Thanks to an idea from Jean on the DI committee we will permanently feature a “Top Tips” section in each issue for reference. It is something that has been occasionally featured before, so I trawled through previous editions to see what was shared. Several tips were repeated many times as they were such good advice, and these are the ones that you can find in the first article. We hope that they will help you at whatever stage of your distinction journey you are at - and will even be useful tips if you are not considering a distinction. Please let me know if you have any others to share.
Hello and welcome to Accolade 11
In this issue of Accolade – which are featured 9 LRPS, 8 ARPS and 3 FRPS success stories. Amongst the three new FRPSs are Simon Street – with his 5th Fellowship, and I’m delighted to sayWemyself!also
have a great article from Carol Olerud FRPS who is the Organiser of the Benelux Chapter of the RPS. Carol describes the Chapter as a very active group of photographers, and they certainly are! We have also included Carol’s hanging plan and SOI of her very moving FRPS – and a link to her website to see it in full.
5.
along
4.
Selection: Scrutinise for ‘Distinctive & Distinguished’
Location
Enjoy
the issue,
Holly FRPS
Stranks
6.
Imaging is an RPS Special Interest Group promoting the art and the craft of digital imaging. For more information, see page 89/90 or visit rps.org/DI.
Simon some of his own tips he had discovered the way of successful distinction journey:
1. repetition: is can go to time and time
Multiple tries: Submit an F and act on the feedback
his remarkably
important, choose somewhere you
Consistency: Design a ‘style’ and throw-out misfits
recently shared
Assistant Editor AAccoladedigital magazine celebrating Digital Imaging members’ Distinctions is published by RPS Digital Imaging Accolade editor: Dennis Knowles Accolade assistant editor: Holly Stranks FRPS
If location
Digital
Mentors: A few trusted friends, P2P, Online Advisories
2.
again
Ideas: Run 2-3 ideas in parallel…then pick
3.
• Fellowship (FRPS)
RPS DISTINCTIONS
Some dates for assessments from September 2022 are now 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 is also live streaming some assessments (except for photobooks). Observers can find dates here: Watch assessments. Note: the RPS website is still unable to allow member login or bookings, 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:
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 next offered in October. You might also like to see a recording of a 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.
• Licentiate (LRPS)
• Associate (ARPS)
The Facebook Group RPS Distinctions **Official Group** has over 4100 members, and has a number of new posts celebrating distinction successes to inspire you. It’s a civilized 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 or level to apply for, you can post 6 images (plus your SOI if appropriate) and request moderator advice.
Accolade, which celebrates Digital Imaging members’ Distinctions successes, is useful for insight into the process in many different genres and at all levels, the archive, where back issues of Accolade can be found, is on the Digital Imaging website: DI Accolade.
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, and you are advised to book at least 4 months before an assessment. (The waiting list will be open again from 12th July, and separate 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
TOP TIPS
Do take up the RPS one2one advice, you can have up to three:SOI advice (not needed for LRPS) and two one2ones. Consider observing an assessment day – online or in person. These can be booked on the RPS website to observe online at all levels. You can get a true feel for what is required by hearing and seeing panels assessed honestly and openly by the Assessors.
From issue 2 of Accolade in an interview with Andy Moore LRPS of the Distinctions team: “If you are seeking advice then bear in mind that whatever you are told is precisely that: advice. It is not an instruction. You really do need to have a strong idea of the worth of your own work and your own photographic capabilities; otherwise, you will not be able to demonstrate and communicate a personal vision.”
WHEN BEGINNING:
If you are not sure which genre your A or F fits into submit a selection of their panel to the R.P.S. to confirm their category. It’s very helpful to be prepared for a project. Having the Statement of Intent ready allows to concentrate on what you need for the panel. You start looking at things differently when you are conscious about your intent. Get considered feedback on your photography, not through social media ‘likes’, but from people who will help you to develop as a Developphotographer.acritical eye. Look at all areas of an image in detail, at least at 100% magnification, to identify things that need to be (e.g.addresseddistractions, dust spots, halos, ghosting, chromatic aberration) and then take appropriate action. Keep everything simple, but cohesive and be ruthless on image selection so all images look as though they come from the same photographer.
Be consistent in paper choice – particularly for ARPS & FRPS (however, see the submission of Sam Buchanan LRPS who talks about using 5 different papers in her panel).
Check your prints carefully for flaws, put them down for a while and then check again. Print any contenders as small prints. I printed around 25-30 images and shuffled them around on my living room floor to see how a prospective panel might look.
Make sure your mounts are exactly the same colour.
When choosing which aspect ratios to use think about the mounts - if you intend to use pre-cut mounts the readily available ones DO NOT correspond with some of the commonly used aspect ratios. Getting customised cut mounts is more expensive! It is vital you are consistent with your mounting and printing, Make sure your colours are consistent, greens have many different Oneshades.ofthe
most challenging aspects of producing printed images is getting what you see on the screen printed onto paper. Screen calibration is advisable.
Check your prints for colour cast in good daylight or with daylight bulbs.
OVERALL:
PRINTING:
NEVER let technical issues cloud your personal vision. Either let the image go or learn what you need to manage it. Be prepared to let your favourite images go – think of the greater good!
How you felt after the being successful?
Successful L Panel in October 2021
Name: Brian Doyle
Location: Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire.
Success Story 1
In compiling my Licentiate Panel, I opted to go down the route of showing various genres of image, landscape, wildlife, architecture, and camera techniques such as panning and long exposures. Balancing the panel was relatively straight forward but did need some fine-tuning advice. On hearing my panel was successful, it was a huge sense of relief, and something I wish I had done many years ago.
