RPS Digital Imaging News June 2022 by Royal Photographic Society

DI News June 2022

Two Swimmers Above Me by Chris Cumming

Winner of the Digital Imaging Monthly Competition for May

CHAIRMAN’S NOTES Where does the time go? Although everything seems to pause for summertime, we seem to be very busy. What’s next Our next online talk is ‘Photoshop Processing Tips & Tricks’ with Ross McKelvey on Saturday 2 July at 4pm UK time. You can register for it up until 7.00 on Friday 1 July: rps.org/digonline34 We hope you’ll be inspired over the summer to enter this year’s Projected Image Competition. This will open for entries on 1 August with an entry deadline of 31 August. The selectors will be Holly Stranks FRPS, Cathy Roberts FRPS and Trevor Yerbury FRPS. The selection and presentation of awards will be held on 17 September at RPS House, Paintworks, Bristol. There will be further announcements of details, or keep your eye on the Projected Image web page: rps.org/digpdi. On 6 August we are once again collaborating with the Royal Horticultural Society to present an online event explaining how to enter the RHS Portfolio competition and how the entries are judged. The competition will take place early in 2023, giving you plenty of time to find out about it and prepare an entry. Find our more and register for ‘Plants, Panels and Passion’ here: rps.org/DI-RHS-6Aug22. The first showing of the RPS Digital Imaging Print Exhibition 2022 will be at York Theatre Royal in York from 9-28 August, organised by the DI Yorkshire & NE Centre. You can see prints from the ‘short’ exhibition and digital images of all the accepted prints displayed in the café area. There are other photographic gatherings planned to coincide with the exhibition, so why not plan to make a day of it in York. For more information contact Sue Gibson at digyorkshirerps@gmail.com. It's always worth keeping worth an eye out for the workshops with Celia Henderson (ByteSize sessions on photo processing) and Joe Houghton (Lightroom Step by Step) organised by Melanie Chalk. If you miss out any of the sessions, you’ll find that they may repeat again soon. The RPS Website A number of people have been having trouble lately with aspects of the RPS website associated with membership, including booking some events. We’ve put a workaround in place for RPS Digital Imaging events, so you should be OK. But it’s worth repeating the statement issued by the RPS: 2

DI News June 2022

We are currently building a brand-new membership portal for you, which will be ready in a few weeks. Whilst we do this, some parts of the RPS website are not working as usual. You can still book events and pay for your membership by calling us on 0117 3164 464 or email us at info@rps.org with details of your request and contact details, and we will call you back to take payment. We apologise for any inconvenience. Stay Cool! Rex, Deborah & Janet Rex Waygood

Deborah Loth

Janet Haines

Digital Imaging Co-Chair digchair@rps.org

Digital Imaging Co-Chair digchair2@rps.org

Digital Imaging Co-Chair digchair3@rps.org

The new Edition of DIGIT will be winging its way to you by the end of the month, and then available to read online. DI News June 2022

DI News June 2022

MONTHLY ONLINE COMPETITION The winner of our May monthly online competition was ‘Two Swimmers Above me’ by Chris Cumming, which is featured on the cover. (For more information about this friendly monthly competition, including how to enter, visit www.rps.org/DIGMonComp. Keep an eye out for video slideshows of monthly competition entries on our YouTube channel.) Chris Cumming “Two Swimmers Above Me” Talk about choke on my Bran flakes, reading my early morning emails… Re: ‘Winning Image’. Was the email really for me? Then the horror set in, I was being asked to write a short piece on the photo ‘Two Swimmers above me’. Worst was to come, supply a headshot photo (do I have such a thing). Joking aside it was a massive surprise and humbling experience to win, thank you to everyone who takes time to vote in the DI group competition each month. The photo was taken one sunny Saturday in May, at The Sky Pool near the American Embassy, Nine Elms London. I was on a Photo walk ‘Oval to Battersea’, expertly lead by Fred Barrington and organised by the RPS London Branch. Thanks to Judy & David Hicks and their team who do such an amazing job of arranging at least two photo walks a month and a host of other activities. See London Overview The photo shows two swimmers in an all-glass swimming pool which spans 25 meters between two apartment blocks, about 10 floors up. I was standing underneath with my trusty Canon G7x II pointing straight up, with its ‘Flippy-out’ screen I was able to avoid neck strain, so handy. I loved the way the bright sunshine was coming through the water glass, and the polarised filter on camera really enhanced the colours. Some general tweaking in Lightroom, rotated and then cropped into portrait format. It just goes to prove; it always pays to look up!

