Category: Salon News

South Stack Lighthouse, Anglesey by Rhodri Phillips

The Image:  I had visited the island before Covid, but it being North Wales was met with thick drizzle and fog. Ironically, I could hardly see the lighthouse. It had always been my intention to go back and this July I managed to get there, with sun and no rain! The only issue being the 40mph winds whipping across the headland, sending all but the foolhardy into the warmth of the cafe.

I went as close to the edge of the cliff as I dared to try and get some foreground in to give more depth to the image. The gleaming white of the lighthouse contrasted well with the greens of the headland and shades of blue in the sea and sky. trying to keep the focus sharp on the whole scene was a challenge but I was pleased with the finished result. In all I took over thirty images from various angles and locations, but this was the best. This image gained a PSA Gold in the Travel Section of the Gradient Circuit, 2025-1918.

Technical info: Aptos, 12 Styles Camera Z6-2, f/11, Focal length 37mm, Manual, 1/320, Auto ISO, tripod. Post processing in LR and PS.

Here is the list of people whom have had continued successes from November 2025 to the end of Feb 2026.

Paul James – Galaxy Colour 5 achieved / Galaxy Mono 3 Achieved
Architecture PSA Internal Comp Round 1 – HM / Round 2 – Merit & HM
Landscape PSA Internal Comp Round 1 – Best in Show & Merit.
Also gained in |international salons – Diploma’s x3 / 1 Jury Choice.

Ian Ledgard – Gold Medals x6 / Silver x 1 / Bronze x1 / HM’s x6 Jury Choice x3. Diploma’s x 2 & Merit x1.

Sian Davies – has also gained Galaxy Colour 2 & Mono 2 Achieved.
Also 2 Gold medals & 2 HM’s.

David Edwards – Golds x2 / and a HM

Andy Polakowski – 1 Gold award.

(Details correct at the time of compiling this list)

Congratulations to all members listed above, who reported back to me with their recent awards, medals and other successes in the PSA affiliated salons. If there are any other members of the PSA have some successes – then please e-mail me directly – gary_shinnerlrps@sky.com (Note the underscore)

Anyone out there wants to find out any more about the PSA, please again contact me, I’ll do my best to help you. However you can go to their website: https://psa-photo.org/

Good luck to everyone with their photographic journeys.

Gary Shinner MPSA2 BPSA – CMD  for Wales

Ian Ledgard EFIAP/p GMPSA/b GPU-Cr5 AWPF BPE1

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Ian Ledgard and spending some time with him and his wife Maragret, enjoyng a cuppa and good catch-up. However, this visit had a more important purpose as I was honoured to be officially presenting Ian with TWO top awards. (See the photos at the end of this post and the links to copies of Ian’s certificates in the paragraphs below).

Ian’s stats are amazing and real source of inspiration for us all in Welsh photography circles and in the wider circuit of world photography. He was recently featured in a PSA Journal and has reached the milestone of being a Diamond Exhibitor–Level 1 in the Mono Class. On top of that Ian has also been awarded his 20-year certificate from the PSA for his continuous support.

So two top awards. Congratulations Ian.

I told him he was an inspiration to us all and he calmly informed me that he isn’t too far from reaching his next goal. This man just keeps on going.

I know you will all join me in congratulating Ian on his fantastic success, for putting his photography on the map of the world stage and, of course, for championing Welsh photography and representing our country with distinction.

I’m sure he’d enjoy receiving your own personal congratulations if you are in contact with him. Watch this space for the next honours Ian is due to achieve. That’s all for now.

Gary Shinner
CMD for Wales

Busy Day Sacre Coeur

Like many of you I have thousands of images stored on a number of external hard drives and yes, even on CD’s ! Recently I have been looking through some of these and discovering that some captures which I have overlooked, but not sent to the recycle bin, that are worthy of further work. This often because over the 20 plus years since I started digital photography with Photoshop 5.5 massive improvements have been made and so many more useful plug-ins and alternative systems are available for us to use.

This image was taken 10 years ago when we spent a few days in Paris. I was using a Nikon V1 camera converted to Infra red with exposure 1/800 sec, f5, ISO 200. Bringing it in to my current version of Photoshop I was able to apply a few tweaks especially to darken the sky.  I entered this into the Photo Travel section of a PSA recognised Salon in Bangladesh where it scored top points and was awarded a Gold medal. The image was also accepted in the 2025 PSA International.

So, do you have gold lurking away in folders on your hard drives. I recommend having a look through and see what you can find you may be pleasantly surprised.

Ian Ledgard, GPMSA/b