Morning All

Coffee morning: A very busy morning at the Arts Centre on Saturday so a huge thank you to everyone who managed to supply some very edible edibles, helped out in the café and popped in to spend some dosh! We took, by the way, £137.70; after a small deduction to the Arts Centre; this money goes straight into our coffers! Robin looked pleased!

So, thank you, (in no particular order), to Elaine, Brenda, Terry, Robin, Maurice, Stan, Sue, Rhona, Barry, Jenny, Michael and Freda. This is what we call a team effort! If we’ve missed anyone out – many apologies. Also, it was really nice to see Lucienne, as sprightly as ever and Vernon and his wife making a visit to Garstang! Even Bob Sapey popped in!

Humanity Competition. Many thanks, also, to all members who managed to enter prints and digital images into the competition to be judged. We thought that Carol Watson did an excellent job spending time on each photograph and giving her thoughts, her positives and her constructive criticism to them all. Attached are the full results for you to look at.

And, a big well done to Tim for not only winning 2 of the 4 sections (digital monochrome and digital colour) but his image – Spinning with Grandma – winning the overall prize – ‘best in show’! Congratulations Tim! Attached to this newsletter is an image from our club member Ted – from South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. He says: In preparation for the talk on the 20th of March … “Shackleton & South Georgia” a picture from Grytviken July 2023…Thanks Ted, so glad you are still receiving and reading the newsletters!

Notices

Events Cup.

Thanks to all members who have voted for the top 8 destinations; if you haven’t cast your selection yet, there is still time – but only just.

Member’s Evening 3rd April – Show and Tell.

Please take part, this is a great opportunity for everyone to take part and a great chance to show recent work, talk about their images and possibly receive constructive comments from members.

· Perhaps show any images or maybe those that are often very different from those entered in competitions.

· Include those that went wrong or you weren’t happy about and why, or just didn’t work out!

· Number of images: as many, within reason, as you want to show.

· Open theme, colour and/or mono.

Calendar images

Following on from last weeks newsletter, and from various discussions, the deadline of April 21st has now been extended to Sunday May 5th.

· When all the images are in Mike will present them on Wednesday 8th May (that’s also AGM evening), in a random order, with no names, and all members present will have a chance to vote.

· Each image can be scored out of a maximum of 20.

· The top 36 will be sent to the Arts Centre committee and they will pick the 12 they want for the 2025 calendar.

Lancashire & Cheshire Photographic Union

Attached is the Annual Individuals Competition 2024 for Saturday 18th May & Sunday 19th May.

A full rules & guidelines for both competitions will follow but the attached is a summary of key dates.

When the rules appear, we will send them out. Any questions? Speak to Mike or Lewis on Wednesday.

Up and coming programme of events:

· March 20th – Keith Snell PhD EFIAP MPSA LRPS* – ‘Live’; Shackleton & South Georgia. Featuring landscape and wildlife photography during an expedition to South Georgia and Antarctica, following Shackleton’s renowned journey.

· March 20th – Anything Goes Competition – last date for entry.

· March 27th – No meeting – Committee meeting.

· April 3rd – Members evening – various announcements and discussions plus show and tell; see above.

· April 10th – Alan Cameron, ‘live’ – Costa Rica

That’s all folks

Mike and Lewis

Morning All

Another sunny and warm day; the garden beckons and the camera is looking at me!

Make the most of it as the weather appears to go downhill mid-week onwards; Oh, the ups and downs of our climate!

A reminder of some up-and-coming dates:

• March 30th. Beginners ‘software editing’ session. Looking at Lightroom again and/or some Photoshop tools or you could bring in some images (preferably RAW), to be processed or process them yourself!
• April 6th. 3 presentations: First by Stan on “My Journey to Sports Photography”; second by Mike on “Aurora HDR” and third by Lewis – “Wildlife in South Africa”. All unmissable!
• April 9th. Camera club exhibition begins!
• April 13th. “Wildlife – Sea shore to mountain top” a talk by Peter Smith
• April 20th. Steve Proctor, presentation entitled “Talk to Me”.

