LATEST NEWS FOR 2018-19 SEASON

Warwick Experience - written by Joan Blease on behalf of Warrington PS

You never know how much hearing someone shout FIFTEEN would get your heart pounding.

 

Are we gathered round the telly, lottery ticket in sweaty hands waiting for that last magical number to be read out? No - it’s much more important than that. We were at the PAGB Inter-Club Projected Digital Image Championship hearing the scores being announced, and the first score of 15 being announced was an image submitted by the club I belong to - A loud round of applause of appreciation rang out and a thought went through my head - had we peaked too soon?

 

Warrington Photographic Society have been in existence since 1886, and this was the first time the club had qualified for Warwick. So it was with lots of excitement, and a huge amount of trepidation a small band of us made our way down for the competition. These occasions are a great time to meet up with photographic friends that you haven’t seen for a while, catch up with the latest gossip and wish your opposing clubs “all the very best”.

 

Clubs from the four corners of the U.K. were represented, and I think almost all had varying numbers of supporters attending. We were a small group, but then again we are a small club (membership wise) these days.

 

The first round went by with alarming speed and the images being shown were of very high standard. What was our score? Had we done well? Were we anywhere near the scores of the most successful clubs?

 

The scores were read out in reverse order and as the top of the table for the first round was announced, our collective hearts nearly exploded - Warrington P.S was in first place! Amazing.
We now had to select our images for Round 2 - very scary but a unanimous decision. Round 2 went past at an equally blistering pace with high scores for a variety of genres. Straight
photography seemed to be doing very well, and contrary to popular belief (or myth) there wasn’t too many creative images in the mix.

 

Round 2 over, we again sat with bated breath - had we made it into the Grand Final by being in the top 8 of high scoring clubs? The answer was a resounding YES - we were in joint first place with Arden Photographic Group…. Wooo hoo!

 

Lunchtime was upon us so all of the clubs gathered into huddled groups to decide which images to use. Some were in the Grand Final and others were selecting their images for the Plate. Now the pressure was really on - which images to choose?

 

Gathered back into the auditorium, with lunch sitting heavily and mints being passed around, we watched the competition for the Plate. Again, a wonderful selection of images was on display. The results were announced - huge round of applause for the winning club, and now onto the Grand Final....

 

The top 8 clubs each had to submit 20 images, and again we were treated to a fabulous array of quality photography. Travel, sport, and nature were well represented, along with some super composites and a smattering of creative images. I am sure the other attendees also found it difficult to judge where their own club were in the final mix, but we didn’t have to wait too long for the results.

 

The overall winners were the mighty Smethwick PS, with Rolls Royce PS and Cambridge CC in joint second place. So where did Warrington PS come? Well I am proud to announce that we were equal fourth with Carluke CC and we couldn’t have been happier.

 

If you haven’t experienced these PAGB Inter Club Championship events before, I would urge you to attend (the next one is in October at Blackburn) you will really REALLY enjoy it (unless your club is taking part and you have forgotten to pack the Imodium)

 

PAGB Inter Club PDI Championship 2019 RESULTS

This is the first time that Warrington Photographic Society qualified to enter this prestigious competition. Someone remarked that they thought Warrington could well be be the dark horse among the 36 clubs participating in this competition throughout Great Britain..... well they were right! Warrington finished in joint 4th place (3rd place on points). Warrington started off in pole position by achieving 1st place in the 1st round. Hopes and expectations were on a high when Warrington ended up in joint 1st place at the end of the 2nd round. It was more difficult In the final round, but we were very pleased to be awarded a silver medal for our final 4th place position.

LCPU Exhibition

Here are some the latest pictures of PResident Eileen Jones collecting the awards on behalf of WPS (from the LCPU President) for achieving 1st place Mono Prints and joint 1st place (with Chorley) for Colour Prints in the LCPU Club Annual Competition. Also below are pictures of WPS member Lynda Haney collecting medals from the LCPU President for her images in the LCPU Individual Competition 2019. Lynda also receiving her DPAGB certificate from LCPU President Ian Aldcroft.

 

The image below is of all the trophies won by WPS throughout the 2018-9 season.

 

Annual Exhibition Opening and Awards night

On Tuesday 26th March, Ian Aldcroft the President of the Lancashire and Cheshire Photographic Union formally opened the Warrington PS Annual Exhibition at The Gateway Centre on Sankey Street. After commenting on the excellent standard of the images on display, Ian was also on hand to present all the certificates of merit and trophies to the winners. The Annual Exhibition displays approximately 120 prints submitted by the club members across the categories including monochrome, nature and record and open colour. The exhibition is open to the public during The Gateways normal opening hours and will run until Friday 15th April. Please come along and have a look if you are in the area.