Chris Cumming

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Second Place – Beach Abstract By Val Walker ARPS

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Third Place White Chrysanthemum By Chris Griffin

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FEATURE ARTICLE Joe Houghton is one of my new ‘Covid friends’ and our phone and Zoom conversations have blossomed over the months, as we have planned and facilitated numerous talks and workshops for DIG South East. I will always remember my first call with Joe, impressed by his enthusiasm, charm and approachability. He has recently developed some new 90minute workshops, exclusive to DIG, entitled ‘Lightroom Step by Step’ delving deeper into all of Lightroom’s nooks and crannies to build your knowledge and abilities, with some for LR newbies but also for more advanced users. Starting in July and they will be expanded into the autumn months. Joe’s response, to my request for an article, was positive with an impressive 24 hour turnaround, a reflective read!

Photography pre & post Covid - a reflection…

“Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation.” ― Victor Frankl

The past couple of years have been a difficult period for everyone. We must never forget the amazing efforts put out by so many to help us all through the Covid crisis, and the loss and hardships so many have experienced. But I want to reflect on some positives, which have come out of the same period - less fundamentally important in the grand scheme of things perhaps, but positives none the less, through the lens of photography - this art which connects all the readers of this piece together.

DI News June 2022

Ted by Joe Houghton

Isolation and connection I live in Dublin, and, in Ireland, it all started the Thursday before St Patrick’s Day. The Taoiseach (the Irish Prime Minister) shut down the schools, sent everyone home, and we began what everyone thought would be a week or two of a break. I realised immediately that this was going to shut down camera clubs from meeting for a LONG time. The very next day I pulled together a list of all the Irish camera clubs, and emailed them all with an offer to do online talks using this new fangled thing no-one had ever heard of then called Zoom. I got 12 bookings within 24 hours. Within a few weeks, I came across the UK Club Photographer’s Facebook Group, and soon afterward Adrian Lines released the Zoom Register for speakers to promote their talks and judging. All of a sudden, there was a new infrastructure in place to connect clubs with speakers/judges. Clubs slowly began to realize this was a longer term issue, and experiment with online meetings, aided by tech-savvy members. Resistance was an issue - many didn’t like the online experience and were challenged by the technology, and Zoom’s security issues didn’t help matters in the early days. But gradually we became accustomed and able to run these sessions and help the less technically capable to join in. DI News June 2022

What had begun as a separation of everyone into their own homes morphed into something very unexpected - a brand new, wider community where clubs could invite speakers from any distance to share their images, stories and expertise. Club photography will never be the same again. Some may mourn the loss of the village hall meetings. Don’t - they will be back and always have a place, but now as part of a richer mix of potential experiences to share and learn from each other through different media. Community Adversity offers opportunity. RPS DIG members are well aware of the sterling work the committees have done providing an ever expanding range of talks, workshops and events. One regular to my talks (and many others) recently told me he was taking a break from online talks to spend some time consolidating his skills and knowledge - he seems to have been on different talks almost every day, sometimes more than once, and this is quite possible now, with so many clubs offering sessions and making them open via accessible ticket pricing to guest visitors.

Camversation was the first (I think) online photo club set up during this period, and has e regular talks and online events. More recently MyPhotoClub is another entrant into this doing physical meetups. Established clubs have in some cases lost members but in othe distance and the need to travel to meetings.

My own experience of community has been very strong over this period. As an introvert hated commuting and will certainly never go back to that pattern again.

