We regret that effective 15 March we have cancelled all remaining events for our 2019-20 season. This is as a result of the Coronavirus/ Covid-19 threat.
We hope to restart as planned in September for the 2020-21 season. The Committee wishes you all a safe and healthy few months.
Chester PS took part in last weekend’s Lancashire & Cheshire Photographic Union Annual Club Competition which was held at Culcheth near Warrington. The Digital entries were judged on the Saturday with Prints on the Sunday. Three judges each scored out of 5, and on average it took 5 seconds for marks to be given in the Digital classes, with about 10 seconds per Print on the second day.
37 Clubs from across the region took part on the Saturday, with a slightly different combination of 22 clubs entering Prints. On both days it was the Nature section that was our weak point, but overall CPS finished a respectable half way down the tables.
Open Digital – 18th / 37 Nature Digital 25th / 37 OVERALL DIGITAL 23rd / 37
Colour Print – 11th /22 Mono Print 11th / 22 Nature Print 18th / 22 OVERALL PRINT 11th / 22
It is well worth looking at the slideshows for each section which can be found on the L&CPU website under the Information Portal Tab. There are some top class Nature images, and you will be able to see DPI’s and Prints which scored 12 and over. There were some very good images which scored under 12 too, so it was well worth going along to witness the marking. The full set of Club Ranking Lists is also available on the Portal:
http://lcpu-portal.org/current/Galleries.php
The top scoring Chester image was Speedo Girl by Malcolm Peacock with 14 points , and Bad Hair Day was given 13.
We noticed that the scores in the Mono section seemed generally quite low, but despite this, Ray Groom’s Vestrahorn & Shoreline and Malcolm’s Praying Nun both scored 13.
Thank you to all the authors for contributing your images to the CPS entry.
There will be an opportunity for CPS Members to enter their own images/prints into the L&CPU Annual Individual’s Competition in May.
Sue Champion & Jan Wilding
Chester PS has significantly improved its performance in the GB Cup for Small Clubs by finishing 3rd in the Open Digital Section.
Congratulations go to Richard Barrett for collecting a Silver Medal for Wild Wales in August, which was the Simon Allen Judge’s Choice; and to Malcolm Peacock whose Praying Nun gained a Bronze Medal for the Best Portrait. Chester did well to scoop two of the eleven medals awarded.
Forty clubs from across Great Britain entered this section which was topped by Tamworth PS with 125 points. Chester scored 117 points with the ten images above and six of them will be exhibited in a digital gallery. http://www.thepagb.org.uk/competitions/great-british-cup/
The entries must be from at least 4 different photographers and each is marked out of five by three judges. This year’s judges were Andrea Hargreaves, Joan Blease and Simon Allen. Natural History images are NOT permitted in the Open section – but perhaps we will be encouraged to enter this section in the future.
Thanks go to the authors of the images used and to Keith Fitzpatrick for submitting our entry.
John Lewis kindly invited us to exhibit some of our photos in their Gallery within the cafeteria area of their store on the Greyhound Shopping Park. White mounts and frames have complimented the display of Mono Prints which will be on show until March.
The exhibition features places within conservation areas in and around Chester, and showcases the high quality of mono-printing produced by Chester PS members. Do take a look next time you are in the area, and also encourage family and friends to visit the exhibition over the next couple of months.
Thanks go to Graham Latter for making the initial contact, Rob Adams for co-ordinating the prints and the shop support staff at John Lewis for mounting and hanging the exhibits.
President Graham Latter wishes everyone “A very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.
Let’s hope we get plenty of opportunity to take lots of pictures for the upcoming competitions”.
Thanks go to Rob Tarrant for organising the meal , and to Phillip Macey for taking photos on the evening.
In September, during our short Annual Exhibition in St Mary’s Creative Space, the stewards were given this catalogue by a lady who had kindly brought it in for members of the club .
It is really interesting to read that our headquarters were at the Grosvenor Museum , and that the exhibition was displayed at Chester Town Hall from 6th June to 20th June between 10am and 9pm each weekday ! The President expresses his gratitude to Chester City Corporation for their continued encouragement , co-operation, and extremely generous gesture of placing the Town Hall facilities at the club’s disposal.
The adverts make for interesting reading , and many of us will remember Will R. Rose Ltd in Bridge St Row.
Over 600 prints and 400 slides were entered from all around the world with an acceptance rate of less than 1/3rd. The categories were Pictorial, Natural History, and Record :
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.