Annual Competiton Judging

The Annual Competition judging took place on Sunday 17th March at the Quays Community Centre with the judge Phil Barber MPAGB FBPE. Here is Phil in action looking at the Advanced Monochrome Section of prints. The Annual exhibition is soon to be available in the Gateway in Warrington.

 

 

Paul Gallagher Evening

Paul Gallagher visited WPS on 12th March to present his lecture 'Transisiotns'. It was great to have Paul back at the club and we also welcomed over 20 visitors on the night. Our Predisent, Eilleen Jones, provided the following summary of the evening:

Paul presented us with images of beautiful and peaceful landscapes, but the one thing that stood out from all of Paul's images was the fantastic lighting and perfect exposure. It is clear that Paul was patient and took his time to think of the best position to take his picture, this enabled him to capture all the aspects of a great composition. The portrait pictures were particularly stunning, which just goes to show that you can break the rules in traditional landscape photography.

 

On the night Paul took us to:- Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Japan, China, America and Gt Britain. In addition to Paul's spectacular images his personality and humour made the lecture so entertaining"

Paul Gallagher visiting lecture 'Transitions'

Paul Gallagher of Aspect 2i and renowned landscape photographer will be visiting Warrington PS on Tuesday 12th March to present his lecture 'Transitions' which covers his journey as a photographer from B&W film, to digital colour and B&W and also digital infrared. Doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start. Visitors are welcome and there will be charge of £5 at the door.

 

 

LCPU Annual Competition - WPS are Winners!

The results of the LCPU Annual Competition have been annaounced and we are happy to report another successful entry from Warrington PS. We are proud of the continued improvement of our members and the excellent standard of images being prodcued which makes us one of the top clubs in the LCPU. The full rsults are available on the LCPU website. Warrington PS were winners of the Monochrome Print section and joint winners in the Colour Print. Overall WPS came second which allows us to go forward to ccmpete in the PAGB national competitions. Well done to everyone.

Annual Competiton 2019

The latest Annual Competition rules and entry forms are now available for download here. Please note that the number of PDI and Prints per section has been limited to 4 for this year due to the lack of Annual Exhibition Secreatry. We hope this will return to normal next season.

St.Helens Interclub Competition

Warrington PS was successful in winning all 3 sections in the 2018 St.Helens Interclub Competition. WPS collected 2 trophies for Open Prints and the Digital Competition. The nature print section was a tie for 1st place with St.Helens so they are taking home the trophy. The local clubs that entered this competition: Atherton, Ormskirk, St.Helens, Wigan and Warrington.

 

 

Chester Interclub Competition

Warrington Photographic Soc: were victorious on winning The Chester Interclub Competition 2018. Thirteen clubs throughout Cheshire & Merseyside entered this competition. Hoylake were 3rd with 20 points, Nantwich 2nd place with 22 points and Warrington Photographic Soc: 1st place with 26 points.

 

 

Joan Robinson Celebrates 65 years with WPS

Bob Robinson visited Joan at her home recently and spent some time reminiscing with her about the old days, PWS, its members and activities. Joan expressed a great deal of interest in the changes that have taken place in photography during the intervening years. Very kindly Joan donated to WPS the prints and lecture notes compiled by herslef and jer late husband Frank Bowden. The lecture was put together to celebrate the Society's Centenary year back in 1986. This records is a fascinating insight into the first 100 years of the Society. The lecture was, at th time, backed up with the Centenary Book that Frank and Jack Gregory worked on together. WPS will be forever garateful to Joan for her unstinting work and generosity over many years.

 

 

Joan was delighted to receive her flowwers and certificate to commemorate 65 years of continuous service to Warrington PS and its Committee.

Ian Beesley 16th October

 

Warrington PS are happy to welcome Ian Beesley to the club on Tuesday 16th October to present his lecture 'A Place of Work'. Ian Beesley is an award winning and internationally acclaimed artist and photographer. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, most recently at Milan Photo festival, Italy, the International Industrial Photography festival, Shengyang China, The National Media Museum, Bradford and the Peoples History Museum Manchester. Please come along, visitors are welcome.

Foot note: This lecture was excellent and one of the best the club has had in recent years. We would recommend Ian and this lecture to other clubs.

New Season Starts 11th September

The new 2018-19 season starts on Tuesday11th September and we are pleased to welcome Barry Aldous and his 'Amazing Digital 3D Show' to the club as our opening lecture. Please come along and enjoy the evening.

There is also a reminder that the hand-in for the first monthly competiton is the following week on 18th September so please have your entries ready.