2022 L&CPU Annual Club Print Competition

Posted on 3rd April 20222nd August 2023 by Gordon

Neighbourhood Watch by Kuli Virdee

The annual L&CPU Club Print competition was held on Sunday 3rd April at the Elm Bank Conference Centre in Eccles. The Print competition involves 18 images from each club – 6 in Open Colour, 6 in Mono and 6 in Nature. Each image is judged by 3 judges, awarding a maximum score of 15pts. Only 15 clubs competed in the Print competition, and Lytham placed 5th in Colour, 5th in the Mono and 8th in Nature, putting us in 6th place overall with a score of 294pts. The competition was won by Wigan 10 with a total score of 324pts.

Congratulations to Kuli Virdee whose Neighbourhood Watch scored a maximum 15pts in Mono, and also to Kuli (again), Carol Watson, Gordon Watson and Andy Dickson who all had images that scored 14pts.

LSAPS Image Scores


Title	Author	Pts	Title	Author	Pts
Vestrahorn Reflections	Carol Watson	14	Guided By The Light	Carol Watson	12
Into Mirkwood	Gordon Watson	14	Tornado Over Dent Viaduct	Chris Taylor	12
Proud Soldier	Kuli Virdee	14	Not In My Book	Kuli Virdee	12
All At Sea	Gordon Watson	13	Little Ayton Wood	Mike Halstead	11
Open Total					102
Neighbourhood Watch	Kuli Virdee	15	Quiet Contemplation	Carol Watson	12
Passage Of Time	Carol Watson	13	Marys Shell	Ian Mulroy	11
Lord Of The Manor	Kuli Virdee	13	Sand Blowing On St Annes Beach	Justin Clayton	11
Supplicant	Martin Christensen	13	Lighthouse At South Walney	Karen Morris	10
Mono Total					98
Female Stonechat At Dusk	Andy Dickson	14	Foraging Wild Red Squirrel	Sheila Giles	12
Mating Common Blue Damselflies	Gordon Watson	13	Red Eyed Tree Frogs	Sheila Giles	11
Pair Of Otters	Lenny Atherton	12	Moorhen With Fish	Lenny Atherton	10
Spirit Bear With Salmon	Patricia Vice	12	Eagle Owl	Pete Dugan	10
Nature Total					94
Overall Total					294

2022 L&CPU Annual Club PDI Competition

Posted on 2nd April 20222nd August 2023 by Gordon

The Hurdlers By Brian Clark

The annual L&CPU Club PDI competition was held on Saturday 2nd April at the Elm Bank Conference Centre in Eccles. The PDI competition involves 18 images from each club – 12 in Open (Colour or Mono) and 6 in Nature. Each image is judged by 3 judges, awarding a maximum score 15pts. After the Open competition, LSAPS were lying in 7th equal position with 199pts, but dropped back to 12th equal after the Nature round with a total of 295pts. The competition was won by Chorley PS, with a total score of 317pts.

The scoring was relatively generous, and although none of the LSAPS images achieved a top score of 15pts, there were a number which scored a very creditable 14pts.

Congratulations to Brian Clark, Carol Watson, Gordon Watson, Justin Clayton and Kuli Virdee who all had images scoring 14pts in the Open Competition, and to Anthony Hull and Bill Breckenridge who had images scoring 14pts in the Nature Competition.

LSAPS Image Scores


Title	Author	Pts	Title	Author	Pts
The Hurdlers	Brian Clarke	14	Langdale From Loughrigg Fell	Vince Draper	13
Foggy Morning Rydal Water	Carol Watson	14	Suffolk Sea Defences	Keith Orr	12
Marys Shell Sunset	Gordon Watson	14	A Day At The Seaside	Peter Cotton	12
Camels In Wadi Rum	Justin Clayton	14	Morning Light On The Old Man Of Storr	Martin Christensen	11
Dickensian	Kuli Virdee	14	Fountains Abbey Undercroft	Martin Round	11
Jordan	Carol Watson	13	Lily	Tim Amphlett	11
British Bulldog	Gordon Watson	13	The Tower	Kuli Virdee	10
Flooded Forest	Sheila Giles	13	Ready For The Stage	Mary Woodland	10
Open Total					199
Avocet Feeding	Anthony Hull	14	Nuthatch	Chris Taylor	11
Mere Sands Cockfight	Bill Breckenridge	14	Greater Flamingo Feeding	Grant Douse	11
Grey Heron Rising	Simon Ray	12	Common Blue Damselfly	Kuli Virdee	11
Greylag Geese	Stuart Cahill	12	Porcelain Fungus	Peter Parnell	11
Nature Total					96
Overall Total					295

