Morning All
I thought Gordon Watson did a great job of judging our Creatures and Plants of the World Cup competition last Wednesday; he was very fair and gave his interpretation of each image, the positives and where each image could be improved.
So, thanks to all members who sent in images and I hope you got the feedback you needed!
And, finally, congratulations to John for being awarded the best image of the evening for the Wren in Flight print; beautifully captured.

Notices:
Lancashire and Cheshire Photographic Union
Annual Club Print & Projected Image Competitions: 1st & 2nd March 2025
As Lewis mentioned on Wednesday, we are entering the above competition as long as we have enough members interested.  
As Lewis said:

• We must have a minimum of 5 members to participate.
• We are entering ONLY the PDI NOT prints.
• PDI’s: there are two categories in this section – Open (which includes colour and monochrome) and Nature.

I have attached the rules and Guidelines for you to read through carefully and digest! We will answer any questions during our next meeting – this coming Wednesday, 29^th January.
If you wish to enter any PDI’s please send them to the usual email address, info@garstangcameraclub.co.uk  for the attention of Lewis. Many thanks.

Badgers, thanks here to Dave:
Hi Mike
Seeing badger picture last night reminded me of an evening badger viewing opportunity.
I sent info on last year which is running again this year starting from April.
Cost is £141 for exclusive use of hide for up to 8 people but cheaper if anyone is RSPB member. It is at the RSPB Badger Hide at Wild Haweswater.
If we can find 8 people wanting to go (all on the same evening could be difficult!!) it would be just under £18 each. The issue will be trying to agree on a date. So, if we knock out Wednesdays the following dates are available in April currently: April 1st, 3rd, 15th, 17th, 22nd, 24th and 29th.
However, when looking at dates last year they tend to get booked up, so any dates may have vanished before we can get a date agreed. All a bit difficult!
https://events.rspb.org.uk/events/97006#about
This is a link to Badger viewing: best to look at all frequently asked questions to understand the evening and how it works.
I’m in the process of inquiring about the above idea and will report back this Wednesday evening. In the meantime, if you are interested, please have a read.

The Events Cup Competition
As I mentioned last week, I’m inviting submissions for the 2025 Events cup which will commence in April 2025.
PLEASE email me at info@garstangcameraclub.co.uk for any destination you may think will ‘fit-the-bill.’
I have attached a list of the destinations that have been suggested so far, so thanks to everyone for their thoughts!
When I have these destinations, I will send them out to all members to vote on their favourites and the top 5 will be those chosen for 2025. Ta!
If there are any questions just email me or speak to me at the next meeting.
Just to remind everyone, images submitted for this cup competition are taken on the clubs 5 outings; 1 outing in each of the months of April, May, June, July and August.
As last year there will be 2 dates for each destination; one during the week and one at the weekend.

For this coming Members Evening on January 29^th.
Don’t forget the challenge!
The idea here is to take and show photographs; that is, an open category, colour or monochrome, of your choice.
However, you are NOT ALLOWED to edit your images in any editing suit. For example, no cropping.
You can show as many images as you like, within reason, of course!
Also, on this members evening, Stan will be showing, the 15 images we are submitting for the 4 way Battle on Wednesday 12^th February and the 30 images we are submitting for the New Zealand ‘Battle’.

Humanity Cup Competition; Our 4^th internal competition:
Image description: People in all environments, activities and emotions. People or people-related connections must be the focal point. More than one person may be included.
Details are on our website but just to remind you: last date for entry is 5^th February that’s 10 days away! The judging is on Wednesday 12^th March by Nicki Ellis-Greenwood.

Coffee Duty:
Coffee and tea duty for this coming Wednesday is Lewis and Brenda – so, may thanks in advance!

Up and coming programme of events:
Wednesday 29^th January: The 4 way Battle images, (15), and the New Zealand ‘Battle’ images, (30), shown by Stan and ‘show-and-tell’ challenge images – see above! Plus, I have some Wildlife Photographs of the year and a selection of some closeup images, ‘Wonders of the World,’ which you may find interesting!

Wednesday 5^th February: Boyd Harris: ‘Live’ with a talk titled ‘A Photographic Journey through History.’

Wednesday 12^th February: 4 Way ‘Battle’ competition between: Garstang, Arnside and Silverdale Photography Club (formally known as J36), Morecambe Camera Club and Lancaster Photographic Society. This ‘Battle’ has now been christened ‘GLAM’ I’ll leave you to work it out – any complaints to be directed to Stan!
Final details yet to be sorted but the actual judging will be via Zoom to the Arts Centre.

Wednesday 19^th February: Michael Berkeley, Via Zoom on ‘Sport Photography.’

That’s all folks….
Cheers

Mike