Welcome

Colchester Photographic Society was formed prior to the Second World War to promote and encourage interest in the study and application of photography.

This is achieved by a varied programme of weekly meetings during the club’s season, which is September through to May. It includes visits from a variety of skilled and interesting speakers, practical evenings, competitions, plus discussions and encouragement between members. In addition we usually have some planned outings, especially during the summer, which help to provide continuity and additional opportunities for our members.

From time to time workshops are also provided to help members, particularly those who are new to photography or those wishing to learn a particular skill.

The club takes part in several local and regional competitions with other clubs, with great success over the last few years.

The Society meets on Tuesdays at 7.30 pm between September and May at Christ Church, Ireton Road (off Maldon Road), Colchester CO3 3AU.

Membership is open to all photographers over the age of 18. All new members and guests are assured of a warm welcome.

Download CPS Programme 2026-27 | View What’s On 2026-27

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Next club event

06 Oct
Club

Capture the Moment – A Passion for Sports Photography - Talk by Nick Alston ARPS AWPF DPAGB BPE4*

Tues 6th Oct 2026 7:30pm - 10:00pm

Nick is an experienced photographer with a passion for capturing the energy and intensity of sport. In this engaging talk, he shares images from a wide range of disciplines, with a closer look at hockey, rugby, and boxing, alongside the key techniques behind successful action shots.

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Latest news

21 Jul
External

PAGB Inter Club PDi Championship 2026

On Sunday 19th July, the PAGB Inter Club PDi Championship 2026 was held at Warwick. This was the first time Colchester had qualified for this event in quite a while and our available image bank was strong. Unfortunately our strong set of people pictures were rendered unusable by the unexpectedly low scores (typically 10) that even very good people shots were getting. With very good landscape also only getting 12 marks, this left us just short of the top ten clubs after round 1 and a real selection dilemma for round 2 where we needed to get some high scores to secure a place in the final round by finishing in the top 8. Unfortunately these selections didn’t really lead to the improvement we needed and we remained 11th overall at the end of the first two rounds.

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01 Jun
External

GB Cup and GB Nature Cup 2026

GB Cup

We came equal 9th out of 46 clubs, a solid performance with some notable clubs below us (as well as above us!)

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15 Apr
External

CPS v Ipswich and District PS Annual Battle 2026

On Monday 13th April, we travelled to Ipswich for our Annual Battle. The competition consists of 15 prints and 15 pdi images with a maximum of one per author across the entire competition.

In a keenly contested first half, we tied the prints with 137.5 marks each. The judge decided to spread the marks a little more in the second half and we won the pdi section, scoring 130.5 marks to 125.5.

ClubPrintsPDITotal
Colchester137.5130.5268
Ipswich137.5125.5263

Congratulations to the following authors who scored the maximum mark of 10 on the evening: Chrissie Hart for ‘Chance Encounter’, Shaun Hykel for ‘Beautiful Autumn Colours’, Ben Heather for ‘Social Wasp Stripping Wood’ and Andrew Bailey for ‘On the edge of the mist’.

– Andrew Bailey (External Competition Secretary)

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