(L&CPU) Annual Individual Print & Projected Image Competition 7th and 8th May

• Online Entry opens Saturday 19th March
• Online Entry closes Saturday 23rd April
• PDI: (Projected Digital Images); there are two categories in this section:
• Open (which includes colour and monochrome) x 8
• Nature x 4

PDI’s

• Image files must be in sRGB colour space, jpg format and at maximum quality. This includes monochrome images.
• The image dimensions should be 1600 pixels (horizontal) x 1200 pixels (vertical) and a file size of up to 2mb.
• Individual authors can upload their own entry.

Rules and regulations were attached last week; quite happy to re-send if you have lost them!

As mentioned last week, John has decided to step down as Programme Secretary after 5 years and step down from the committee.

John will be more than happy to pass on all the relevant information at the appropriate time.

So, volunteers please for John’s role and for the committee!

Please don’t forget, we need new blood for the committee; if you feel you could contribute in any way, you will be made most welcome! Just get in touch if you want via email or phone – it’s no problem!

That’s all folks

Mike and Lewis

Morning All

Ken Harrison

It was with deep regret that we announced the death of Ken on Wednesday evening.

Ken was a life member of the club with a long service record on the committee; he held the office of treasurer and was Club Chairman for 5 years, from 2013 – 2017, having taken over from Barry.

Ken was a keen wildlife photographer, especially birds and did many hours volunteering at Leighton Moss. He also travelled widely only recently returning from Zambia in November.

With Ken’s untimely death I’m sure he will be very sadly missed by many.

When the funeral arrangements are confirmed, I’ll email everyone.

Many thanks to all who helped out with the coffee morning yesterday; we had lots of happy customers who all left contented and full of cake!

Next one is in May – watch this space.

Many thanks to all members who have submitted prints for our first exhibition starting on Saturday, April 9^th. We now have sufficient members to help pin them up!

A reminder of some up-and-coming dates:

• TODAY! March 20th. Last submission for the L&CPU Annual Club Competition. We are only entering the PDI sections, not prints. We are entering the ‘Open’ and ‘Nature’ sections. Details in previous newsletters – any questions? Just email us, no problem!
• March 30th. Beginners ‘software editing’ session. Looking at Lightroom again and/or some Photoshop tools or you could bring in some images (preferably RAW), to be processed or process them yourself!
• April 6^th. Presentations by: Stan on “My Journey to Sports Photography”; by Mike on “Aurora HDR” and by Lewis – yet to be revealed!
• April 13^th. “Wildlife – Sea shore to mountain top” a talk by Peter Smith
• April 20^th. Steve Proctor, presentation entitled “Talk to Me”.

(L&CPU) Annual Individual Print & Projected Image Competition 7th and 8th May

Overview:

• Online Entry opens Saturday 19th March
• Online Entry closes Saturday 23rd April
• PDI: (Projected Digital Images); there are two categories in this section:
• Open (which includes colour and monochrome) x 8, is the maximum entry per member.
• Nature x 4, is the maximum entry per member.

PDI’s

• Image files must be in sRGB colour space, jpg format and at maximum quality. This includes monochrome images.
• The image dimensions should be 1600 pixels (horizontal) x 1200 pixels (vertical) and a file size of up to 2mb.
• Individual authors can upload their own entry.

Attached to this newsletter are the full Rules and Guidelines. If you do decide to enter, PLEASE read them very carefully, they are quite comprehensive in places, especially the ‘Category Definitions’!

If you do need help, email us and we will do our very best!

Programme Secretary

John has decided to step down as Programme Secretary after 5 years and also step down from the committee. Lewis and I and all club members would like to take this opportunity to thank you very much, John, for the work you have put in as programme secretary over the past 5 years and especially for so ably amending and re arranging the programme during the Covid situation.

That was a difficult time with Lewis and I finding our feet as chairmen at the same time that lockdown etc happened, so your handling of the situation was greatly appreciated; and very successful!