As a club speaker, my reach suddenly extended from the Dublin area out into Ireland, the somehow managed repeat visits have become welcome returns to see people who, in so person. And engaging with wonderful people like Mel Chalk of the RPS DIG SE Group, Morris of Eastbourne PS, and now MyPhotoClub to bounce ideas for talks and then crea up with new ways to share my passion with others. My life is better having come into the 12

DI News June 2022

Afternoon at The Customs House by Joe Houghton

established itself as a vibrant community drawing members from all over the world to space, and others are coming. As restrictions ease, these online clubs are now also ers, membership has risen as people have joined, no longer restricted by physical

t, I’ve actually found working from the kitchen table something I’ve enjoyed - I always

e UK and then even further afield - South Africa, even New Zealand. The clubs where I ome cases, have become friends, even though many of these I have yet to meet in Isobel Lindsay & Doug Berndt of Edinburgh PS, Mark Evans at Camversation, and Roy ate and deliver them has challenged me to explore my own photography skills and come eir orbits. DI News June 2022

Interclubs I was fortunate enough to be able to facilitate the initial Zoom sessions for the Hibiscus Coast PS, a club I’m a member of in South Africa, when they, like us, were shut down from physical meetings. Running the Zoom sessions for the HCPS from my kitchen table in Dublin was slightly surreal, yet it was possible, and pulled the club back together, brought people stuck in their homes back into a social space, and built community and connection, which was sorely needed, especially in the early days of the shut-downs.

I introduced my Dublin club, Palmerstown CC to the HCPS in early 2021, and this resulted in a very successful inter-club competition last May. I’m seeing many more clubs take advantage of Zoom to do similar, even between multiple clubs. It’s a great way to see other styles of photography which, if you’re a member of just a single club, can sometimes become less varied, depending on the range of interests of the members.

DI News June 2022

Join Clubs as country member This year I’ve joined a number of clubs for two reasons - one because they are great clubs to be a part of having seen them from the speaker’s perspective, and two because I’m loving being part of these different communities and learning from some amazing photographers in each one. I’d encourage you to consider becoming a virtual member of at least one club somewhere very different from where you live - it really will expand your horizons! Making pictures In my own case, the past while has been more about talking photography than doing photography, although reviewing the last 2 years in Lightroom, all the attached images were shot over that time, so I did do some shooting! I felt no draw to venture out and shoot ‘Street’ when everyone was wearing masks, and even heading off to the coast for some long exposure work or seascapes left me nervous to leave the perceived safety of my home cocoon.

Skerries beach by Joe Houghton

But, like many others, this has been a time for me to further develop my postprocessing skills, experiment with new tools and techniques, and, perhaps revisit some of the back-catalogue of images amassed over the years and see if I could do anything more with them now than I could when I shot them. All the major processing software has seen huge development in capabilities in the past few years, so as long as you are fortunate enough to have a computer capable of running the software, your possibilities now are light-years beyond what would have been possible even as we entered Covid. Complex selections and masking, noise reduction, sharpening, compositing, even rescuing blurred images - all this is now eminently possible with the new offerings from, to name just a few - Adobe, Topaz, OnOne and Affinity. If you haven't updated to, or tried, any of the new software for a while, it might be worth investing some time and money into this - it’s truly amazing what you can do now! To close, following the restrictions imposed by Covid, I’m far more connected to the wider photographic community now than I have ever been in my life heretofore. I have new friends, a new outlet for my twin passions of education and photography, and a great excuse to keep buying new gadgets and gizmos for my Zoom calls - lots of G.A.S. in my house I can tell you. I hope to see you on a talk sometime soon! Joe Houghton www.houghtonphoto.com/talks

A woodland morning - Feb 2022 by Joe Houghton

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Donadea - May 2022 by Joe Houghton

A day in the hide by Joe Houghton

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Heron - Botanic Gardens - by Joe Houghton 18

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Busy Bee by Joe Houghton

Joe is just about to start this new series of workshops, entitled ‘Lightroom Step by Step. They are a series of single workshops, delving deep into all of Lightroom’s nooks and crannies to build your knowledge and abilities.

The first one is sold out but the next 5 are bookable on Eventbrite, < click the image to take you to the events and all the details and dates.

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A UK MEMBER I noticed some intriguing images posted by Paul, on Facebook. So I asked if he would share them here. I enjoy the images Paul posts, they are often that bit different.

