Sunday 19th May 2019 saw a group of CPS photographers trying something new.

On locations from Delamere Forest to a Victorian Cemetery in Chester, Graham Currey, model and photographer, lead us on a journey through time in the company of his many characters. The lovely old Delamere station and the tracks gave us a starter for what turned out to be a very creative and enjoyable day. We were ‘shot’ by the railway tracks by ‘Gangster’ Graham, before heading into the forest with ‘cowboy’ Graham and Davy Crockett.

We ended the day in the Victorian Cemetery in Chester amongst the old gravestones in the company of Wyatt Earp and a Victorian Gentleman.

Throughout the photoshoot, Graham offered some shooting advice, came up with ideas for poses within the various locations, and responded to any requests from us for alternative angles. With each character and pose he ensured he made eye contact with every photographer in turn, and also ensured we all had ample opportunity to capture as many images as we wanted. You may even see some of these in future competitions!

Graham and his business partner Emma Finch also run Photography Session Days at various locations in the northwest www.sessiondays.co.uk

Jan Wilding

Malcolm Peacock has been awarded Chester Photographic Society Photographer of the Year for the second year running, and scooped seven trophies after scoring 502 points. The 2^nd Place Photographer of the Year was Keith Fitzpatrick with 477 points, and Jan Wilding was 3^rd with 467 points. Terry Daltry was awarded Beginner of the Year for his Digital Images.

Malcolm won both Print and Digital Photographer of the Year, the Annual Open Print and Open Digital three part competitions ; along with the trophies for the People and Monochrome Prints.

Members enjoyed their Annual Dinner at Eaton Golf Club when the awards were presented by retiring President Keith Fitzpatrick.

The President’s Annual Set Theme of Low Light was won by John Hoyle for his Digital Image and the Print section topped by Jan Wilding.

The Annual Nature Digital award went to Rob Tarrant, with Ray Groome collecting the Nature Print Trophy.

Richard Barrett received the Digital People trophy with Vicky Naudi winning the Digital Monochrome award.

Members are planning a print exhibition later in the year when many of the competition images will be on display.

The workshop on Sunday was well attended, with participants dividing in to two groups .

Phil Wilding demonstrated the process of Focus Stacking with set-ups suitable for Nikon, Canon and Fuji Cameras. Image processing with Photoshop and Zerene Stacker was shown, before everyone took shots with their own equipment. Keith Fitzpatrick was also kept busy helping people with their images.

Bill Marks demonstrated print mounting procedures, and Jan Wilding helped those wanting to practice.

Thanks go to Phil, Jan and Bill for bringing in all the equipment; and making several computers available for practice.

If you have any suggestions for future workshops then please get in touch with Jan Wilding or a member of the committee.

London Camera Exchange Chester and Sony will be holding a hands on event at Chester falconry and Nature Gardens with brand ambassador and wildlife photographer Luke Massey whose work has been awarded in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year as well as winning Travel Photographer of the Year’s Wildlife category 2016 and the Wildscreen Panda award for Emerging Talent in 2018.

Along with demonstrations and talks from Luke during the day attendees will also have the opportunity to try the very latest Sony equipment and have a chance to try and capture that perfect shot of the Cathedrals birds of prey in flight.

The event is open to photographers of all levels and is not limited to just Sony users so why not bring your current kit along to compare. Tickets for the event are £25 and booking can be done in store or by contacting LCE Chester on 01244 326531.

The Photographic Alliance of Great Britain recently held its annual competition ‘The GB Cup for Small Clubs’. Clive Smith submitted our entries which were chosen from last season’s CPS highest scoring club competition images.

In the Open Category, Chester improved from joint 35th out of 57 clubs countrywide last year, to be a very respectable joint 19th out of 56 clubs this year with a total of  104 points. It’s a reflection on the subjective nature of judging that Terry’s excellent “Sad Ollie” , which did so well at the L&CPU Interclub, was at the lower end of the results this time. Each image is scored out of 5 by three judges, giving a possible maximum of 15 points.

Chloe Malcolm Peacock 9

Sad Ollie Terry Daltry 9

Breaststroker Malcolm Peacock 10

Canoeist Malcolm Peacock 10

Me And My Teddy Sue Champion 10

Summer Blooms Sue Champion 10

Spicy Janice Wilding 11

The Mandolin Rocks Keith Fitzpatrick 11

Summer Blues Keith Fitzpatrick 12

Vestrahorn With Reflections Ray Groome 12

The digital images entered for the ‘GB Cup for Nature’ did not fare as well , with Chester scoring 96 points to finish joint 76th out of 86 clubs. This is however a very tough category ,with some formidable opponents from across the country. 

Reddish Egret Ray Groome 12

Spider And The Fly Malcolm Peacock 10

French Bee On Lavender John Hoyle 9

Elephant Enjoying Dust Bath Patricia Keegan 10

Primula Vulgaris Malcolm Peacock 9

Yellow Eyed Penguins Grooming Keith Fitzpatrick 10

Mute Swan Rob Tarrant 9

Southern Ground Hornbills Sue Champion 9

The Gibbon Gaze Ken Waldie 9

Broad-bodied Chaser Cyril Langman 9

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We’ve all got images that we think are truly wonderful, – but which judges pass over with barely a mention.

Well don’t trash them in a fit of frustration. Next season we are having an interactive session with an experienced judge who has only recently moved into the LCPU patch. First he is going to discuss his experience of judging giving you plenty of opportunity to air some of your gripes and grievances. Then he wants to reassess around 20 images that in competition have failed to live up to their creator’s expectations. And again, he wants you to discuss why you think it should have done better.

So don’t tear up or dismantle your disappointments. Put them carefully to one side and they may get picked out for reassessment in what should be a really interesting evening.