Sony A9, 200-600mm at 600mm, F6.3, ISO 500, 1/1000th.
The favourite image from my panel was the most recently taken at the time of entry. I’ve photographed puffins many times, but this was the first time I had framed them through bluebells. It was taken on the Isle of Lunga in the Treshnish Isles.
My Favourite Image
Image of your choice
Another favourite in the panel is number 8, a seascape taken on the Beara Peninsula in Ireland. I scouted the location in poorer weather the day before and knew afterwards I wanted to do a long exposure to show the whirlpool effect in the water.
Sony A7riii, 16-35mm at 20mm, F13, ISO 200, 100 seconds.
In terms of advice, at very short notice, I first attended a Scottish Advisory Day, that was helpful and got me about 75% there. In order to get what I hoped would be final advice, I signed up for a one-to-one session and got excellent feedback from Linda Wevill FRPS to help me put the final piece in the jigsaw.
My creative or technical tips
Name:
Location: SuccessfulDorsetLPanel in December 2021
Although I don’t restrict my photography to one genre, I mainly enjoy taking animal portraits. As such, working towards my panel encouraged me to photograph different subjects and try out techniques that I may otherwise not use to ensure that I showed the required variety of skills and techniques. I was incredibly pleased to learn that my panel had been successful as I had been working on it for several years, and now plan to start work on putting together an A panel.
How you felt after the being successful?
Success Story 2 Gemma Burden
Canon
My favourite image is of my dog Eric, and I love it because it perfectly captures his crazy personality. It was taken in my small living room using a piece of black velvet pegged to the curtains as a backdrop and a single speedlite, proving that you don’t need a lot of space or expensive equipment to give studio photography a go. 7D, Sigma 10-20mm lens at 20mm, f/5.6, 1/4000 sec, ISO 800
My Favourite Image
98mm, f/32, 1/20
Image of your choice
One 2 One advice
Canon 5Dmkiv, Canon 70-200mm at sec, ISO
This image is one that I took specifically for my panel, wanting to capture the movement of people on the prom in front of the beach huts. I didn’t plan for the lady to sit down within the frame, but she made a perfect juxtaposition to the blurred figures. I have never had the confidence to try street photography before, and probably wouldn’t have given it a go if it wasn’t for my panel.
100
f/4
I found my one 2 one session incredibly helpful. As well as confirming that my work was of a high enough standard, I was given a lot of advice on how to improve my panel so that it was the best it could be. This included using an image that wasn’t easy to balance, leading to me making quite a few changes and producing some images specifically for my panel, but ultimately resulting in me producing a far stronger panel.
Success Story 3
Successful L Panel in May 2022
Name: Iain Young
Location: Aboyne, Aberdeenshire
In pulling my panel together I aimed for a mix of genres, while trying to keep within my own style, and to choose images that I felt were strong, rather than seeking lots of input from others. After all my principal reason for attempting the distinction was to have a robust check on where I am in my development journey. I was conscious that my images would be viewed in sequence and to begin with I focussed on this almost to the exclusion of my layout plan. A 1-2-1 soon put me right on that! The whole process was a great learning experience and I told myself that I didn’t really mind if I was awarded the distinction or not – I was also wrong on that! How you felt after the being successful?
My Favourite Image
1/50 sec, F11, ISO 500, Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 24 – 200 mm
My favourite image from the set is of Stac Pollaidh in Coigach in northwest Scotland. One of the most-photographed mountains around, this photograph was taken from a spot that needed research and effort to get to, the deer grass in the foreground needed more work to find and getting the right light required patience. But most of all, I can still see lots of room for improvement.
I benefited enormously from one-to-one advice, and I would wholeheartedly recommend the process. I learned the importance of the 11th image, we had a great discussion about aspect ratios and cropping, and a couple of technical flaws were pointed out that I had missed in my own QC. One of the best hours learning I have ever undertaken. I then spent hours balancing the often contradictory demands of layout and sequencing.
Image of your choice
One 2 One advice
1/50 sec, F4.2, ISO 200, Nikon Z7, Nikon G 24 – 85mm
Four us had gone out in midwinter to enjoy and photograph the sunset. But rather than simply the dying of the light I wanted to capture the sheer joy of being there. Achieving a silhouette was easy, the choice of shutter speed – not too fast and not too slow – coordinated with the jump was not trivial!
My panel was very much governed by the pandemic in that most of the photos were set up in my home. It was a challenge selecting images that showed the different technical aspects required yet fitted together in a cohesive panel. Pictures 5,7 and 9 were taken specifically to balance and complete the panel. I was quite overwhelmed when I was successful.
How you felt after the being successful?
Success Story 4
Name: Moyra Cuthill SuccessfulFalkirkLPanel
Location:
in May 2022
My favourite image is number 9, a portrait of my granddaughter taken to show a shallow depth of field and use of natural light. I taped black card on the window so that the light would mainly fall on her eye. I tried to make an image that would tell a story.
My Favourite Image
Sony a6600, 24mm f1.8 prime lens, 1/125 sec, f4, ISO 100
Image of your choice
Sony a6600, 18-135 mm lens at 19mm, 0.6 sec, f20, ISO 100
I had One 2 One advice over Zoom from John Simpson who was very encouraging. He gave me advice on editing my photos and suggested I needed two or three stronger images. I then changed my panel for an in-person Advisory Day in Bridge of Allan where again I got helpful advice and suggestions to remove some pictures and replace with some of my spares. John said he wanted to see more of me as a photographer and that gave me the confidence to make the final images for my panel.
