After studying Photography in the early 90's, Dave worked for local press for several years before concentrating on landscape and documentary work. He is currently working on projects Blackpool Zoo and Burscough shopkeepers for exhibition in 2010/2011. Dave@dpilkington.com - www.dpilkington.com

Southport artist amd digital image restorer Jim Smyth was recently asked by the management of the Volunteer Public House on Eastbank Street, Southport. Merseyside. to 'do' a panel of pictures to support their Karaoke Evenngs. At first he thought they meant a small portfoio of pictures but it turned out they wanted all the walls of the room illustrated with singers going back to the 1950's! Jim rose to the challenge and over a couple of weekends produced these superb images, some of which are several feet tall; his only tool, a felt tip pen! It really is worth a visit to the Volunteer as obviously the images here cannot do justice to the originals. If you want to contact Jim (maybe you would like him to paint a picture or retouch an existing image for you) just use the contact page on the home page of this site.

Soumya Mukhopadhyay (b.1970) is the elder of two brothers and has worked in the capacity of an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer in the aviation industry. In 1999 he joined his family business and is doing well since then. In 1993 he joined Photographic Association of Dumdum (PAD) to learn photography from where he received his ‘Diploma in Photography’ three years later. He has more than 130 international acceptances 24 awards and numerous reproductions in international salon to his credit. His pictures have been exhibited in countries like England, USA, France, Belgium, Denmark, Scotland, Iran, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, Luxemburg, Australia, Portugal, Poland, Croatia, Cuba, Czech republic Hungary, Spain, South Africa, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Yugoslavia and in India as well. His prints have been incorporated in a collection named ‘The Photo Art of the Five Continents’ published from Hungary. His prints have also been kept in the permanent collections of various photographic societies and clubs. In the age of computer aided photography when everything but digital is looked upon with amazement, Soumya strictly adheres to conventional analogue photography and derives immense pleasure from laboring in the darkroom. Majority of his creation are by the technique of Photomontage where he follows the process of Combination Printing and Cut & Paste methods rather than the relatively easy route of Cut & Paste method. Soumya Mukhopadhyay received the distinction ‘Artist’ from the Federation Internationale d’la Art Photographique’ (the international body governing amateur photography throughout the world and affiliated to UNESCO) i.e. AFIAP in 2005. He is an avid listener and connoisseur of Rabindrasangeet and Hindusthani Classical Music.

Andrew Waddington has been off again on his travels, this time walking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). The trail, wending it's way from Mexico to Canada crosses some very picturesque country including California, the High Sierra mountains, Oregon and Washington. This year the weather conditons have been extreme with highs of 110 deg. F in the desert to as low as 20 deg. F in Washington state.The High Sierra saw record snow falls. Fires in Oregon and Washington also had to be negotiated. Andrew took 100 days to walk the 2703 miles. All pictures taken with an Olympus SP350 Digital Camera

A perspective on Liverpool U.K. by Peter Bennett. Peter says "I used to own just a cheap compact film camera for pictures on holidays, etc. At the age of 63, we gained a grandson and that started me off with a better compact, then another. I looked at digital which only lasted for a few weeks, then took a shine to used S.L.R.'s, one after the other and various accessories, fish eyes, etc. A couple of Twin Lens Rolleiflexes later and that is it to date.I have always been intrigued by my surroundings wherever I maybe. I find a camera fits well with that turn of mind. Why I never started younger, I don't know. Anyway, it is my hobby now." Peter Bennett

A set of astronomical photos taken with telescopes such as Orion and Vixen, more specific details to follow soon.

A collection of pictures taken at Winterdyne Preparatory School, Southport. between 1947 and 1963. If any ‘old boy’! has pictures he would like added here – please e-mail them to info@waddingtonphoto.com It is possible to add comments at the bottom of each picture, where any interested party can ‘NAME THAT BOY’. Clicking on a thumbnail enlarges the picture and clicking a second time enlarges it again.

A collection of funky pictures from the Stone colelction. Jon Stone attended Liverpool University where he studied for a Combined Arts Degree. Now a freelance photographer, his chosen main subject area is live music performance. Jon uses Digital Nikon Equipment. "It is always difficult at live concerts , you are usually lmited in taking shots to the first 3 songs and have little idea of how good the lighting will be and how the performers may move or dance across a stage. It’s a challenge but great fun’’. Jon has had single exhibitions in Toronto, Cologne and Liverpool and his work has featured in world wide music press and may be found on many band's web sites. Contact jon at jonstoneimages@btinternet.com

When Southport businessman and entrepreneur John Craig purchased the Carlton Hotel on the town’s famous Lord Street, he courageously decided to change its name to ‘The Red Rum Hotel’ in recognition of the local racehorse’s historic Grand National successes. He asked his friend Derek Holden, a keen amateur photographer, if he would be interested in taking photographs of Red Rum with which to decorate the hotel and the new ‘Rummie’s Bar’. Derek jumped at the opportunity and with his wife at the wheel of an open topped car he raced alongside the horse as it trained on Southport sands, shooting at high speed on his Hasselblad camera. His photographs spawned a huge and highly successful market in Red Rum memorabilia and some of his previously un-published shots are illustrated on this website. The late John Craig and his wife Diana are also pictured with Red Rum, as is the legendary Ginger McCain.

Alec Spiers is a recent convert to digital photography having for many years used Nikon and Leica cameras. He now uses a Nikon D100 and, for portability, a Nikon 4500 4 million pixel camera.