‘Along Lancashire Lines’ photography competition

The 'Along Lancashire Lines' competition aims to capture photos of transport in Lancashire. Image credit to phill.d

The Ribble Steam Railway are running a photography competition for all you budding photographers out there.

The theme is transport (walking and horse riding are excluded) and the shot should encompass Lancashire and transport.

The deadline is September 1st 2009. Preston Blog will be publishing the best entries.

To enter you need to fill out an application form. Download the application form.

Here’s the details:

We’re looking for photos that illustrate the varied transport scene in the County of Lancashire. Submissions should contain a form of vehicular transport (so no walking or horse-riding) from bicycles to trains, canal boats, buses, etc. More than one type can be included in the image, but there should be something that defines the area as being Lancashire. Be creative when composing the shots!

Photos submitted should be taken on or after 1st April 2009. The closing date of the competition is 1st September 2009.

The competition is open to two age categories – Under 16s and 16 and Over.

For those entering the Under 16s category, parental consent is required.

Both digital and film entries will be accepted, as per the Terms and Conditions attached. By entering the competition, you confirm that you have read and agree with the Terms and Conditions.

Entries should be posted to:

Ribble Steam Railway Photo Competition,

15, Lilac Avenue,

Penwortham,

PRESTON

PR1 9PB

E-mail entries should be sent to photocomp@steamtrains.org.uk

The winner of each category will receive as a prize a framed 24″ x 16″ canvas print of their winning entry, and a framed certificate. The runner-up in each category will receive as a prize a framed 10″ x 8″ canvas print of their entry, and a framed certificate.

Entrants can submit up to three photographs to the competition; these can be either prints or digital images. Prints submitted should be a minimum of 7″ x 5″, and digital images should be submitted in jpeg format, no smaller than 1200 x 900 pixels and no larger than 3MB if being submitted by e-mail. There is no maximum size limit for prints or digital images submitted by post.

Preston Caribbean Carnival 2009

The dazzling colours of the Carnival brought Preston to life

Preston came alive on Sunday 24th March 2009 as the city bathed in sunshine and danced to the rhythms of the Caribbean.

Dancers packed the streets through the centre of the city and local photographers were out in force to capture Preston’s Caribbean Carnival.

The image above is one of a set by Paul Melling that really captures the faces of those involved in the event, the looks of excitement, passion and excitement.

Part of the parade at the Carnival

Neil Hickson was also out snapping capturing the scenes as the parade came through the city and then down into Avenham Park.

Vinny managed to get some great shots of the Carnival in actions as it moved along the streets and the reactions of people watching as it passed.

The event showcased how well Preston can hold events and brought people out onto the streets to celebrate, and made use of two great public spaces in Moor Park and Avenham Park.

Watch Viva TV footage of the Carnival

Whittingham Asylum… forgotten?

This is a guest post David Perkins, he is a keen photographer, web designer and urban explorer. He blogs at Planetperki and you can follow him on twitter @perki. If you would like to write a guest post for Preston Blog check out how you can get involved.

I know that there are a lot of people in and around Preston and the UK who know of or have been to Whittingham Asylum since it was shut in 1995, either to have a wander around, try to scare themselves or just to walk their dog. After quite a lot of research I decided to go to Whittingham and take some photographs before it is no more. What was Whittingham Asylum will soon be rubble according to some sources, so I wanted to make sure that this place was preserved in photographic form.

Preston flickr group – share your photos of the city

centenary mill on new hall lane, preston, lancashire

Preston is a surprisingly good place to take good photos. It has a good range of urban and semi-rural landscapes and there’s many photographers already enjoying rich pickings with their digital slrs.

If you have a good eye for a photo then get yourself signed up on flickr, a fantastic free tool for sharing photos, and join up to the Preston flickr group. There’s 128 members at the last count and over 6,000 photos of Preston! The image above comes from there and is used the creative commons from flickr user Johnny English.

Note: All the images on the left hand side of this blog under ‘Photos of Preston’ come from the Preston flickr group. So, you could see your photos on this blog – see our Get Involved page for more details.