My creative or technical tips
My other image is number four in my panel. When we were finally permitted to travel outside Scotland we went to Newcastle on business and stopped off at the Angel of the North. Although I used ICM you can still recognise the subject and I feel it looks like the Angel is ready to fly!
Successful L Panel in March 2022
Name: Sam Buchanan
the paper that best suited each image. Some images simply didn’t work if on certain paper, so using the “right” one was essential in getting best out of the images I chose.
Success Story 5
As well as fulfilling the technical requirements, it was important to me that I submitted images that I really liked. Letting go of some my favourite images was the biggest challenge, but key in presenting a balanced panel.
I watched the assessment over Zoom and was thrilled to be awarded the Licentiate. The feedback was incredible.
Location: Cambridge, UK
I was particularly chuffed that the presentation, in particular the different papers (of which there were 5!), was commented on. I’d spent time considering which papers worked best with each image and, despite some advice to the contrary, I’m delighted I opted to be Ibrave.chose
How you felt after the being successful?
The yellow chair on the tennis court is my favourite panel image. I love this old court and have photographed it a number of times, and this chair has slowly deteriorated over the years. It’s also the image I was most worried about and felt might not be received well. In fact it was called out by a couple of the judges for its creativity and use of colour.
X-T4 XF 35mm F1.4R ISO 160 F2 1/7000 s
Fujifilm
My Favourite Image
I would advise those thinking about Distinctions to invest the time in a One-2-One advisory session. My advisor, Janey Devine, had clearly spent time looking at my images and gave rich, constructive feedback, individually and collectively. Key was that some of my favourite images might work better in an A Panel. I left the session confident that I knew what was needed to create a strong L panel.
Fujifilm X100T ISO 200 F13 1/900 s
I love this image of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. It was the first time I had a clear vision of what I wanted to produce long before taking it. Luggage restrictions meant I opted to travel with just my Fuji X100T on this trip – it was incredibly liberating having no choice about kit and just using what I had.
One 2 One advice
Image of your choice
Successful L Panel in March 2021
Name: Stephen Purdy
Success Story 6
Location: Wimborne Dorset
How you felt after the being successful?
My panel contains mainly photos from my travels in the UK and abroad, so specifically includes some of my favourite landscape images. Creating a balanced panel was challenging and necessitated learning new processing skills to bring certain images up to the required standard. I narrowly failed my first LRPS submission, so success at the second attempt brought a feeling of both relief and great satisfaction.
My favourite image is Bamburgh Sunrise, although planned I had to improvise camera position to avoid a film crew shooting a Seat car advert. I moved towards the sea and was blessed with an amazing sky reflected on the incoming tide. Well worth getting my feet wet for!
My Favourite Image
(Nikon
d750, Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 G lens on tripod) 24mm Iso 200, f8, 0.5 secs, Lee 0.6ND medium grad filter.
All my images had previously been entered in Camera Club competitions, so I had independent feedback from judges on image quality. I struggled with a hanging plan even though I had over 20 candidate images. I then sought One 2 One advice through the RPS, who nominated Michael O’Sullivan. He was extremely helpful, coaching rather than directing me to a final hanging plan and processing adjustments on a few images.
One 2 One advice
Nikonpost. d7100,
Image of your choice Team Pursuit gave me a lot of satisfaction, taken on my back-up camera with a 50mm lens, because I’d left everything else at home! I pre-focused and panned rapidly to get the shot, I removed lots of messy distractions from the track in-field and adjusted lighting in Nikon 50mm G f1.8) Iso 500, f3.5, sec
1/320
I really wanted to make the most from my experience of submitting an LRPS panel. Attending an initial LRPS advisory day I soon realised that I needed to upgrade my post-processing skills and find a broader variety of shots to meet the LRPS criteria. Giving myself sufficient time and space to do this really helped with my thinking. In the end I felt a huge sense of achievement having my panel accepted, and I feel really pleased and proud of the final result.
Location: Pevensey Bay, East Sussex
Successful L Panel in September 2021
Success Story 7
Name: Steve Malone
How you felt after the being successful?
I chatted to this fearless and inspiring young woman between sessions at a travelling Wall of Death sideshow in Hastings, and she kindly took me inside the arena to show me the bikes and the dauntingly vertical wooden walls. I wanted to capture her spirit in the photo. Using the framing of the crowd and their varied expressions helped make the shot complete.
My Favourite Image
Sony A7R III – Sony 24-105 F4 G – 24mm, 1/125 sec, f4, ISO 200, Aperture Priority, pattern metering
Image of your choice
I don’t usually shoot architecture but this view from the basement area of a building in the City of London screamed out to be photographed. I had to lean out with arms extended, hoping I was holding the camera straight and steady enough, then use a large amount of rotational cropping and post-processing to get those hard angles, shadows, colour contrast and a bit of nature thrown into the mix, all balanced pleasingly.
Sony A7R III – Sony 16-35 f2.8 GM – 16mm, 1/30 sec. ISO 3200, aperture priority, spot metering
One 2 One advice
Before attending two LRPS online Advisory Days, I spent little time considering things like how images might flow together, and how the interplay of colour, shape, and tone might influence the final image. Tell you what – I do now! The patient, gentle and incisive feedback from the two exceptionally knowledgeable RPS facilitators was invaluable. Attending these workshops fundamentally changed my thinking about photography and hugely increased my confidence and self-belief. I now feel my camera is part of me, not something I just use.
