Sunday morning, which did materialise, I cancelled the Sunday walk. This was so disappointing particularly as we had a clear blue sky on Saturday. On Saturday morning 14 members met in the car park before walking down a dark tree lined avenue. The sun was so low in the sky it pierced the trees only to cast light on the woodland to our right. Our next photo opportunity was taking images of the autumn colours with a stream running through the scene and close up images of the flora. On previous visits I’ve never noticed the fungi on the trees and the woodland floor, but our group certainly found plenty of examples. After a pleasant walk we returned to the car park a little later than I’d planned. I hope the group enjoyed the experience, it’s an area I go back to each autumn.

Mike Halstead

LSAPS Group At Yarrow Valley Country Park

Thirteen LSAPS members met up for a 10am start at Yarrow Valley Country Park, Chorley. Chorley Council has published leaflets covering 4 walks around the country park. Using some of those directions I planned a short walk around the lake, on to the waterfall, then a short distance along the River Yarrow before returning to our cars at 12.30pm. It would have been nice to see more wildlife, however the weather stayed fine allowing us to capture images of the surroundings.

Mike

Emerging Into The Light by Stuart Cahill

We met up in High Street car park Garstang. Our band of 10 first set out to the flood defence barrier on the River Wyre. A splash in the river drew our attention to a group of lads jumping into the river on this warm, still evening.

We retraced our steps back to the car park and continued on the river bank to the Lancaster canal. A steep set of stairs lead up from the river to the canal and we headed past Garstang basin on the tow path towards the A6 main road near the Bellflower pub. The sun was going down in front of us giving a lovely orange glow in the sky which reflected on the water in the canal. On our way back to the cars we stopped off in Garstang for a drink and chat.

Mike

Stanley Park by Mike Halstead

Stanley Park was the venue for the walk on Thursday evening 21^st July. The weather was fine but overcast as eight of us made our way to the Italian Gardens with its display of colourful flowers surrounding the water fountain. The layout of the Italian Garden, with paths pointing in all directions, encouraged us to spread out taking images of the Art Deco Café, Remembrance Garden, Clock Tower, Bandstand and the Lake. As always it was nice to chat as we walked particularly as a new member, Elaine, joined us for the evening. A few of us finished the evening with a drink in the Belle Vue pub. The next walk will be in Garstang on Thursday 4^th August.

Mike

The Eye Of The Storm By Gordon Watson

With the announcement of Photoshow results, we can also announce the annual Print and Digital Photographer Of The Year awards. First, an explanation of how these are calculated.

Points are awarded for performance in each of the In-Season competitions (Open and Set Subject), with 5 pts for coming first, based on the combined score of both images entered, 4pts for second etc. Points are also awarded for performance in Photoshow, again with 5pts for coming first in a category, 4 for second etc. Finally, points are awarded for scores achieved in the L&CPU Individual competition, with 5 pts for a score of 15, 4pts for a score of 14 etc. Marks are added separately for print and digital competitions to establish the Print and Digital Photographer Of The Year.

After all the calculations have been done, the placings were:-

Print Photographer Of The Year

• 1st – Gordon Watson (62pts)
• 2nd – Kuli Virdee (46pts)
• 3rd – Carol Watson (38pts)

Digital Photographer Of The Year

• 1st – Carol Watson (55pts)
• 2nd – Gordon Watson (52pts)
• 3rd – Sheila Giles (18pts)

So, congratulations to Gordon and Carol for topping the overall standings.

A Grey Day In Blackpool By Chris Round

Photoshow results were announced on Thursday 14th July, when we had the pleasure of inviting our two judges to provide comment on the images they had selected for Awards. The Print competition was judged by Howard Tate (MA, ARPS, AFIAP, HonPAGB) from Pontefract Camera Club, whilst the Digital competition was judged by John Tilsley (ARPS, DPAGB, APAGB) from Dorchester Camera Club.

There were 324 Prints submitted by 38 LSAPS members, and of these, 40 Prints and 18 members received awards. In the PDI category, there were 286 images submitted by 31 LSAPS members, with 48 PDI’s and 19 members receiving an award.

All the Awarded images are listed below. Congratulations to everyone who received an Award, but in particular to Chris Round who received Best In Show – Digital and to Gordon Watson who received Best In Show – Prints.

2022 Photoshow Print Awards

2022 Photoshow Digital Awards

LSAPS Photographers Outstanding In Their Field

The latest photo walk, to Fleetwood Wrecks, took place on Thursday evening 7^th July. On arrival it was overcast but by the time we’d walked from Fleetwood Marsh Nature Park the clouds had parted to reveal the sun and patches of blue sky. The low evening sunlight really brought out the textures on the wrecks. We took the opportunity to experiment with close up shots as well as compositions showing the wrecks in the landscape. Having packed our camera bags a few of us made our way to the nearest pub for liquid refreshment before making our way home. I wouldn’t say it was a quiet end to the evening as the pub was having a quiz night, come bingo session, broadcast over all the speakers in the pub. However, we were able to chat in between rounds. I hope we experience similar warm and sunny weather conditions for the next photo Walk.

Mike