In Search of the Elusive As long as I can remember I have been interested in photography, be it the pictures, the story behind them or the photographer. My sister bought me my first camera, a Kodak brownie. I still remember the excitement of waiting for the developed film being returned from the chemists and the disappointment, that the pictures never quite looked how I had taken them. Fast forward a few years when my wife bought me a Mamiya 35mm. To develop my understanding of the camera and techniques I joined Bexleyheath Photographic Society where, with the support and encouragement of club members, I entered national and international competitions, achieving BPE3 and AFIAP status. I also successfully gained my ARPS with a panel of sporting themed pictures. Paul Foley FRPS also presented an evening of his images which included bits of graffiti and old bits of rust, these really inspired me, and I believe still does to this day. I also took the plunge and held a solo exhibition, which featured a number of abstract paper shapes, classic car pictures and architectural images. I like to work in themes and enjoy trying different subjects but always seem to come back to more abstract images as evidenced in my pictures of buildings, flowers, and paper shapes, some of which I have included here. Having recently moved to Bexhill on Sea, I have joined Eastbourne Photographic society. My latest themes include the fishing boats in Hastings, local woods and the first year in our new garden. Since I gained my ARPS I have been researching and developing new themes to achieve a panel which I consider worthy of an FRPS panel. I am still in search of this elusive panel and am really enjoying the process of doing so.

Paul Bather ARPS BPE 3 AFIAP 20

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Blue Tinge by Paul Bather ARPS

Paper and Light by Paul Bather ARPS DI News June 2022

Gothic by Paul Bather ARPS

Ballet by Paul Bather ARPS 22

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Incoming by Paul Bather ARPS

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Thru’ the Dust by Paul Bather ARPS

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Different Shades by Paul Bather ARPS

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Walt Disney Concert Hall by Paul Bather ARPS

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MORE FROM A NEW MEMBER Another chance to hear from Brendon Harvey, a very new DI Member, and new to photography. But he recounts a very story as he explores

Newly Dug Part 2: Shoots Emerge In the last edition I outlined my photographic journey from unwrapping my new Nikon DSLR to embarking on the Open University’s TG089 Digital Photography course. In Part 2 of the article, I want to chart the next stage: finding out what form of photography I wished to pursue.

One of the OU weekly assignments had led me to the landing of ‘Little Amal’ in Folkestone. She was a giant 3.5-metre-tall puppet which theatre company, Good Chance Theatre, used to represent a young refugee’s walk from the Syria-Turkey border across nine countries to Manchester in the UK. Photographers flocked to capture her landing in Folkestone. I found myself surrounded by tripods, sharp elbows, and security staff! I enjoyed it though and wished to do more of the same social documentary form. I flicked through the RPS journal and found a course by the Open College of the Arts (OCA), endorsed by the RPS, called Investigating Place with Psychogeography. It offered an opportunity to explore my local area and capture just how that space becomes a place. Or, in the words of John Rogers, a leading psychogeographer, ‘how people’s sense of identity is developed through their connection with place’.

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Quite near to my home is the former miner’s settlement of Mill Hill. It’s literally ‘the other side of the tracks’, as the main train line bisects the properties close to the coast from those further back in Mill Hill. The latter was a planned development to house miners and their families who had come to Deal in the 1920’s and 1930’s to mine the nearby Betteshanger colliery. Betteshanger, one of the four pits that made up the newly discovered Kent Coalfield, the others being Tilmanstone, Snowdown, and Chislet, employed 2500 workers at its peak and covered an area of 79 acres. The workforce came from all parts of the UK, attracted by employment after the 1926 General Strike. Some literally walked from Scotland, Wales, and the North of England. Many were former union men who had been blackballed by the mine owners once the mines opened again after the strike. The miners and their families were not wholly welcomed by the genteel locals. ‘No miners’ posters appeared in guest house windows. The wives would find streaky ‘miners bacon’ being offered them, or chipped and cracked ‘miner’s crockery’. Mill Hill was unique. The settlements built for the other three pits were in isolated rural areas, Mill Hill in contrast abutted the town of Deal. It was made clear to us by local estate agents, when we moved into the area, that Mill Hill was ‘undesirable’. Some locals we have met still exhibit the same attitudes of their forebears towards the people of Mill Hill.

