The first competition of the 2021-2022 club year, and the theme was "Open". There were 64 digital images to be judged, and obviously due to being virtual, there were no printed images. The club welcomed Kathy Chantler ARPS, Chair of ImageZ Camera Club, to judge the images remotely. As ever, points scored count towards the Photographer Of The Year competition. 

The winners and placings were as follows:-

Projected Digital Images Competition

1st Place - “Runcorn Jubilee Bridget” by Andy Gilbert
2nd Place - “Loch Lomond” by Adrian Battersby
3rd Place - “I'll get you next time!” by Miles J. Turnbull
4th Place - “All around the band stand” by John Kemp
5th Place - “Two heads are better than one” by John Kemp

Commended:

Man at Area 51b by David Mellor
Lady in Japan by Adrian Battersby
Dawn Waterfall by Peter Thirsk
The Golden Mile by Steve Curzon
The Spirit House by David Mellor

Congratulations to all involved, whether placed or just taking part.

The fourth and final competition of the 2020-2021 club year, and this time the theme was "Blur". There were 44 digital images to be judged, and obviously due to being virtual, there were no printed images. The images were judged by Pat Couder of South London Photographic Society who was visiting the club for the first time.

As ever, points scored count towards the Photographer Of The Year competition. 

The winners and placings were as follows:-

Projected Digital Images Competition

1st Place - “Fluttering Heights” by David Mellor
2nd Place - “Not My Train” by David Mellor
3rd Place - “Micky Take” by Bernard Booth
4th Place - “Oulton Park” by Andy Gilbert
5th Place - “The Sales Have Started” by David Mellor

Commended - Adrian Battersby for "Wellied" and "Stream Near Bala", Bernard Booth for "Heads You Win", and Miles Turnbull for "I'll Get You Next Time". A gallery of the winning images from this and prior competitions can be found on the menu above.

Congratulations to all involved, whether placed or just taking part.

The third competition of the 2020-2021 club year, and this time the theme was "Circles". There were 55 digital images to be judged, and obviously due to being virtual, there were no printed images. The images were judged by Rebecca Entwistle of Prestwich Camera Club who was visiting the club for the first time.

As ever, points scored count towards the Photographer Of The Year competition. 

The winners and placings were as follows:-

Projected Digital Images Competition

1st Place - “Mary's Shell On A Stormy Day” by John Kemp
2nd Place - “Circle Of Fire” by David Mellor
3rd Place - “Big Wheel” by David Mellor
4th Place - “Balloons” by Bernard Booth
=5th Place - “Harvest Time” by Andy Gilbert
=5th Place - “Unsquare Meal” by Alan Dean

Commended - Alan Dean for "Time to empty the piggy bank", Alan Kite for "Reflection, Bridgewater Place", Andy Gilbert for "Spare Wheels", David Mellor for "Look Up Look Down", Jeff Williams for "Circles inside a plant pot", John Kemp for "Oil on water" and Pete Carroll for "Halton Bridge Opening Ceremony"

Congratulations to all involved, whether placed or just taking part.

The second competition of the 2020-2021 club year, and the theme again was "Open". There were 54 digital images to be judged, and obviously due to being virtual, there were no printed images. The images were judged and given positions offline by Colin Douglas ARPS AFIAP DPAGB BPE4, his comments being read out by Ian Sprott, with additional commentary and critique (that did not affect the scoring) provided by Helen Greenwood and Lawry Simm.

As ever, points scored count towards the Photographer Of The Year competition. 

The winners and placings were as follows:-

Projected Digital Images Competition

1st Place - “Good Night Mexico” by John Kemp
2nd Place - “Vintage Car Slalom” by Richard Connolly
3rd Place - “Stand Alone” by David Mellor
4th Place - “Focus” by Bernard Booth
5th Place - “Pollenator” by Andy Gilbert

Commended -Richard Connolly twice for "Street Market, Peru" and "Urban Despair", Steve Callan for "Turnstone", David Mellor for "Brief Encounter", Christine Beedham for "Salford Quays", John Kemp for "Portrait painting in Photoshop", Roy Page for "Lincoln Cathedral", Bernard Booth for "Guitar Ensemble" and Andy Gilbert for "Blue Tit"

Congratulations to all involved, whether placed or just taking part.

