Chester PS hosted the Annual Interclub Print knockout at the Grosvenor Museum with twelve clubs participating. The judge for the evening was Paul Williamson LRPS from Bolton Digital PS and visitors were welcomed by Chester PS President Graham Latter. Nantwich swept the board by winning the Best Colour Print, Best Mono Print and they topped the table with 25 points. Mold came second with 18 points and Deeside and Mid Cheshire were joint third with 17 points. Chester lost all their prints by the second round in the colour section and our best performer was Richard Barrett’s mono print The Persistent Pedaller. The winning colour print was taken by Wray Douglas in Costa Rica.

• 

• 

Thanks go to all the participants who arrived in good time enabling a prompt start, and to all the CPS organisers and helpers who took on vital roles during the evening.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Malcolm Peacock our current CPS Photographer of the Year , has proven why he is on the top spot by winning a host of awards this year. The most prestigious by far is the Fremantle International Portrait Prize , held biennially , which had an entry of 1800 images.

The Fremantle International Portrait Prize (FIPP) was founded in 2010, based on an idea by Fremantle professional photographer, Dale Neill. It is open to all people worldwide and is assessed by the highest quality of independent judges gaining it a reputation as one of the leading photographic competitions in Australia. FIPP believes that photography is an international language and the biennial competition acts as an artistic magnet attracting photographic ideas, excellence and innovation from around the world. Every time someone enters FIPP they are also playing a small part in contributing to two worthwhile charities.

Malcolm knew that he was a finalist about two weeks prior to the announcements, but was actually on his way to Spain when the final results came through. Unable to be in Australia for the presentation – where results were announced live – he asked some family friends who lived nearby to go along to the event to accept on his behalf. The e-mail arrived in Malcolm’s inbox just as he was boarding his flight and he was stunned to find out that he was the first UK Photographer to win the overall competition. There is a short video in which Malcolm talks about taking the photograph which can be viewed on the FIPP facebook page.

Malcolm gained his BPE 2* earlier this year, after gaining 50 acceptances in British Photographic Exhibition approved Salons. Several images have been awarded commendations and ribbons.

Other notable successes include: Scottish International Salon – 1 Judges award . -1 PSA Gold Medal for Best Overall Picture.
Edinburgh International Print Salon  – 1 FIAP Gold Medal.
Hoylake International Salon –  1 Judges Choice . – 1 PSA Gold Medal.

Malcolm is now addicted to competitions and is currently working towards awards from PSA (Photographic Society of America) , FIAP (International Federation of Photographic Art) and BPE3* (British Photographic Exhibitions ).

Congratulations Malcolm from all at Chester Photographic Society !

Visitors to our recent Exhibition in St Mary’s Centre were asked to vote for their favourite prints, and as expected the choices were very varied. Forty nine of the prints on display received votes , with only a point separating the top three. The overall winner was Winter’s Glow by Ray Groome. Second place was awarded to Orangutan by Keith Fitzpatrick, with Asad Syed’s If Eyes Could Talk in third place.

Thanks go to Rob Adams for collating and labelling the prints, those who came along to set up and to the Stewards . The prints really showcased the wide variety of photographic interests amongst the membership. Visitors commented on how difficult it was for them to choose a favourite because of the wide range of subject matter on display.

Members of Chester Photographic Society will be showcasing prints from their 2018-19 season at

St Mary’s Creative Space
St Mary’s Hill, off Castle Street, Chester, CH1 2DW

The former Church of St Mary-on-the-Hill is a Grade 1 listed building which will be open as part of Heritage Open Days.

Fri 13th & Sat 14th September 2019 10am – 4pm Free Admission

Our congratulations go to Patrick Faleur for getting a photograph accepted in the Grosvenor Museum’s 13th Open Art Exhibition this summer. The image has also found a buyer, with a local resident the lucky new owner. Well done, Patrick.

Colin Hulley from Permajet came along to deliver a Colour Management and Printing workshop at Vicar’s Cross on Saturday. Thirteen club members attended , making it pretty much a full house.

The morning was dedicated to Colour Management , Monitor Calibration and the importance of ICC Profiling for different papers. In the afternoon images were printed on to two different papers, so that comparisons could be made, using a Canon Pro 10s.

Colin brought along the full range of Permajet papers which proved very tempting to most of us! Details of their range plus lots of useful information can be found on their website at  http://www.permajet.com

Many thanks to Jan Wilding for organising another very informative, sociable and great value workshop.

 

There are just a couple of weeks left if you want to see the PAGB Inter Federation touring Print exhibition which is being hosted by the L&CPU. This is a chance to see a selection of photography from across the various federations which make up the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain. The mono section was particularly strong.

Leigh Spinners Mill is located in Mill Park Lane, Leigh, Lancashire, WN7 2LB. The prints are on display on the Second floor which does have a lift. The exhibition is open daily from 9am to 6pm and it finishes on the 3^rd September.  If you visit on a Saturday morning between 10am-12 noon the volunteers will show you around the engine house on the ground floor which is being restored. There is no admission charge but donations are most welcome. There is a café there as well.

If visiting on Saturdays, it’s worth making a day out of your visit, not only to photograph the steam engines at the mill, but also to visit Astley Green Colliery, a few miles away on the East Lancs road. This museum boasts the only surviving pit head gear but two very large  compound steam engines as well as lots of interesting stuff in the yard.

 

 

We are sorry to report that Mike Reed died on Tuesday 16 July at the age of 87.

Mike had been a member of Chester Photographic Society since 1973 and had held many posts on the committee. He was a Hon. Vice President of the Society in recognition of his contribution over many years. He was an A.R.P.S. and a well-recognised Lecturer and Judge in the L&CPU. He represented C.P.S. on the L&CPU Committee for a few years and his contribution resulted in him being granted a life membership of the L&CPU.

Graham Latter, president, spoke on behalf of all members: “A great loss to the club and I have many memories of chats and advice from him over the years. My condolences to Eileen and their family.”

There will be a memorial service at Rowton Methodist Chapel at 11.30am on Tuesday 30th July followed by refreshments at Rowton Poplars Hotel.

Eleven members went along to the National Waterways Museum in Ellemsere Port on Saturday 8 June for a Portrait Workshop led by Manchester photographer Sam Chaloner.

We spent some time examining some of “The Greats” of portrait photography over the years, and learning about what motivated them, before getting into the practical tutorial on how to achieve good quality portraits.

Sam had brought along two professional models who very kindly and patiently allowed us to practice our new skills, in the mini-studio he had set up as well as using natural light in the museum. Since it was raining, we were limited to working indoors which nevertheless allowed plenty of scope for interpretation.

Word has it that the models were convincingly upstaged by one of our very own. We will let you judge for yourself.