Sponsored by Wilkinson Cameras.

The 2009 competition was open throughout December, showcasing printed photographs from photographic societies in the locality. Leyland Photographic Society hosts this competition each year and invites entries from 8 local clubs, Blackburn, Chorley, Darwen, Preston, Ribblesdale, Southport and Wigan, along with our own entry.

This year we received 188 prints in all and our Judge, Christine Widdall DPAGB, BPE2*, selected 85 to be exhibited at the South Ribble Museum and Exhibition centre on Church Road, in Leyland. This selection included 9 exhibits winning Commended, another 9 winning Highly Commended, along with a 3rd, 2nd, and coveted First place. All the entries were of a very high standard and follow the trend that photography is increasingly competitive and accessible for all club members.

Christine shared her thoughts about the judging process at the opening, and commented that there were so many good entries that there could have been another exhibition comprising those prints that were not selected! She said that it was a great pleasure to have judged the entries, and that she had found it very interesting to see the sort of work coming out of this region. We are very grateful to Christine for her time and expertise in selecting the winning prints this year - it was a pleasure to have her invaluable input.

Wilkinson Cameras, who run many shops in the region, as well as an online business once again sponsored the competition. We are indeed grateful for their continued support - David Parkinson from Wilkinson's came to the opening and distributed the first, second and third prizes. It is good to see local businesses and organisations encouraging each other and we are continually grateful for our association with this important local firm.

We are also grateful to South Ribble Borough Council once more for their excellent facilities, and we give thanks to David Hunt of the Exhibition Centre for all the work to hang the prints. They looked wonderful in their positions and were easy to see and get around.

The opening was well attended by society members and public alike, with wine and nibbles to round out the occasion. The Mayor of South Ribble, Donnie Parkinson, opened the exhibition, Leyland Photographic Society's president, Fred Parkinson, welcomed everyone to the occasion, and explained that, along with David Parkinson it had been very much a three Parkinson event!

The worthy winners were:

1st 'Pear Sparkle' by Dianne Owen FRPS of Chorley PS
2nd 'Lunatic Asylum' by Adrian Lines LRPS CPAGB BPE2* of Wigan PS
3rd 'Marbled White - Melanargia Galathea' by Ian McLean ARPS CPAGB of Southport PS.

The full set of accepted prints are shown on the MS Word document here.