A bit of an unusual night for us, running a competion via Zoom, but it was nice to finally get together albeit virtually. The first competition of the 2020-2021 club year, and the theme was "Open". There were 62 digital images to be judged, and obviously due to being virtual, there were no printed images. The club welcomed back Keith Barber FIScT LRPS CPAGB, President of Swinton & District Photographic Society to judge the images remotely. As ever, points scored count towards the Photographer Of The Year competition. 

The winners and placings were as follows:-

Projected Digital Images Competition

1st Place - “Cuillins With Fairy Pools” by Peter Thirsk
2nd Place - “Let Me Out” by Christine Beedham
3rd Place - “Firework Party” by Andy Gilbert
4th Place - “Meteorite” by David Mellor
Equal 5th Place - “European Eagle Owl” by Miles Turnbull
Equal 5th Place - “St Peter's Basilica” by Richard Connolly

Commended - Roy Page twice for "Peaky Blinder" and "Abbey Steps, Whitby", Andy Gilbert twice for "Reflection" and Fiddlers Ferry", Alan Kite for "Heron", Christine Beedham for "Lilac", Steve Callan for "Peony", Miles Turnbull for "Portrait Of A Monkey", John Kemp for "Tow Mator" and Adrian Battersby for "Mist On Windermere".

Congratulations to all involved, whether placed or just taking part.

To alleviate the boredom whilst the Camera Club is unable to meet, lets have some March Madness - The Best of The Best Competition. This will be straight knockout competition between the last 32 competition winning images, with the two halves of the bracket being split into prints and digital, so the final will be a face off between the best print and best digital image.

This is JUST FOR FUN!!

Each poll will last 7 days, and a new poll will be issued daily on schedule, so after 7 days the results of each face off will start to roll in and I will schedule them up so I can just continue straight into round 2 whilst the remainder of round 1 plays out.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, all club meetings are currently suspended. We have adapted the programme slightly with prospective alterations to dates, but of course the situation evolves daily, and further changes may be necessary.

As it stands our programme is adapted to resume on 4th May, but as days move on this looks increasingly unlikely. We will of course keep people updated via the website, public Facebook page, private Facebook group, and newsletter.

The club held its Annual General Meeting on Monday 24th February. The main news of the eveningwas the announcement of the WDCC Photographer Of The Year 2019-2020, Andy Gilbert. This is the third time Andy has won the accolade, the last time being the 2016-2017 club year. Also awarded was Jeff Williams who received the Alan Dean Award for the Most Improved Photographer. Congratulations to Andy and Jeff - the full standings are on the relevant menu above.

Another key item for last night was the restructure of the committee. Chairman Dave Edwardson stood down after 4 years of great service, for which we thank him wholeheartedly, and Sean Constable also stood down as Treasurer, again after a number of years of great service where our financial reports have been really professionalised. After a reshuffle, and a new committee member being appointed, the current committee is as follows

Interim Chairman - Alan Dean

Treasurer / Competitions Secretary - Ian Sprott

Club Secretary - Christine Beedham

Publicity / Members Secretary - Helen Greenwood

Programme Secretary - Bernard Booth

Equipment Secretary - Kelvin Norton

Webmaster - Lawry Simm

Please Note: We are still seeking a new Chairperson. We will keep asking at every meeting... Alan has kindly stepped in as a "caretaker manager" to ensure that the could could still run, as without a Chairperson we would have to dissolve the club. If you are interested in taking over the role, or want to joint the committee in a general support role, please speak to any committee member at any meeting.

The outline programme for the coming year was also announced, this will be uploaded into the website in the coming days. The minutes of the AGM will be reviewed at the next committee meeting and distributed in due course.

This week the club held the fourth and final competition of the 2019-2020 club year, and the theme was "Shallow Depth Of Field”. There were 9 prints and 40 digital images to be judged. The club welcomed Keith Barber FIScT LRPS CPAGB, President of Swinton & District Photographic Society to judge the images. As ever, points scored count towards the Photographer Of The Year competition which will be announced at the AGM in 2 weeks time. 

The winners and placings were as follows:-