Colliery site levelled by Brendon Harvey DI News June 2022

My course task, therefore, was to embark on a ‘derive’, basically a psychogeographic wander through the area, to see how it impacted on me, taking images along the way as a visual document. What became immediately apparent was how little visible evidence remained of the old buildings that were linked to the mining community. The one exception being the Betteshanger Sports and Social Club, supported through the Miners Welfare Fund, that offers sports and recreational facilities for the local community. Notable buildings such as Magnus House, the former local NUM headquarters, with its reading room and longest operating Workers Education Association (WEA) group, is anonymous. As though the heritage has been rubbed out. Similarly, at the former colliery site one building remains, the old colliery offices now turned into an ‘enterprise centre’. No plaque, no information board. The colliery has been flattened, the pit was the last of the Kent pits to close in 1989, and the site partly redeveloped. However, in contrast, across the main road is the former coal tip which is now Fowlmead Country Park. A 210-acre site with cycle tracks and nature reserves. In Spring 2022, the Kent Mining Museum opened here to house artefacts and memories of the Kent Coalfield and its workers. On the road between the former colliery site and its tip stands a bronze statue, ‘The Kent Miner’(shown here) Originally commissioned by the Central Electricity Generating Board for its nearby Richborough Power Station in 1966, then sited on Dover seafront once the power station closed, the statue was brought to Betteshanger after former miners campaigned to get it erected as a monument to those who lost their lives during the life of the coalfield. There is no acknowledgment of its sculptor, H. Phillips. Two illegible information boards have been left to erode and decay. Just as in Mill Hill, the visible heritage of the former industry has, it would seem, been rubbed out.

DI News June 2022

At its conclusion, the course required me to present a sequence of my photographs. I learned a great deal how that order influences the viewer. Feedback led me to research Aftermath Photography or Late Photography, and its relevance beyond the battlefield or natural disaster. Seeds have been sown of what excites me about photography. The OCA course enabled me, through my photography, to engage with my local environment and its history. A big story told within a little story. A counterweight to amnesia, capturing a past that is in danger of being forgotten. Brendon Harvey

Autumn in the Park by Brendon Harvey

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OVERSEAS MEMBER

Sam Lee, one of our Overseas Members and is experimenting with many varied genres on his photographic journey as well as switching between analogue and digital, read his story.

Sam Lee LRPS I am delighted to write an introduction about my photography journey for the DI overseas members’ pages. I am a Pastor. I first picked up my camera as a teenager, my father bought me a Canon AV-1 film SLR, to take photos socially. Plainly speaking, I go out and shot what I have seen as I travel. I did not become a serious photographer until 2000 when I joined my church photography club. Then I tried different photographic categories, such as portraits, and documentaries, street photographs, and such like. When I glance at images in a photographic magazine, for example, National geography, the published photos show a wordless message and meaningful spiritual story. I think that there is something special inside the photos or photo is a bearer of worldwide communication without language restriction. So, I wanted to learn more about photography in an academic way. I joined the Open University course and took part with the RPS, then started on my own distinction journey and have attained my LRPS. Photography is more than a communicative medium, is a creative outlet through the photographer’s personality, it is an art. I love analogue with my Leica MP and Rolleiflex and I try Digital Photography with my Leica SL and M10-P. I am passionate about travel, landscape, portraits, creative and street photography and I am learning how to take deep-sky photography. The New Open Railway Hong Kong by Sam Lee LRPS 34

DI News June 2022

Pattern Formations by Sam Lee LRPS

Look Up and Go by Sam Lee LRPS Sam says, ‘Zone Focus Practice with my M9 Monochrome’ DI News June 2022

Eyes by Sam Lee LRPS Sam says, ‘I like portrait not because of the model or person, I would love to present how people express their inner feeling through their eyes’

Cynthia by Sam Lee LRPS 36

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MEMBER’S SHOWCASE Lois Wakeman, is a volunteer for DI, helping to edit the Distinction articles and as a Moderator on the DI Facebook page. I followed up on an interesting image she posted on Facebook and asked her to tell us the story behind the images.

ROCK ART Ever since the thrill of finding my first ammonite at Brent Knoll when I was about 10, I’ve been interested in geology. I read geology at university, followed by a short contract with BP in their oil-well evaluation unit, and after that, geology took a back seat to a writing career and motherhood. We moved near Lyme Regis in 1985. Being by the Jurassic Coast rekindled my interest (although palaeontology was never my first love, being more of an “ig and met” devotee†) and I spent time on the beach finding ammonites, belemnites and other fossils with the family. † Igneous and metamorphic rocks, especially their chemistry and structure; sedimentology and structural geology I also found especially interesting.

