To all our present and past members.
I would like to wish you all “Seasons Greetings” on behalf of myself and The CPS Committee.

Under very challenging conditions we have managed to get through the first half of our Club year.

We have all had to adjust to having virtual meetings via the remarkable Zoom system. I personally wish to thank especially, Owen, Sue, Phil, Jan and Keith for their enthusiasm and tenacity in sorting out this new approach to our meetings. We have managed to carry out the prearranged program of Talks and Competitions with only minor adjustments. Hopefully we will manage to continue in the new year with the same success.

Wishing you all a “Very Pleasant Christmas” and a “Better Brighter New Year”.

Graham Latter

CPS President.

Chester PS came 4th overall in this year’s Lancashire & Cheshire Photographic Union Novice Cup which was held on line. We thought we had achieved 3rd place , but after a re-check we dropped down a place. The overall winners were Oldham PS , with Lytham St Anne’s in second place and Burnley were 3rd- just one point ahead of Chester.

In the Open Section Jan Wilding and Patricia Keegan were both ranked third, finishing just one point behind the overall winner ! Keith Fitzpatrick was pushed in to seventh place (due to tied placings) despite scoring just one point less than the girls.

Jan and Patricia both received Commendeds for Hydrangeas and Albert respectively, and Patricia and Keith finished half way in the overall rankings for the Nature Section. Letizia Contini, Debbie Hesketh, John Hoyle , Viorica Naudi and Ian Nixon all submitted entries helping Chester to achieve such a great result.

It is a shame that the usual day long event with speakers could not take place this year , but thanks must go to Adrian and Jane Lines, all the judges and L&CPU helpers for putting on the event during these difficult times. For the full report please visit the L&CPU website using the link below:

https://lcpu.org/2020/10/11/2020-novice-cup-results/

As you know our season, including our competitions, was cut short by the pandemic.  Only one competition, the President’s theme could not be completed and at that stage it was mathematically impossible for the three leaders in the Photographer of the Year challenge to be overtaken by any other members. Our annual awards will be given based on the scores for the six competitions completed.

As you will see, although our lady members number less than 20% of our membership, five of them have between them taken almost 80% of the trophies !  Congratulations therefore to Jan Wilding, Sue Champion, Patricia Keegan, Debbie Hesketh and Vicky Naudi.  
Particular congratulations of course go to Jan for being our “Photographer of the Year” in addition to winning two other trophies.  (Jan has also won two of the three “on-line lockdown” competitions we have had so far over the close season !).  Sue took three further trophies on her way to second place in the Photographer of the Year competition with Patricia also taking an additional trophy on her way to third place. 
Debbie took three first places and three seconds in the six competitions on her way to winning B group Photographer of the Year and Vicky took an additional first place and two seconds in the DPI competitions as well as winning the People DPI trophy.
Congratulations also of course to our three gents who took trophies, Ian Atkinson and John Wild in the Nature competition, prints and DPI respectively, and Ben Gorman with the winning image in the Monochrome prints.
For obvious reasons it will be some time before we can actually present the trophies but I’m sure you will join me in congratulating all of them on their many splendid images.
You will hear more over the next few weeks about our plan for the coming season but we are aiming to include DPI competitions with external judging so I do hope many of you will enter next season’s competitions.
Stay safe,

Cheers
Keith
Keith Fitzpatrick – CPS Secretary

Congratulations to Ron Sutton for an emphatic win with Wet, Wet, Wet!. Full results are available on the competition page.

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Congratulations to Jan Wilding for winning our second Online Competition, her second win on the trot. Full results are available on the competition web page.

Online Competition 2 is now open for entries. Full details on the competition page.