The IOMPS wishes all its members, family and friends a Happy New Year and 2018 a year when artistic aspirations and hopes become reality.

The first half of our winter season finished on a successful note, with membership up, competition entries up, some excellent judges, and several presentations which had been much enjoyed by the members.

We now look forward to the second half of our year with great anticipation.

We started on January 3 with a presentation by the club president Chris Blyth, a travelogue on Venice exploring its history and culture, as well as some modern day issues for the city, plus the opportunity for members to show a selection of their images on Cregneash and their interpretation of its culture and lifestyle. An excellent evening and a real kick-start for the balance of our programme.

As usual, the programme incorporates a series of competitions both internal and external, several with clubs from the neighbouring island which are always fun, albeit highly competitive and full of suspense.

A number of photographic presentations, as well as several training and educational sessions are also scheduled, including a session on macro photography (close-up images) which I know will include some literally eye-opening images, plus a practical evening with professional photographer Andrew Barton.

The season ends with the annual competition, this year being judged by Gwen and Phil Charnock - both superb photographers and highly regarded as judges, and - tasked to provide us with a presentation of their work - with an archive of images well able to show the full range of their talents.

The society meets on Wednesday evenings at the Art Society building (Thie Ellyn) in Withington Road, Douglas, all meetings starting at 7.30pm.

All meetings are open to the public, non-members with an entry fee of £1, and all will be given a very warm welcome.

Full details of our programme and much information about the society can be found on our website at www.iomps.com