So, volunteers please for John’s role and also a plea for future members for the committee! John will, by the way, be more than happy to pass on all the relevant information at the appropriate time.

That’s all folks!

Mike and Lewis

Good afternoon, all

Many thanks to the members who managed to take 7 (or 6 images) in 7 days and for presenting them; it was great to see the good response and all the different images on show.

Next time we should perhaps set the challenge when it’s warmer!

Thanks also to all members who submitted prints for our first exhibition on 9^th April. If anyone wishes to bring any prints in, PLEASE do so by next Wednesday, March 16^th. We still need 1 more volunteer, by the way, for Friday 8^th April for a couple of hours. Please help!

I hope everyone has now received the Events Cup destination list and the dates are now in your diaries! We are looking forward to members taking part in some, if not all, the visits.

A reminder of some March dates:

March 16th. As we mentioned last Wednesday David Bibby was booked to give a presentation entitled ‘My way with AV’ but he had caught Covid. Dave has confirmed that he is still testing positive and therefore he has cancelled for Wednesday.

So, in his place, John has booked Ric Gillams and his talk is ‘Self Drive in Namibia’. Zoom invite below if you need it.

Below is from his website:

About me: When I first started shooting my emphasis was always on finding new places and things to photograph. More recently I am interested in capturing moments in time. Through my 365 projects from 2015 and 2016 I have started to appreciate the beauty in the everyday things I walk past and at the same time have developed the technical ability to capture moments and to get creative in both my choice of shutter speeds and my composition.

The ability to quickly adapt to new situations and to feel completely at one with your equipment is absolutely necessary when shooting weddings, which I thoroughly enjoy. The interaction with people and the opportunity to capture that once in a lifetime occasion and to preserve those memories forever is a real honour and has to be the best reason for getting out of bed in the morning!

I have been fortunate enough to travel to many fantastic places and meet lots of great people. As a result, my photography spans a range of genres, whether I’m shooting a wedding in a sleepy village in England, wildlife in Africa, racing cars at Goodwood or street photography in Tokyo. It is all great practice for being able to get the shot when the moment comes.

March 19th – Saturday. The club is running a coffee morning at the Arts Centre. If anyone is willing to help out, they would be very welcome! From approx. 9.30 – 12.30. Also, we will need some cakes/biscuits/or anything edible to sell! Please have a word with Mike or Lewis when we next meet.

March 20th. Last submission for the L&CPU Annual Club Competition. We would only enter the PDI sections, not prints. We are entering the ‘Open’ and ‘Nature’ sections. Details in previous newsletters – any questions? Just email us, no problem!

March 23rd. Committee meeting.

March 30th. Beginners ‘software editing’ session. Looking at Lightroom again and/or some Photoshop tools or you could bring in some images (preferably RAW), to be processed or process them yourself!

Zoom invite:

Mike Jenner is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Self Drive in Namibia

Time: Mar 16, 2022 07:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87159097429?pwd=bjdDTlp4ZVRuOVJ5OVliNWx3WTEwZz09

Meeting ID: 871 5909 7429

Passcode: 732359

That’s all folks

Mike and Lewis

Afternoon All

The newsletter is a little late today ‘cos I’ve been out taking the 7^th of 7! All done now.

A reminder of March dates:

March 9^th. First Exhibition: 9th April to 7th May. We need the prints in by March 9th PLEASE!

March 9th. Workshop – members challenged to taking one photograph each day for seven consecutive days.

March 16th. Presentation by David Bibby entitled ‘My way with AV’.

March 19th – Saturday. The club is running a coffee morning at the Arts Centre. If anyone is willing to help out, they would be very welcome! Also, we will need some cakes/biscuits/or anything edible to sell! Please have a word with Mike or Lewis when we next meet.

March 20^th. Last submission for the L&CPU Annual Club Competition. We would only enter the PDI sections, not prints. We are entering the ‘Open’ and ‘Nature’ sections. Details in last week’s newsletter – any questions? Just email us, no problem!