Name: Wendy Stanton
The most challenging aspect of producing my panel was identifying a set of images which were both cohesive and complimentary and which demonstrated different camera skills. Initially I worked with a mixture of landscape and portrait formats however, as the panel developed, and following some useful feedback, square format plus two landscapes produced the most pleasing result. The images are placed so that they lead the eye into the panel, which includes a central, monochrome triangle. I felt so pleased and relieved when my panel was accepted, all the hard work was definitely worth it!
Success Story 8
Location:
How you felt after the being successful?
SuccessfulNottinghamLPanelinDecember 2021
My Favourite Image
Olympus OMD EM 1 Mark 2, 34mm, 1/5 sec, ISO 200, F8
Light, colour and symmetry attracted me to this area of the high altar in Exeter Cathedral. I was fascinated by the colours in the stained glass windows, the arches and the pillars as the light changed during the day. The white stone screens required careful processing and I cropped the image to produce a symmetrical composition.
I spent several evenings photographing St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, experimenting with long exposures and I really liked the ghostly effect of the people. The lighting of the Basilica, the street lights and the traffic lights were particularly challenging and I cropped the image carefully to draw the eye to the Basilica.
Image of your choice
I found the 121 sessions offered through the RPS during lockdown invaluable. I also worked with a mentor and received some excellent advice from the Distinctions Group run by my local photographic society during the 9 months before the final submission
Olympus OMD EM 1 Mark 2, 35mm, 15.0 sec, ISO 100, F16 2 One advice
One
Attendance at Regional Assessment Days before staring my LRPS journey also helped and I kept a copy of the LRPS requirements on my desk to refer to throughout the process.
Success Story 9
SuccessfulLocation: LRPS Exemption
Name: Kathryn Hall
My first photography course was an RPS/Open University course about five years ago. I then took photography courses at evening classes where they ran an NCFE Level 1 course. At the time they did not have a Level 2 course but I found one online. During the pandemic I progressed to NCFE Level 3 online. At all stages participants were a mix of those looking for a career in photography, those who may find it useful in their work and those wanting to improve their Whilstphotography.doingthe Level 3 course I also took another RPS/Open University photography course, at that point I joined the RPS and later noticed that the Level 3 course I was doing would provide the LRPS exemption. However, the Level 3 course I took now no longer exists, so I would have been one of the last to take this route to the Itexemption.isnowover a year since I completed the course but a key point was a project of still life work. At the time I had no proper lighting equipment and had to produce a set of printed images but it was clear to me that one stood out. I also noticed the potential to crop the image to a square. My tutor was of the same view and I ended up taking more images and cropping them to a square. At the end of the course there were two projects, for one I took food images and the other was of the seaside showing rather empty locations. The course also included a lot of written work including the history of photography. Since the Level 3 course I have been working on an online HNC.
There is no hanging plan as Kathryn has an exemption.
Name: Gerald Phillipson
Location: Payrignac, France
Success Story 10
Successful A Panel Landscape May 2022
for the panel was to avoid repetition. I tried to manage this by concentrating on the forms and structures of the bushes, trees and plants as a kind of architectural background to the water and its reflections. More importantly, I tried to achieve variety using the light, how it touched the plants and water, sometimes giving an overall softness to the scene. The wetland is a rich habitat for wildlife but showing this had to be resisted as it was beyond the terms of my SOI.
As the wetland is enclosed by dense forest I chose to take photographs in the “intimate landscape” genre. This gave rise to interesting exchanges with Joe Cornish, Tony Worobiec, and Carol Olerud with members of the Benelux Chapter. The RPS Landscape SIG does not offer a definition of “intimate landscape.” It seems to be a matter of geography, that is, at what point does “intimate” become extensive? Eliot Porter features strongly among the photographers from whom I learned that to achieve good intimate landscape photographs the image should concentrate on the details within what might otherwise makes up the greater scene. Because the concept of intimate landscape, and judgements made about its form and content are subjective, I was never sure my submission would
Aboutsucceed.the ChallengesPanelThemainchallenge
The Marais is an area of wetland about nine kilometres from my home in France. It consists of inlets, ponds, winding watercourses and streams that infiltrate the dense forest around it.
“The Marais, Grolejac, France.
There is only minimum maintenance, thus fallen logs and foliage are left to rot in the water while some of the narrower channels become overgrown and have trees arching over them. The result is that the light is often sombre.
The Award
Statement of Intent
The Marais is not a location for dramatic landscapes but for those of a more intimate kind that capture the sense of enclosure and containment, with the quietness and stillness of an environment in which all the various features are inter-related. My purpose is to show this close-knit inter-relationship between the forest, plants and the water.”
To be granted the Associateship was very satisfying. I’ve been photographing the Marais for several years in all seasons and times of day and it was a struggle to select fifteen photographs from the nearly four hundred taken.
Nikon Z50, 50-200mm at 90mm. 1/160, f/11, ISO 3200
This is always difficult to select but No.3 of the panel would be my choice. It captures the “minimum maintenance,” and other features, of the SOI which gives the Marais a sense of abandonment and naturalness. Taken early one very cold morning with mist drifting through the trees, I wanted to capture the stillness and silence that accentuates the Marais’ feeling of secrecy and enclosure. The muted greygreen colour-range also contributes to what is a typical scene. The sombre light required a higher ISO. I’d decided to submit digital images rather than prints so post-processing was done to achieve maximum image quality.
Hanging Plan
My Favourite Image
The additional photograph was not included in the final panel because it was thought by an assessors to be too cluttered and busy. However, I think Edward Burtynsky might agree that it does have something of what he called, “natural order.” The square format helps to contain the busyness. I can’t go back and take this photo again as the two horizontal tree trunks have fallen and heavy rain has altered the form and level of the water. The Marais is constantly changing.