Widemouth sandstone by Lois Wakeman, LRPS 38

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Until a few years ago, though, I’d never considered the artistic possibilities of rocks. As a student, notebooks and sketches were a useful tool to record appearance and important features, but I didn’t have a camera, and although I’ve always appreciated landscape and nature, for some reason, rocks didn’t really pique my interest except in a scientific way. After I was married, my husband gave me one of his film cameras, and taught me the basics of exposure, ISO and aperture. Eventually I graduated to digital cameras of slowly increasing sophistication, which released me from the “mustn’t waste the film” mentality and helped me on my creative exploration of the medium, rather than saving it for documenting holidays and family events. Like many people, I have several evolving projects/styles on the go, and it gradually became apparent that my favourites were the semi-abstraction of the intimate landscape, and accidental paintings found in decay and dereliction.

Summerleaze ledges by Lois Wakeman, LRPS DI News June 2022

Crooklets wrack by Lois Wakeman, LRPS

Crooklets landscape by Lois Wakeman, LRPS 40

DI News June 2022

Rocks fit well into the former category, often looking like tiny scenes when framed the right way, and for me, they have the added interest of knowing (or guessing) how they formed, hundreds of millions of years ago. I also like the idea that I might find beauty in some small spot that no-one else has noticed as they walk past. The southwest of England is an ideal (and geographically convenient) huntingground for rock art. The granite tors of Dartmoor, the contorted sand and siltstones of North Devon and Cornwall, the shimmering slates of South Devon, the red and white coast of East Devon, and fabulously fossiliferous Dorset are all places where I’ve spent many a happy hour investigating the strata. I love the variety of colours, patterns and textures, sometimes enhanced by marine life, sometimes plain and unadorned.

Crooklets rockpool by Lois Wakeman, LRPS

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Breakwater veins by Lois Wakeman, LRPS

Breakwater slab by Lois Wakeman, LRPS

I hope I might inspire some of you to look afresh at your local geology, and perhaps to find out a bit more about how it came about. Lois Wakeman, LRPS 42

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The Digital Imaging Group for Yorkshire and the North East

We are back!! Come and see the DIG Print Exhibition 2022 in York from 9th to 28th August at York Theatre Royal. We are pleased that we have been given space within the cafe area where you can see the prints from the short exhibition and digital images of the remaining accepted prints. For now, keep those dates in your diary, there will be other events going on during the three weeks the images are displayed. Make a day of it in York, see the exhibition, see the sights and enjoy! Further information contact: Sue Gibson at digyorkshirerps@gmail.com

DI News June 2022

Recently I reported on the success of RPS members in the RHS Portfolio competition. After watching the presentation ‘Plants Panels and Passion’ in January, many were inspired, embarking on a project or searching their archive for suitable subjects. Some did send in Portfolio entries for possible selection, some with great success and accolades. There is another opportunity in August to find out. what makes a successful RHS Portfolio entry? Helen Fickling, RHS judge, Sian Tyrrell from the RHS and Paul Mitchell FRPS provide insights into the judging process and offer guidance for photographers considering entering for RHS Portfolio. Showcasing successful portfolio panels from the last few years and discussing how the competition entries might develop in the future, this is a unique opportunity to see under the hood of this amazing competition. We are just waiting for final details before we release an Advisory Day with a Sian and another RHS Judge to critique Panels images. Full upload specifications will be published soon and the date for your diary. Watch out for further collaborative events with the RHS. Do enjoy trying to capture award winning flowers and garden landscapes over the summer months. The FREE event on August 6th is now bookable just click the Ad below.

DI News June 2022

RPS DISTINCTIONS Some dates for assessments for the second half of 2022 are on the RPS website, for the various genres of ARPS and FRPS you may need to keep checking back for updates This page allows you to see links to assessments for all distinctions and genres (not just LRPS): Assessments. The Distinctions team is offering in-person assessments at Bristol, and has resumed live streaming the assessments (except for photobooks) Observers can book here (for limited genres currently): Watch assessments. Note: at the time of writing, the website has been experiencing technical problems that mean some users can’t log in, but most documents are freely available anyway.

