Archived News

The copyright of the individual images on this web site is owned by the contributing member

2006 Annual Competition Results.

Annual Prints - Advanced Colour Prints.

1st - Arthur Bower ARPS - Sacred Window.

2nd - Graham Brazendale LRPS - Perch Rock Lighthouse.

3rd - Gary Evans ARPS - Down & Out.

Annual Prints - Mono Prints.

1st - Mike Pill ARPS - Waiting for the Crew.

2nd - Graham Brazendale LRPS - Lifeboat launch on a Winters night.

3rd - Dorothy Mason LRPS - Quiet corner.

Annual Prints - Standard Colour Prints.

1st - Dorothy Mason LRPS - Ladies Festival.

2nd - Bob Burns - Papal Door.

3rd - Alan Clare - Patagonian Pinnacles.

Annual Slides Advanced Slides.

1st - Gary Evans ARPS - Urban Swan.

2nd - Jey brown - Zantedeschia.

3rd - Gary Evans ARPS - Disturbance.

Annual Slides - Standard Slides.

1st - Chris Richards - Autums Showers.

2nd - Chris richards - Romantic Reflection.

3rd - Eric Jamieson - Metal.

Annual Standard Panel Competition.

1st - David Peate LRPS - Flowers.

2nd - Iris elliot - Llagollen Music Eiseddfod Competitors.

3rd - Martin Eves - snow.

Annual Nature - Advanced Colour Prints.

1st - Paul White ARPS - Grey heron (Junior)

2nd - Norma Brazendale LRPS - Fallow Deer.

3rd - Georgina Keena ARPS - Cherry Orchard in spring.

Annual Nature - Mono Prints.

1st - Norma Brazendale LRPS - Winter Aconite.

2nd - Martin Eves - Black Zonure.

3rd - Graham Brazendale LRPS - Quercus Robar Leaves.

Annual Nature - Standard Colour Prints.

1st - Bob Burns - Adult Gannet.

2nd - David Peate LRPS - Great Spotted Woodpecker.

3rd - T J Peter Williams - Hawkweed.

Annual Nature - Advanced Slides.

1st - Colin Ratcliffe - Southern Hawker Male dragonfly.

2nd - Arthur Bower ARPS - Swamp Wader.

3rd - Alan Barrow ARPS - Asiatic Lion.

Annual Nature - Standard Slides.

1st - Pat Garrett - Pink Poppies.

2nd - Chris Richards - Trevor Rocks, Llangollen.

3rd - Amitav - Ghosh - Rising Monosoon Clouds.

THE WIRRAL SPRING Art & Photography

EXHIBITION 2006.

Heswall members have again achieved success in the Wirral Spring Art and Photography Exhibition held at the Williamson Art Gallery Birkenhead.

In the award ceremony on the opening night on Friday the 7^th April, the Gallery's Principal Officer, Colin Simpson, paid particular praise to a larger photographic section this year, which he attributed to an ever increasing standard of entry.

The following Heswall PS Members had photographs accepted, which together with all the other exhibits, will be on display, Tuesday to Sunday, 10AM to 5PM, until the 4^th June 2006.

Alan Barrow ARPS, "Fox Talbot"s First Photograph".

Audrey Barrow LRPS, "Crocus".

Graham Brazendale LRPS, "Perch Rock Lighthouse"Highly Commended and "Lifeboat Launch on a Winters Night", also Highly Commended.

Norma Brazendale LRPS, "Watercolour"and "Poppy".

Glyn Evans, "Spiral staircase"and "A Colourful Mooring".

Georgina Keena ARPS, "The Blue Vase"and "River transport at Seacombe".

League Competition Results 2005/20006 Season.

Advanced Colour Print Section

Georgina Keena ARPS 33

Paul White ARPS 21

Graham Brazendale LRPS 15

Mike Pill ARPS 14

Norma Brazendale LRPS 14

Mono Print Section

Graham Brazendale LRPS 32

Mike Pill ARPS 23

Arthur Bower ARPS 17

Martin Eves 11

Colin Phillips 10

Standard Colour Print Section

Bob Burns 23

TJ Peter Williams 20

Bruce Hogan 14

Colin Phillips 13

Martin Eves 8

Website Down.