Additional imageNikonNikonZ7,24-70mm at 68mm. 1/80, f/8, ISO 900
Name: Glyn Paton
About the Panel
Success Story
11
Location: SuccessfulWinchesterAPanelApplied and Portraiture May 2022
Once I’d decided which “topic” to focus on, India images, the next step was to get further advice. This was that portraits were my strongest suite and that black and white conversion was essential; there are just too many colours. Now it was the simple task of selecting 15 portraits! My main recommendation is to get help and advice every step of the way and be prepared to go over every image again and again. Examine every tiny detail.
I felt it important that the images in this panel showed both sexes and included scenes with more than one person.
I can’t emphasise enough the importance of every word in your statement of intent. This success was a resubmission mainly because the assessment panel took the words in my previous statement “…illustrates aspects of Indian life” to mean every image had to show background detail. As advised this phrase was left out in my resubmission.
The purpose of this panel is for a local exhibition about India and its Thepeopleimages in the panel authentically depict the characters and personalities encountered on my many visits to this country. There is a mixture of portraits; from women gossiping outside a temple to a smoking card player. The panel is presented in monochrome to focus attention on the faces and expressions of these people.
In my regular visits to India, I discovered that the genre I enjoyed more than any other was portraiture, be it in a rural or urban setting. Building a rapport with the subjects, across the cultural divide helped me to explore the photographic possibilities of these individuals and allowed me to demonstrate the respect I have for the people of this country.
STATEMENT OF INTENT
Assessment 25th May 2022 Applied and Portraiture
1/5000th sec (some trains were moving) F 4.5 ISO 800 Canon EF 70200 L USM on a Sony A7iii
My Favourite Image
Girl on a Train. I had always admired pictures of Indian railway stations, so iconic. I had about 30 minutes on the platform of a small station and took lots of images. I love this picture because of the engagement for that brief second; as she went off to her very different world and we mutually wondered about each other’s lives.
1/5000th sec. F 6.3 ISO 3200 Canon EOS5D mIII, Canon 24-105mm IS USM
Get as much advice as you can, from respected friends and from RPS through Advisory days and One to one’s. The latter are particularly valuable, but wait till your ideas and panel is near completion. Finally, the sense of satisfaction and achievement is well worth all the effort.
Image of your choice Street Cricket. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. somewhere in Tamil Nadu. I particularly like the recession of people back into the heart of this tiny village. It’s even better in colour, but this is what you have to do to get a coherent panel.
One 2 One advice
My default black and white conversion is via Photoshop, I only use Nik Silver Efex when I want to add a bit of texture/structure.
Success Story 12
Name: Alan Edwards
For several years I have been photographing the dress rehearsals of my local amateur dramatics group, to aid with their publicity, capturing the exaggerated facial expressions and gestures of the actors. Plays covered include Abigail’s party, Pygmalion, The 39 Steps, The Spider’s Web and Adventures in Pantoland all of which are featured in my panel of prints which was entered into the Applied & Portraiture category.
About my panel
Location: SuccessfulBracknellAPanelApplied and Portraiture
Statement of Intent
Amateur dramatic societies are found in most English towns and villages, fulfilling the need and desire to perform and entertain our local communities. The actors are dedicated volunteers who learn their lines, practice getting into character and rehearse for many hours to be ready to perform to the audience. A friend invited me to photograph a dress rehearsal of his local village group with a view to generating publicity material for them, working anywhere the audience would be. I quickly realised that the actors were creating amazing, exaggerated, facial expressions and gestures that the audience rarely notice. I decided to go on to create a body of work, photographing sever al rehearsals with the group, that captures the essence of amateur theatre – fun and entertainment. To achieve this, I timed my shots precisely to capture facial expressions and body language that are dramatic and, in some cases, humorous and unflattering.
Applicant: Alan G Edwards LRPS
Category: Applied and Portraiture
Date of Assessment: 25th May 2022
Theatrical Expressions
My Favourite Image
When I showed some of the images of Alfred Dolittle in Pygmalion to the actor he commented “I never realised how rubbery my face is”! For most of the images shutter speed was around 1/160s to freeze the actors’ faces. I used a 70-200mm lens set at f/2.8 to maximise separation of the subject from the background and to help handle low light levels, with ISO set to around 2000. I used Topaz software to reduce noise levels and to sharpen the images. I cloned out distractions including two images of one actor wearing a microphone taped to his cheek. One of the images was flipped so it appeared to be on the other cheek. I felt sure one of the members of the assessment panel would spot this! Tip: try to avoid potential issues before they are noticed
This is one of two images showing the interaction between actors. I felt this added variety and interest.
Image of your choice
I am indebted to Daan Olivier FRPS, a fellow member of Bracknell Camera Club, for his advice during this project.
One 2 One advice
A year passed and I worked on a pantomime which yielded three new images. I disregarded the advice to submit mono portraits and avoid yellow sets, because I felt strongly that colour was most important to create the atmosphere I wanted. Tip: don’t be overly influenced by the advice, if you are clear about what you want to achieve.
I arranged the images with yellow backgrounds into a more subtle layout than before and left the Statement unchanged. I replaced half the images to get more variety and moved most of the rest and, following a positive second 1:1, I re-submitted the panel in May 2022. This time I was able to attend in person at the Paintworks and, after a tense period while the pros and cons of the panel were debated, I was delighted when the result was announced!
