IT IS, unbelievably, only six months since we launched The Press Camera Club at the end of June. But what a roaring success it has been.

At the time of writing, the club had almost 800 members and rising. And it has quickly developed its own identity as a community of photographers, says Press photographer Frank Dwyer. "Members comment on each other's work, they offers tips and advice and suggestions, they meet up for photographic trips - and, of course, they take some great photos," he says.

Do they ever. Many of the club members are every bit as technically proficient as professionals, Frank says.

And the results speak for themselves. We run camera club photographs every day on the letters page of The Press, and also include regular spreads of photographs.

And, of course, at the end of each month we carry a special spread of the winners of that month's camera club competition - winners chosen by Frank himself.

We'll be revealing the winners of December's #Christmas-themed competition in this newspaper on Thursday.

But today, to get 2018 off to a good start, we invited Frank to choose some of his favourite Camera Club photos from the many thousands taken since June.

They're just his personal favourites, Frank says - it was difficult to choose from so many brilliant submissions, and other club members will no doubt have their own favourites. But for what it's worth here's Frank's personal pick of Press Camera Club photos of 2017.

Happy New Year!

Stephen Lewis

BLOB Membership of The Press Camera Club is entirely free. If you'd like to join, simply go on Facebook, type in Press Camera Club in the search box, and sign up. It's as simple as that. Happy snapping...