March 23rd. Committee meeting.

March 30th. Beginners ‘software editing’ session. Looking at Lightroom again and/or some Photoshop tools or you could bring in some images (preferably RAW), to be processed or process them yourself!

Zoom invite

Lewis Thompson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Camera Club Workshop
Time: Mar 9, 2022 07:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87038523346?pwd=a0pubmpFaTZYdTl1K2Y2UzNScmkwUT09

Meeting ID: 870 3852 3346
Passcode: 088265

That’s it – short and sweet!

Mike and Lewis

Good Morning All!

Fine weather today – ready for (or started) the 7 in 7?

A few dates: March is a busy month!

March 2nd. Judging of the ‘Anything Goes Cup Competition’ by Will Stead, live in the Arts Centre.

March 9th. Workshop – members challenged to taking one photograph each day for seven consecutive days. It would be great if members could email us or chat this Wednesday, to say whether they are taking part so that we can judge the numbers involved. Like we have mentioned before you don’t have to stand up at the front you can ‘talk’ from your seat!

March 16th. Presentation by David Bibby entitled ‘My way with AV’.

March 19^th – Saturday. The club is running a coffee morning at the Arts Centre. If anyone is willing to help out, they would be very welcome! Also, we will need some cakes/biscuits/or anything edible to sell! Please have a word with Mike or Lewis when we next meet.

March 23^rd. Committee meeting

March 30^th. Beginners ‘software editing’ session. Looking at Lightroom again and/or some Photoshop tools or you could bring in some images (preferably RAW), to be processed or process them yourself!

Talking of beginners, I’m starting to learn Photoshop! Having scoured the internet and come across some fairly good ‘tutorials’ I have finally found one that is very good. And, it’s FREE!

If you are interested, or just curious, the website is https://www.shutterevolve.com

It’s run by a guy called Jimmy McIntyre and when you log onto the site click ‘Free Stuff’ on the strap line at the top. You will then see ‘The Ultimate FREE Photoshop Bundle for Photographers’!

When you sign up (which is free) you’ll receive three products to download:

• The Easy Panel – FREE Luminosity Mask Panel for Photoshop.
• Our FREE Photoshop Beginner’s Course For Photographers.
• The Essential Guide to Luminosity Mask FREE download e-book.

The Photoshop beginners guide (part 2) is split into 3 parts:

1. Photoshop beginners’ part 1
2. Photoshop beginners’ part 2
3. Photoshop beginners’ part 3 – this part is devoted to Camera RAW

Each part is literally crammed with ‘stuff’, but it’s all, in my ‘umble opinion, cracking material! You really need to watch several times to take it in. Anyway, give it a go if you are interested.

There are loads of things on his website and obviously he is trying to sell it, but having ‘signed-up’ I have had no problems with lots of emails asking me to buy – and you can always unsubscribe at any time. Give it a go?

L&CPU Annual Club Competition.

Members! Would you like us to put an entry together for this competition?

We would only enter the PDI sections, not prints.

For the ‘Open’ section the club can enter up to 16 images in total from a minimum of 5 photographers and a maximum of 4 entries per person.

For the ‘Nature’ section we can enter up to 8 images from a minimum of 5 photographers and a maximum of 2 entries per person.

We could put an entry into the ‘Open’ section using images from the recent PAGB competition. We had 5 people entered in that and the entries would be eligible. We would need to select the entries but Lewis would do this based mainly on the scores from the last competition. If anyone else wishes to enter or anyone wants to use a different photo that is good, no problem.

For the ‘Nature’ section we would need 2 more people to submit photos to put together an entry.

If we are to do it, we need entries by March 20th.

We will need to make a decision on Wednesday evening please.

First Exhibition: 9^th April to 7^th May

‘Open’; this is for any print that was not among the winners of any competition. Please label the print, on the back, with your title and name – thanks.

We need the prints in by March 9^th PLEASE!