I used the excellent 1:1 Zoom advisory service twice. First time, I was rightly advised that my images didn’t match the statement of intent sufficiently and that the predominantly yellow walls of the sets were a distraction. I reworked the statement of intent, removed the images with the yellow background and tried to make them consistent and more portrait-like. This led to images that were repetitious and the panel was not recommended in May 2021. After the assessment I was advised to try a set of mono portraits.
Name: Christine Cormack
SuccessfulFranceAPanel
Success Story 13
Documetary March 2022
As you will see from my Statement of Intent my aim was to show that “There are no straight lines or sharp corners in nature, therefore buildings should have no straight lines or sharp corners”. I wanted to show how Gaudi designed his buildings based on organic shapes. My choice to show the photographs in monochrome was , I felt, a risk as he is renowned for his colour and light. Achieving my A was scary, elation & relief having watched the assessment via zoom.
How you felt after the being successful?
Location: Aubettere Sur Dronne Charente
Most of his buildings are in Barcelona, where these photographs were taken, and seven of his sites have achieved UNESCO World Heritage status. His most famous structure, the Sagrada Família, is the most visited Spanish monument, even though it is Asincomplete.aretired architect, I decided that monochrome versions of Gaudi’s work were the best depiction of the purity of his ‘simple Asentence’.deeplyCatholic man, some people called Gaudi “God’s architect”.
Christine Cormack – ARPS Assessment Date 30 March 2022
STATEMENT OF INTENT
The Catalonian architect, Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) once said: “There are no straight lines or sharp corners in nature, therefore buildings must have no straight lines or sharp corners”. With this ‘simple sentence’ Gaudi redefined and developed the language of modern architecture, basing his buildings on organic shapes and seemingly chaotic geometry.
His work also re-wrote and pushed the boundaries of various construction technologies that, courtesy of Frank Gehry, have endured today.
My Favourite Image
My favourite image is at the Sagrada Familia. I used AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing) while managing to get myself as steady as possible against a column. No tripods were allowed to be taken in. Just very happy with the result. its AEB I started with 1/250 sec @ f/7.1 ISO 64 , Olympus 12-40mm.
As
Image of your choice
My second image is at La Pedrera. My reason for including this is it makes me smile. These roof top “statues” are ventilation shafts leading down through the apartment building. I added this to my panel because I felt it added humour but also look at the detail & a great centre piece. I called it The Spice Girls.
1/125sec @ f/6,3 ISO 64 Olympus 150mm One 2 One advice I had no one 2 one advice.
I am a passionate gardener and have a large garden and I had been collecting the seed heads in my garden. There are the obvious alliums and cow parsley that most of us recognise, but I began to see ones that I had never really examined closely before, like sanguisorba, Japanese anemones, fritillaries, iris sibirica and many Imore.initially had a panel of single seed heads, but there was not enough interest in these single images to sustain the interest of the viewer, so I started mixing them up. I entered 6 of the images into the IGPOTY 2021 Portfolio section and won the RPS Gold Medal with them, which was a wonderful surprise.
Name: Ingrid Popplewell
SuccessfulLocation:
A Panel Visual Art Story
About my panel
Success
14
The porcelain became whiter and the blue colours more vivid and varied.
I had help from a professional photographer friend. I showed him my initial single seedheads and he suggested mixing them up. He also explained how important it was to create a sense of depth so that the images did not appear flat. I used lower opacity layers further ‘back’ to achieve this.
Ingrid Popplewell ARPS Visual Art
I have reflected this by including a variety of hues of blue in my pictures and with subtle differences in the background tones.
Statement of Intent
In this project I wanted to show the wonderful shapes of the seed heads which I have collected from my garden and local Ihedgerows.havechosen to use the style of classical blue and white Chinese ceramics to emphasise form and texture.
Frendly Advice
Initially made with a coarse greyish body decorated with cobalt pigment, the ceramics were refined over hundreds of years as clay recipes developed.
My Favourite Image
I tried using Oasis to hold the seed heads in place, but it was impossible to create a pleasing single composition, so I photographed each one separately against a plain background indoors with a softbox as lighting and then arranged them using layers in PS, which gave me much more freedom.
My favourite image is the pennisetum and cow parsley mix. I just loved the contrast of the grass with the umbels and the way they are rendered in the blue hues.
I tried various blending modes when I was playing around in PS and suddenly it all fell into place. The images remind me of old Chinese blue and white ceramics and the form and texture of the seed heads sang out, which was what I was wanting to celebrate. All the images now worked together as a cohesive whole. All the images were taken indoors, using a tripod, F20, ISO 200, a 40-150mm focal length lens on a micro four thirds camera and the shutter speed needed for the correct exposure.
My second pick would be the teasels. This is the most striking image in the panel and the one everybody seems to pick out as their favourite. The teasel had the most beautiful curly leaves at the base of the main head and I was so excited to find it in the hedgerow. I knew it was special and would make a great subject (I still have it!)
Image of your choice
About My Panel
Success Story 15 Location: Cornwall
Name: Lindsay Southgate
Knowing that submitting an A panel would involve 100’s of hours work I realised it had to be based on something I loved and somewhere I could easily reach. Living in Cornwall I decided on images from the coast and set about collecting the images over a period of two years. One of the challenges was accommodating the varying aspect ratios I like to use in my images to suit the mood of different images. I was relieved when the assessors said they liked the use of differing aspect ratios in the panel!
I was lucky enough to be able to attend my assessment at Bristol and it was a great felling to be able to hear the assessors comments live after so many months on Zoom!
Successful A Panel Landscape May 2022
The view from sea level
Lindsay Southgate Landscape ARPS Statement of Intent
The pastel tones and soft light in these images reflect the emotions I feel as I pause at sea level where the sea, sky and coastline coincide reflecting each other’s mood whatever the weather and however calm or wild the sea might be.