Haslam Park Photo Walk

Posted on 29th March 202213th March 2023 by Gordon

LSAPS Members at Haslam Park

On Saturday morning, 19^th March, a group of 9 met at Haslam Park to explore and enjoy taking images in the spring sunshine. The Lancaster canal bounds one side of the park. We joined the towpath to follow the curves of the canal beyond the park to reach the junction with the Ribble Link. The two deep locks linking the canal with Savick Brook provided some good photo opportunities. We continued the walk to re-entry Haslam Park at the ornamental gates at the western entrance. Two hours quickly passed enjoying the tranquillity of the park. As always it was a pleasure to meet up with members to talk, walk and take pictures along the way.

3rd Open Digital Competition (2021/22)

Posted on 17th March 202213th March 2023 by Gordon

The 3rd and final Open Digital Competition of the 2021/2 season was judged on 17th March by John Riley from Atherton and District Photographic Society. John had obviously spent some time studying the images before the competition, but he did comment on a number that had blown highlights, so that is something to check before submitting images into competitions. The featured image for this competition is Red Kite Hunting by Grant Douse, which scored 20pts in the Intermediate Group.


Group	Title	Author	Pts
Intermediate	Helm Crag & Grasmere	Anthony Hull	20
Intermediate	Ukrainian Air Force Sukhoi 27	Anthony Hull	20
Intermediate	Red Kite Hunting	Grant Douse	20
Intermediate	All Angles	Stuart Cahill	20
Advanced	Balancing Act	Carol Watson	20
Advanced	Father Brown	Gordon Watson	20

3rd Open Digital Competition – Image Gallery

Red Kite Hunting By Grant Douse

2nd Set Subject Competition (2021/22) – Contre Jour

Posted on 18th February 202213th March 2023 by Gordon

The 2nd Set Subject Competition of the 2021/2 season on the subject ‘Contre Jour’ was judged on 17th February by Alfred Brown (CPAGB) from both South Manchester and Branhall Photographic Societies. There were 100 PDI and print images to get through, but Alf kept his comments short and to the point so we finished in good time. Recurring comments were about controlling specular highlights, achieving good black and white tones in mono images and sometimes cropping to a letterbox shape for added impact.

The featured image for this competition is Celestial Dawn by Chris Taylor, which scored 20pts in the PDI category.


Category	Title	Author	Pts
PDI	Watching The Tide	Carol Watson	20
PDI	Celestial Dawn	Chris Taylor	20
PDI	Fishing For Supper	Gordon Watson	20
PDI	Mary's Shell Sunset	Gordon Watson	20
PDI	Forest Glade	Sheila Giles	20
Print	Misty Southwold	Gordon Watson	20

2nd Set Subject Competition – Contre Jour Images

Celestial Dawn by Chris Taylor

2022 Dublin Competition

Posted on 3rd February 202212th September 2026 by Gordon

Kingfisher With Catch By Kuli Virdee

On Tuesday 25th January LSAPS took part in an inter-club competition against Dublin Camera Club. This competition followed on from last year’s Photoshow PDI competition, which was judged by Dublin club member Pauric McGroder. Pauric thought that LSAPS would be a good match for Dublin, so we agreed to hold a competition. The format was for 30 images, including between 5 and 10 Mono and Nature images, with no club member being represented more than twice.

The judge was Ann Francis (FIPF, EFIAP/g) from Cork Camera Group, and after a close competition, Dublin were the narrow winners with a score of 486pts against 483pts for LSAPS.

LSAPS scores and images are shown below. Congratulations to Kuli Virdee whose Kingfisher With Catch was the highest placed LSAPS image with a score of 19.