We still need 1 more volunteer please for the Friday 8^th April in the afternoon for a couple of hours – please see Mike or Lewis.

Zoom invite

Lewis Thompson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Garstang Camera Club Anything Goes Competition Judge Will Stead EFIAP CPAGB PSA3

Time: Mar 2, 2022 07:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82631809180?pwd=UlNzSmhjTWdrY2ppbFZoejkrbjVzUT09

Meeting ID: 826 3180 9180

Passcode: 683045

That’s all folks

Mike and Lewis

Morning All

I hope you all took advantage of the wintery weather – looking forward to seeing all the snowy images!

Big thanks to Robin for his presentations, last Wednesday, on The Falkland Islands and Bhutan.

A few dates:

February 23rd. Beginners ‘software editing’ session. Bring some RAW, if poss, images.

March 2nd. Judging of the ‘Anything Goes Cup Competition’ by Will Stead, live in the Arts Centre. Final internal competition – where does the time go eh? Good luck to all who have entered, and, don’t forget, points mean prizes!

March 9th. Workshop – members challenged to taking one photograph each day for seven consecutive days.

Consecutive days? Theme? Where? – all your choice. Time’s ticking!

March 16th. Presentation by David Bibby entitled ‘My way with Audio Visual’.

Exhibition reminder:

9^th April – 7^th May – this is for any print that was not among the winners of any competition. Please label the print, on the back, with your title and name – thanks. Prints in by 9^th March PLEASE.

Eva polack (Impressionist Photography): idea from Anne

A talk on the artistic side of photography. She will offer an introduction to the visual language of photography to help us capture expressive and artistic images.

As mentioned at the last meeting: a possible virtual photography talk. The main aim of the talk is to encourage people to try out various approaches to image-making and to help them develop their own way of photographing.

These talks are about £100 a go, so, if enough interest is expressed by members, I’ll investigate further.

Short (ish) and sweet today!

That’s all folks! Stay safe.

Mike and Lewis

Morning All

What a dreary day here in Lancashire! No pics today!

Big thanks here to Jeremy Malley-Smith for, firstly, his perseverance on sorting out the technical issues, and secondly, for a great presentation on the wildlife of Scotland together with many photographic tips. Well done John for a good selection – perhaps a repeat ‘down-the-line’?

A few reminders:

February 16th: Two presentations by Robin, ‘live’ – one will be on The Falklands and the second will be on Bhutan.

February 23rd: Beginner’s ‘software editing’ session.

Lightroom again and/or Photoshop; you are very welcome to bring in some images (preferably RAW), to be ‘processed’.

Interested? Just let us know please!

Exhibition

We have one volunteer so far but really need a couple more! Are you free on Friday 8^th April in the afternoon for a couple of hours? PLEASE contact us to help out! – very much appreciated, cheers

Our 2 exhibition dates to display prints are:

9th April – 7th May – ‘Open’ – this is for any print that was not among the winners of any competition. Please label the print, on the back, with your title and name – thanks.

24th September – 22nd October: 5 competition winners plus highly commended and commended. Again, please make sure the print has your name and title on the back.

We’ll ask for prints on/by the 9th March

March 9th – club workshop

For the next workshop on 9th March, we are setting members a challenge of taking one photograph each day for seven consecutive days.

The idea is that these will then be shown to other members discussing the why, when and how! If you don’t want to stand at the front to present your images that’s absolutely fine; you can remain seated!

Any questions? Just email in or ask; no question too small!

Which consecutive days? You choose!

Theme (if any)? You choose!

Where? You choose!

Please have a go and take up the challenge!

Below is a Zoom invite, if needed:

Lewis Thompson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Garstang Camera Club. The Falkland Islands and Bhutan with Robin

Time: Feb 16, 2022 07:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85023197476?pwd=eHVnZzZqZnRiQzhBL1VTR09xelJzZz09

Meeting ID: 850 2319 7476

Passcode: 885203

That’s all folks!

Mike and Lewis