Having lived most of my life near the coast it is perhaps no surprise that I am drawn there for my photography.
It is there at sea level that I find peace and calm under the wide open skies, standing on the last patch of exposed beach as the tide rushes in or recedes. Whilst I prefer to visit at quiet times I occasionally share my contemplation of the sea with a dog walker or a surfer who remind me of our insignificance in nature, dwarfed by sea and sky.
This image was taken at Godrevy, one of my favourite locations, using a panoramic format to emphasise the sense of space here.
My Favourite Image
I was fortunate that a dog walker paused to take in the view as I took a long exposure to smooth the water slightly. I printed my panel images on Fotospeed NST Bright White, a matt textured paper which worked well with the pastel tones I had chosen.
I had a 1:1 session with Tim Rudman for a panel created during lockdown which I decided not to pursue. Tim’s comments were invaluable in helping me decide on my final subject matter and I was able to apply the advice he gave me to my eventual submission. Otherwise I felt it was important to take soundings from a few people whose opinions I trusted but ultimately you have to make your own decisions on the final submission.
One 2 One advice
Nikon z6, 24-70 mm lens, f13, 5 seconds, iso100, 36mm
Image of your choice
Nikon z6, 14-30 lens, f14, 120 seconds, iso100, 16mm
This was the first image “inked in” for my panel. It was taken on my first trip back to the coast after lockdown. I call it ‘Peace, perfect peace’ as it reflects the simple pleasure I felt at being back in my favourite, happy place. A two minute exposure was my way of capturing the feelings I had at that moment in time.
Location: Doddington, Cambridgeshire
About My Panel
Name: Roger Newark
Story 16
Successful A Panel Visual Art January 2022
Success
I had attained my Licentiate in 2013, but it took me a number of years to progress to submitting an Associate panel because I couldn't decide on a suitable subject or theme. However, I do tend to photograph things held together with nuts and bolts and I do enjoy abstract minimalism. I finally decided I could perhaps work with something involving cars and aeroplanes.
Roger Newark Visual Arts ARPS
"Automotive and aeronautical designers, using steel, aluminium or fibreglass, produce a product that combines both form and function to improve appearance, performance and ergonomics. To ensure a vehicle is aerodynamic, its exterior design has to include several essential shapes, such as curves, lines and wedges etc. Within those shapes I could see there was potential for producing minimalistic imagery. I have therefore isolated individual portions of those elements to produce unintentional semi abstract, or even ethereal images. I have then attempted to place those images together in the panel in such a way that their shape, form, tone and texture are complementary to one another”.
However, it took me three attempts before I was successful. As I was preparing the prints for my first try, I was given a date at very short notice to go into hospital for a knee replacement operation. That date coincided with when the prints had to be submitted, and consequently I rather rushed things. Big mistake. I always flush mount my prints, as I was taught by Kodak when I worked for them in the 1960s. In my haste I managed to get one or two drops of adhesive deposited on the front of a mount. That scuppered my chances, although the judging panel did say that they enjoyed my theme and I should certainly pursue it. My second attempt failed because the panel commented on some slight noise visible on one of the prints. That noise would have been visible on my first attempt, but I guess different judges on that occasion.
Statement of Intent
I think my favourite image out of the 15 that make up the panel is number 03, the front grill of a 1937 Mercedes-Benz W125. I feel that image is best able to stand on its own, the remaining 14 images all need to work together as part of a panel. I took it using a Sony RX100 V, 1/80 sec at f3.5, ISO 3200, focal length 10.7mm.
My Favourite Image
My second favourite image is 04, as that is representative of the general abstract nature of the majority of the panel. I took that with a Nikon D750, 1/320 sec, f5.0, 42mm focal length, and is of a portion of car body work. I found that silver painted bodywork, or unpainted aluminium worked best for the effects I was trying for.
Image of your choice
One
I did benefit from the One 2 One advice that I applied for, firstly in confirmation I was on the right track with my theme, and also in having a second opinion in the placement/order of the images in thepanel.One2 advice
Working on this panel was one of the most pleasurable photography projects that I have embarked on. I made many friends and found it a huge learning experience. The advice of choosing a subject close to home definitely worked for me as I was able to liaise with the fishermen in order to capture the images that I wanted. To have my images accepted for distinction was both exciting and humbling.
Successful A Panel Documentary March 2022
Name: Patricia Roberts
Success Story 17
About My Panel
Location:Nairn, Scotland
Patricia Roberts Documentary Photography
Because their livelihood is dependent on tides and weather, they must utilize their time at any hour for any job. Complex boats and weather-beaten equipment need frequent maintenance before being taken out to sea. After landing, each catch needs careful sorting and cleaning before being crated up for shipping and then maintenance begins again.
Statement of Intent
I aimed to capture the work and equipment that keeps this harbour alive and intend to convey these hard working folk in the surrounds of their interesting harbour.
I had a 1:1 for my SOI. This was invaluable. It is so easy to overwrite your intent and try to tell the story that the images should be portraying. Having the advice helped me to keep my statement to the point. After this I attended an Advisory Day at Bridge of Allen. I consider this to be a must for anyone seeking a distinction. As always, one learns to let go of one or two favourites and replace them with images that suit the panel as well as advice on getting the best out of one’s images.
The working harbour of Burghead initially appears picturesque and still. Attractive colourful paraphernalia seems to randomly litter the ground alongside trawlers tied up to the quayside. However, my regular visits made me realize the dedicated activity that goes into bringing home a catch and I became fascinated with the variety of skills and adaptability of the fishermen.