Author	Title	Score
Kuli Virdee	Kingfisher with Catch	19
Carol Watson	Head of the Pride	18
Martin Christensen	Man From the Black Country	18
Sheila Giles	Red Eyed Tree Frogs	18
Simon Ray	Global Warming	18
Andy Dickson	Female Stonechat at Dusk	17
Bill Breckenridge	Mere Sands Cockfight	17
Gordon Watson	On A Winters Day	17
Justin Clayton	Camels in the Wadi Rum	17
Peter Cotton	Social Distancing Perfectly Demonstrated	17
Sheila Giles	Waiting and Hoping	17
Bill Breckenridge	Red Kite in Flight	16
Carol Watson	Vestrahorn Reflection	16
Daryl Giles	Amazonian Milk Frog	16
Gordon Watson	Black Tailed Godwit	16
Keith Orr	Dandelion Drop	16
Kuli Virdee	Dickensian	16
Martin Christensen	Grand Canal Venice	16
Stuart Cahill	Breathe	16
Vince Draper	The Early Bird	16
Andy Dickson	Eyes on the Finisih Line	15
Brian Clark	Sky Jumper	15
Graham Barker	The Copse	15
Graham Barker	The Hornspitze	15
Pete Dugan	Catch of the Day	15
Peter Cotton	Raining Outside	15
Ian Mulroy	Fleetwood Coastwatch Station	14
Mike Halstead	Dent Viaduct	14
Stuart Cahill	Geese	14
Vince Draper	Vancouver Skyscrapers	14

2nd Open Digital Competition (2021/22)

Posted on 21st January 202213th March 2023 by Gordon

The 2nd Open Digital Competition of the 2021/2 season was judged on 20th January by Nick Berentzen (CPAGB, BPE2*) from South Manchester Camera Club. Nick laid out his criteria for assessing images at the start – looking for impact, emotion, story telling and atmosphere, and only placing technical competence at the end. During his critique he mentioned placing of subjects within the frame as important, such as offsetting subjects in a landscape, or providing looking space for nature shots, and also talked about the right lighting conditions for landscapes.

Congratulations to Brian and Tim in the Intermediate Group and Gordon and Sheila in the Advanced Group who all scored 20pts for one of their images. The featured image for this competition is Flooded Forest by Sheila Giles, which scored 20pts in the Advanced Group.


Group	Title	Author	Pts
Intermediate	The Hurdlers	Brian Clark	20
Intermediate	Lilly 3	Tim Amphlett	20
Advanced	The Eye Of The Storm	Gordon Watson	20
Advanced	Flooded Forest	Sheila Giles	20

Flooded Forest By Sheila Giles

Salford Quays Photo Walk

Posted on 8th January 202213th March 2023 by Gordon

The Quays At Night by Mike Halstead

The walk took place on Saturday afternoon 15^th January. A clear blue sky and bright sunshine greeted us as we arrived at Salford Quays, however there was a distinct chill in the air. We quickly set about the task of seeking out interesting images. There was little breeze, so we were able to capture some nice reflections in the water. Sunset, unfortunately, did not provide the glow in the sky we hoped for and so we took the opportunity to take a break.

After a quick visit to the Lowry Outlet Centre, to have a cup of tea and get warm, we resumed our walk as darkness, and the lights of the buildings and bridges, transformed the landscape. The challenge for the remainder of the evening was to select the appropriate exposure settings to produce pleasing images of the Quays at night.

At about 6pm we retraced our steps to the car park and made our way home. By now we’ll have viewed the images on our computers and evaluated with the results.

On a cold afternoon / evening in January it was a pleasure to get together and enjoy photography.

A selection of images from the day are shown below.

Mike Halstead

2nd Open Print Competition (2021/22)

Posted on 20th December 202126th July 2023 by Gordon

Lower Sweden Bridge By Tim Amphlett

The 2nd Open Print Competition of the 2021/2 season was judged on 16th December by George Steele (CPAGB, LRPS, BPE2*) from Bury PS. George also had the task of selecting the Christmas Hat and Jumper winners. Congratulations to Carol and Kuli, who scored 20pts in the Advanced Group, and to Tim Amphlett whose image Lower Swede Bridge scored 20pts in the Intermediates, and is the Featured Image for this competition.


Group	Title	Author	Pts
Intermediate	Low Sweden Bridge	Tim Amphlett	20
Intermediate	Ice Blue Eyes	Bill Breckenridge	19
Intermediate	Smiling Surfer	Stuart Cahill	19
Intermediate	Loughrigg Summit	Eddie Killick	19
Advanced	Guided By The Light	Carol Watson	20
Advanced	Not In My Book	Kuli Virdee	20
Advanced	Into Mirkwood	Gordon Watson	19
Advanced	Lord Of The Manor	Kuli Virdee	19

Christmas Hats And Jumpers

Posted on 19th December 202113th March 2023 by Gordon

At the meeting on Thursday 16th Dec, members were encouraged to turn up in their best Christmas jumper or hat, with prizes for the best outfits.

Well done to Margaret Broughton and Peter Cotton, who won the Lady’s and Men’s Hat competition, and to Sheila Giles and Mike Halstead, who won the Lady’s and Men’s jumper competition.