I just thought I would mention that the HPS website was out of action from Monday evening (20^th February) to Wednesday morning (22^nd February), in case anyone noticed.

Apparently, Lycos who host the website, had an "issue" with domains beginning with the letter "H",which means I have not the foggiest idea why the website was down.

Links Revised.

I have added three new links to the links page (red text signifies new link) and by coincidence one of the links, The Radiant Vista, has critiqued (on The Daily Critique page, 14th Jan) one of my images quite favourably, whilst giving some sensible comments as to how the shot might have been improved. The Radiant Vista website is well worth a visit.

Exhibition Extended!

Glyn Davies's Salt n Sea Exhibition at the Williamson Art Gallery has been extended by popular demand to the 29th January! If you have not yet seen Glyn's exhibition, then I would urge you to do so, as the photographs are truly excellent.

Below is one of my favourite images from the exhibition.

Discount Photographic Services.

Richard Jennings, one of Heswall PS's professional photographer members, has kindly agreed to provide some of his services at specially discounted rates, exclusively for Heswall members.

The services include large format printing, prints on canvas and Perspex, together with studio hire.

To see full details and contact details, please click here.

Erratum!

For those of you who have not yet been to see the excellent photographic exhibition at the Williamson by Glyn Davies then you have a little longer to do so, as the exhibition closes on the 29th January 2006 not the 2nd January as previously stated!

Local Photographic Exhibition.

Whilst not Heswall PS news, I would like to mention an exhibition of excellent Marine photographs by professional Welsh artist Glyn Davies (www.artphotowales.com) that has just opened (until 15th Jan 2006) at the Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead and believe me is well worth a visit!

The collection of work is based around the boats, ships, seascapes and harbours of the West coast of Britain, especially Wales, Cornwall and Lancashire.

The photographs, both colour and black and white, are superbly produced at mostly A1 size.

More Distinctions for Heswall PS Members.

Paul White has gained his ARPS and David Peate his LRPS. Congratulations to both!

Paul White "Hides light under bushel",

Congratulations to Paul White for achieving his LRPS and for keeping it a secret, since he gained his distinction at the Focus on Imaging exhibition in February!

Congratulations to Heswall PS Member, Georgina Keena LRPS, who was today (9.8.05) awarded her ARPS at Smethwick with a sensational panel of Seashore Images.

Well done Georgina!

Heswall Members success at the Grange Exhibition 2005,

Judge Jim Hartje ARPS, EFIAP, APAGB, DPAGB, BPE5*

Highly Commended Prints,

Graham Brazendale LRPS with a B&W print, Urns.

Mike Pill ARPS with a B&W print, Reeds.

Paul White with with a colour print, EVO38.

Commended Prints,

Gary Evans ARPS with a colour print, Washday.

Georgina Keena ARPS with a colour print, Spring Blossom.

Paul White with a colour print, Aprilia 98.

In total Heswall PS Members submitted 24 B&W prints, 38 colour prints and 2 slides; of which 33 were accepted!

New Website Facility - Buy and Sell.

Do you have items of photographic kit gathering dust? Well why not put them for sale on the Society's website!

As members will no doubt not wish their contact details to be visible on what after all is a very visible medium, it is perhaps best for members to send their contact details to me with details of items for sale. Then when I have a prospective buyer I will email the seller, who can make contact to finalise the sale (hopefully!)

To start off I put an item for sale as an example and happily sold the item within 48 hours of placing the advert!

So I hope that members will make use of what I trust will be a useful facility.

New Seasons League Competition subjects.

Competition 1, Any Subject.

Competition 2, Light/Water.

Competition 3, People.

Competition 4, Transport.

Competition 5, Still Life, Close Up.

For details of the annual Competitions and Photographer of the year results, Click Here

For a brief report on the opening of the 2005 Annual Exhibition, click here.

Changes to the Front Page of HPS Web site.

Now that I have more or less finished the revamp of Heswall's web site, I now intend including a Front Page image and for the moment I will feature those images that have been successful in the 2005 Annual Competitions.

I would be grateful if those members whose images received awards in the Annual Competitions could let me have, preferably by email, a copy of their image for inclusion on the Front Page. Whilst I am happy to resize, I would suggest an initial size of say 600 X 600 pixels @ 72DPI.