Find out more: Each of the pages below includes handy links to guidelines and genres for distinctions, and a “how to apply” document: • Licentiate (LRPS) • Associate (ARPS) • Fellowship (FRPS) The Photobook genre, available for all distinctions, has its own special guidelines and submission process (as opposed to an LRPS, ARPS or FRPS submission in book form). You can find out more here: Photobooks. Assessments are offered in October. You might also like to see a recording of a recent Zoom talk hosted by Stewart Wall which is both informative and inspiring. And don’t forget, as well as projected and printed images, you can also apply for a Film, Digital and Multimedia Distinction at any level (submissions by July 30th), and also a written Research Distinction: Film And Research. To help you prepare, you can request a 1:1 portfolio review – an online session with a panel member appropriate to your genre/distinction, but be aware there will be a waiting list of a month or so. (Currently, 1:1 statement of intent reviews are not being advertised.) Some regions are offering Advisory Days in person and online – you can search for these on the website using the link. You can generally attend as an observer if you aren’t ready to step up yet. In addition, some Chapters and Regions offer online Distinctions Study Groups. You can also find these by searching the website. If you missed any of the excellent Distinctions Live talks, you can catch up here. The Facebook Group RPS Distinctions **Official Group** has recently celebrated its second birthday and now has well over 4100 members. It’s a civilised venue to ask questions, share your successes – and disappointments – and ask for critique or expert advice on your proposed portfolio. If you aren’t sure which genre to apply for, you can post 6 images (plus your SOI if appropriate) for moderator advice. 46

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Accolade, which celebrates Digital Imaging members’ Distinctions successes, is useful for insight into the process in many different genres and at all levels. Issue 10 of Accolade is now available. All issues of Accolade can be found on the Digital Imaging website: DIG Accolade.

DIGITAL IMAGING EVENTS & LISTINGS Although some real-life (as opposed to online) events have been organised, they still may be disrupted by the COVID pandemic. So check on the events page or with the event organiser for the latest status of any event. There are more events in the pipeline. You can sign up to receive our events listing email at bit.ly/ RPSDIEvents. And if you’d like to lend a hand, Centres need volunteers to help with Zoom events, so contact Lyn Phillips (digsecretary@rps.org) to get involved. Please check that you haven’t already registered before you book so as to avoid duplicate bookings. Click on any of these ads to visit the event page: Digital Imaging: South East in Collaboration with South East Region

From May to October 2022

Celia Henderson

Digital Imaging: South East in Collaboration with South East Region

July, September & October 2022

Joe Houghton

ByteSize Selection of 2 x 90 minute interactive hands-on PS Workshops over Zoom https://rps.org/regions/south-east/bytesize/

Lightroom Step by Step

#2 Organising Images

#3 Finding your images

#4 LR Settings

#5 The Develop Module

#6 The Hidden Powerhouse https://rps.org/SEJOESBS22

DI News June 2022

SIG-LINK Clicking on any of these ads will take you to the RPS Events page where you can find more information about events from other Special Interest Groups (SIGs):

DI News June 2022

DIGITAL IMAGING DISCUSSION GROUP If you’re feeling a bit isolated and would like to hang out and chat about photography, please drop by Digital Imaging on Facebook where you can also ask – and answer - questions. You’ll need to join it before you can participate, but the advantage is that it’s a closed group open only to Digital Imaging members. It’s especially useful if you are experiencing FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out - as a number of useful things often show up there first.

THE RPS WEBSITE For guidance from the RPS on its website basics, visit https://rps.org/newwebsite. For detailed information on setting up your profile and how to set up a gallery, visit https://rps.org/media/i3aaf51z/myrps-editing.pdf. The RPS maintains a page with updates to COVID-19 issues here: https:// rps.org/covid-19. For everyone’s convenience, we include this list of shortcuts to the main Digital Imaging pages at the end of each newsletter. Digital Imaging website shortcuts: Digital Imaging Home page www.rps.org/DIG Membership www.rps.org/DIMembership Committee www.rps.org/DIGCommittee News www.rps.org/DIGNews Monthly Competition www.rps.org/DIGMonComp Accolade www.rps.org/DIGAccolade Print Circle www.rps.org/DIGCircle AGM www.rps.org/DIGAGM Print Exhibition www.rps.org/DIGExhibition Projected Image Competition www.rps.org/DIGPDI Tutorials www.rps.org/DIGTutorials Publications www.rps.org/digpubs There are links to all the Centres from the Digital Imaging Home Page. The three members-only links (DIGIT Archive, Accolade and Welcome Page) are to be found in the email message announcing this newsletter. The RPS Digital Imaging constitution can be downloaded HERE. You can subscribe to our events listing email here: bit.ly/RPSDIEvents.

DI News June 2022