The Western Area Battle was held at Dalston Victory Hall on Saturday 6^th December 2025 and managed by Penrith & District Camera Club.

The event was opened by Gerald Chamberlin (NCPF Western Area Representative) who welcomed the judge and all those attending. Jane Lazenby BA (hons) fine art, LRPS, ASEA, QTFE2, BPE5*, EFIAP/s, DPAGB, FMPA, AWPF gave the opening presentation and judged the Battle.

All five clubs of the Western Area (Carlisle CC, Dalston PS, Keswick PS, Penrith & District CC and Workington & District CC) took part and were joined by guest club Dumfries CC.

Jane’s presentation and live editing demonstrations were about how she produces her wonderful composite images. As these are mostly produced for competitions she avoids any use of AI-based processing. All those watching gained something from the presentation.

This was followed by a sumptuous buffet provided by Penrith.

Each club had provided 8 PDIs and 8 prints which contained a wide variety of images. To increase the tension, Jane ‘held back’ those entries scoring 18 or more (out of 20) and these were then scored at the end, first the 18s, then the 19s and finally the top-scorer. Jane’s comments were insightful and informative and indicated how long she had spent studying the entries. In the end, the scores were very close.

Digital Images

1^st Keswick 140
2^nd Workington 137
3^rd Dumfries 135
4^th Penrith 132
5^th Carlisle 128
Dalston 126

Prints

1^st Keswick 140
2^nd Workington 134
3^rd= Dumfries 132
3^rd= Dalston 132
5^th= Carlisle 131
5^th= Penrith 131

Overall scores

1^st Keswick 280
2^nd Workington 271
3^rd Dumfries 268
4^th Penrith 263
5^th Carlisle 259
6^th Dalston 258

The following images scored the maximum 20 points:
Print – ‘Figures descending in the mist’ by John Williams of Penrith.
PDI – ‘In the lead’ by Bob Given of Keswick.

The event concluded by the winning club (Keswick) proposing a vote of thanks to the organising club (Penrith).

I would like to thank all clubs for their entries and Jane Lazonby for speaking and judging.

Penrith & District Camera Club