You will of course have noted that I have started with Norma Brazendale's image, probably followed by my nature print, only because I have yet to receive Members images!

Members Images Needed For Gallery!

The present Members Gallery is in fairly desperate need of a "make over" and I would be grateful to receive from each Member, say 3 images at no more than 500 X 700 Pixels @72DPI.

As no doubt the gallery page is looked at by visitors before moving on to Members own pages, I would like the new images to be really outstanding.

Latest Edition of the Newsletter now on the Website.

I have now placed Colin Phillips excellent Newsletter on the Heswall Website, at present in two formats, firstly as separate pages and secondly as a simple link to a PDF document.

I would be interested to hear if any member has problems with clicking on and opening the PDF version of the newsletter, by emailing me. If I do not receive any negative feedback, I will in future just have the PDF format, as it is easier and quicker to implement.

New Webmaster.

I guess by now you will all have heard that I am (for my sins) the new webmaster. Initially, I do not propose to make any major changes for the moment, just to build on Mike Pills previous good work by refreshing the website and by ensuring that the site is updated more often. For example, I would hope to have league results on the site a short while after each competition, starting autumn 2005.

If you have any articles that you wish me to consider for the website, then please let me know. Also, if any member wishes to refresh the images on their members showcase spot or any member wishes to have their own showcase, then please contact me, either on a club night or email me.

Graham Brazendale LRPS.

Another New Webmaster.

Many thanks to Graham for all his sterling work as Webmaster. Graham has now decided to relinquish the job and his place has been taken by Dave Platt with effect from 22nd June 2006. David hopes to continue the excellent work done by Graham.

Final Result, League Competitions 2004/2005 Season.

After the five rounds the final positions are as follows,

Advanced Colour Prints.

Joint 1st Paul White and Mike Pill ARPS, 2nd Norma Brazendale LRPS.

Standard Colour Prints.

1st T J Peter Williams, 2nd John McInerney, 3rd Colin Phillips.

Monochrome.

1st Graham Brazendale LRPS, 2nd Arthur Bower ARPS, 3rd Mike Pill ARPS.

Advanced Slides.

1st Alan Barrow ARPS, Joint 2nd Colin Ratcliffe and Georgina Keena LRPS.

Standard Slides.

1st Jey Brown, 2nd John McInerney, 3rd Chris Richards.

Congratulations to all concerned.

Printaneg competition -11th February 2005

Shortly after the Christmas break Mike Pill handed out CD's for the 2005 Digital Printaneg competition. This competition started about three years ago as a bit of fun to try something different. Basically this is a competition aimed solely at those club members who indulge in digital imaging/manipulation/digital printing.

The idea was straightforward. Each participating member got a CD which will contains some instructions and a number of images. The idea was to create up to three different prints from one or more of those images on the CD. The prints could be of any size and the interpretation was completely open. You could create montages, try straight printing etc Literally anything went..

The images were from other club members (they were anonymous although you may recognise their work) and it was your opportunity to interpret and create. We have seen some extremely interesting and creative images in the past. The only limit was your imagination. The judges were two members new to judging, Norma and Graham Brazendale LRPS. A baptism by fire having to give a judgement to 50 club members.

We had 29 images and there were some very creative images. The competition was won this year by Derek Drury.

Mike McCartney opens HPS annual 2004 exhibition

Our annual 2004 exhibition opened during early May with a fantastic entry and this year we had an especially famous personality to open the exhibition - none other than Mike McCartney - brother of Paul.

Mike is probably well known for being in the pop group Scaffold but is well known these days as the Wirral's Cultural Ambassador - promoting the Wirral and also as a photographer in his own right. He currently has an exhibition of his images in the Smithsonian Museum in New York.

Mike opened the exhibition with some anecdotes of how he got into Photography and managed to end his speech with the line from one of his famous songs - Thank you Very Much for ...............

www.heswallphotosoc.co.uk

Heswall now has its own web domain name and its web-site is now hosted by Lycos. Since its inception the HPS web-site has been hosted on one of Mike Pill's dial up accounts with Freeserve. The site is now almost 20Mwords in size and was taking too long to upload on an old fashioned dial-up modem. So when I moved to broadband I decided that the time had come to move HPS. After some research I concluded that Lycos was a good choice in terms of price and reliability. It also gave the opportunity to set up an email address that was associated with HPS only - webmaster@heswall........... So during the summer 2004 we moved. I have put an automatic re-direction system on the index page of the old HPS web-site that will re-direct you automatically to the new site especially for those of you who have not yet book marked the new site in their favourites list.

The move was problem free and very slick and so far Lycos has proven to be a reliable host.

The web-site is constructed using FrontPage 2000. Previously it had been designed on Publisher 98.Whilst this is quite a reasonable tool for simple web-site's HPS's site with about 70 pages was far too much for it. The choice of web design software is quite a personal choice. FrontPage 2000 works, it is reasonably straightforward to use, if not especially flexible and with its simple ftp client allows changes to be easily uploaded to the new website.

Monthly Competition Themes for 05/06 season (starting September '05) will be announced shortly; however the themes for this season appear below.

Open

Holiday

Street Scene

Caught in the act

An eye for detail

These can be interpreted as you wish there is no restriction other than your imagination.

Note that these are not necessarily in the order they will appear in our programme. Click here to goto this seasons programme.

The 2004 Mersey River Festival Photographic competition has again been and gone. Many HPS again supported this event.

Alan Barrow ARPS, Mike Pill ARPS, Reg Coleman FRPS, Georgina Keena LRPS, Graham Brazendale, Pat Garrett, all had prints and/or slides accepted.

As usual there were many prizes to be won and many hundreds of entries were received from photographers over the North West and surrounding areas.

Its a prestigious competition and exhibition that has been held for many years with sponsorship and prizes by many companies These include the Mersey Basin Campaign, and others well known in the photographic field nationally such as Calumnet. Its part of The City of Liverpool Mersey River Festival which has many events relating to the river Mersey over a 3 day period during June.

Information for the 2005 competition can be obtained from Healthstart, Century Building, 104 Tower Street, Brunswick Business Park, Liverpool, L3 4BJ. Or they can be contacted direct on Tel. 0151 707 2566 or by email: lisa@healthstart.co.uk.

Healthstart set up a web-site every year with more details so do a search for Mersey River Festival for more details or contact Healthstart and they will give the information, entry forms etc. If you entered last year you will automatically be sent entry forms for next year.

Autumn Exhibition 2004

We held our Autumn exhibition during November 2004. This is HPS's annual showcase of members work and was seen by many hundreds of interested people. It was held, as usual in Heswall library. It included recent successful images from most of our print workers including some new material - most of it is now produced using inkjet printers and software darkrooms - the computer.

An increasing number of our members have gone completely digital with digital cameras but a large number use a hybrid arrangement of film in conventional SLR cameras and use film scanners to get the image into the digital part of the process. A few members still use the traditional chemical methods from start to finish but despite large choice of conventional chemical based printing papers and chemicals these seem to be coming less popular as time goes by.

Monthly League Comp forms available on-line

Entry Forms and other information relating to the rules etc for Monthly league comps for monthly League competition's are available by clicking here. This takes you to the Competition page. Use Browser back arrow to return to this page.

Grant awarded for HPS

Recently HPS was fortunate to be awarded a grant from 'Awards from All' which funds a wide range of organizations that offer activities such as ours to members of the public who wish to take part in such activities - in our case those related to photography. As many will know we have a number of public exhibitions and also have a public AV show most years as well as encouraging people interested in images and photography to join our society.

A small sub-committee was formed to make recommendations as to the way in which the grant would be spent and choice of equipment. The equipment comprises a Toshiba digital projector, high end Sony laptop, Minolta film scanner together with Photoshop 7.0. In addition we have the Pics2Exe software for AV users, a new Cambridge Audio amplifier and some B&W DM100 hi-fi speakers. The latter donated by one of our members.

Workshop for new HPS members

HPS has a range of workshops planned for members on a regular basis. Now that we have recently acquired some new digital imaging equipment for club and member use, Eddie Smith is arranging a number of workshops covering basic techniques and use of the equipment.

British Photographic Exhibitions Crown Awards and Distinctions

Exhibitors are invited to aggregate their acceptances in the open sections of affiliated exhibitions and upon reaching the accepted aggregate to apply, without charge, for a crown award rating. Those achieving the five-crown award become eligible to aggregate further acceptances to gain the Associateship and Fellowship of British Photographic Exhibitions.