One 2 One advice
My favourite image is of the trawler man mending his nets, with a knife in mouth. It seems a simple shot but the men move quickly and I had to move around with him whilst keeping clear of the nets and get the shot I wanted.
Favourite Image Canon EOS R5 EF70-200 F2/8 IS II USM ISO400 F8 1/125
My
Imagechallenge.ofyourCanonchoiceEOSR5 EF70-200 F2/8 IS II USM ISO1000 F8 1/800
The men have had to learn to do many jobs that would have once been done by shore workers at the harbour. The Welding image is an example of this and an important part of the story I was intending to portray. The reflective stripes on his clothing provided quite a lighting
Success Story 18
Successful F Panel Visual Art March 2022
About My Panel
Name: David Pearson
Location: Amersham, Bucks
My panel builds on techniques I developed for my A Panel in 2014 and my love of high-key, minimalist, geometric pictures. It was impossible to achieve the look I wanted entirely in-camera so fairly extensive use of Photoshop was necessary to even out the lighting, clean up the imperfections in the subject and balance the overall panel. To fully appreciate the result you need to view the prints as a properly displayed panel.
Dame Laura Knight once said, ‘There is beauty in very simple things if only one has eyes to see it’.
David Pearson Visual Art F Panel
I have brought together examples from many different locations, that nevertheless work together to form a harmonious whole.
This has long been my approach to photography. Here, I present photographs of subjects which, apart from a few obvious artifacts, are painted completely white. To the casual observer they may appear uniform and uninteresting. But I see lines and curves that make peaceful, calming compositions. I see that ‘white’ can appear as a whole range of shades and colours, depending on the source of the lighting.
Statement of Intent
My favourite image has to be the staircase at the entrance to the Liverpool Museum, for the simplicity of the curves and the subtle shading of tones. However, so many other people have photographed here that it no longer feels so special.
My Favourite Image
Liverpool Museum 2018. Canon 5Diii, EF24-105 @ 105mm, 1/100 sec, f10, ISO400
looks for taking more interest in the staircase than their exhibits. But it shows you can get images anywhere if you look.
Most unexpected Image
Berlin Showroom 2017. Canon 5Diii, EF24-105 @82mm, 1/20 sec, f8, ISO 250
While walking in Berlin we happened to pass the showroom of a company that makes prosthetics. It looked interesting so we popped Iinside.gotodd
The one that got awayI felt that the image I had in the middle of the top row was rather boring. As the keystone, I thought it needed to have more impact to hold the panel together. For me, this image fitted the bill perfectly. However, all the advice I got was that it was too detailed and would spoil the overall cohesion of the panel. Should I have stuck to my guns? Who knows?
In Amersham Photographic Society we are lucky enough to have three members who have served on RPS assessment panels. I also had a one-to-one with Iñaki Hernández-Lasa, whose own F-panel had a very similar concept to mine. Their advice all along was invalua ble but, more importantly, it was their encouragement that kept me working at it for almost two years.
One 2 One advice
Tate St Ives. Canon 5Diii, EF24-105 @ 35mm, 1/50 sec, f10, ISO 800
Name: Holly Stranks
Successful F Panel Contemporary
The seed of an idea for a FRPS panel was planted in November 2020 when Penny came home to us as an 8-week-old puppy – and as I had done with Pippa, I started a 365 project on the first year of her with us. At first it was to be an Applied panel, but after some very good advice I thought about a Contemporary panel. As you will see from the SOI it is really about Pippa, Penny, and my life so it had to be DaveContemporary!myhusband and I watched the assessment nervously on Zoom together and were both absolutely delighted when I was successful. It took a few days to sink in!
Location: Suffolk
About My Panel
Success Story 19
Statement of Intent
Through illness I am no longer able to do the things that I used to enjoy. This panel shows how I live life vicariously through my dogs, Pippa and Penny. We take them to where we relax – out in the countryside where they can explore and have fun. They are free to run, jump, swim, and play (sometimes with friends) while we enjoy the outdoors. When at home, I get a sense of peace and inner calm through their relaxation. My dogs make me happy. Their pleasure in life rubs off on you, they love unconditionally, they live in the now. They love activity and adventure, and they take me with them. They don’t have the worries of the world on their shoulders, once exercised and fed they are happy to relax at home and take it easy. My dogs aid me greatly in different ways in my life. Since being diagnosed with a progressive auto immune disease and being forced to take Ill health retirement, their place in my life has become even more important and without any exaggeration keeps the quality of my life as good as it can be. The presence of dogs in my life ensures that I get out of bed each morning to walk them with my husband, as I can no longer do this alone. They demand their exercise and that ensures I don’t give in to my illness and stay at home. Without a doubt my mobility and mental health would be worse without that commitment. My aim is to show you with images captured on various occasions, a typical day in the life of our best friends. When outside they are full of fun, when back home they relax. This shows their enjoy ment and the love I have for them.
Living vicariously through my two dogs
Holly Stranks FRPS Contemporary
Sony A1, Sony 135mm f1.8 GM, ISO 640, f2.8, 1/2000th sec
My Favourite Image
How can I choose a favourite image? – like many of you with your own panels, they are all my favourite images for different reasons. Being involved in preparing Accolade I have cheekily chosen two images as my favourites – I love action photography and being able to balance the light to get a good exposure on Pippa a black lab, so no. 6 is my first favourite.
My 2nd favourite is no 1. I also enjoy landscape photography and environmental portraiture. This image was taken specifically for the panel, and I chose the location and time of day with this look very much in mind. It is two images blended together taken on consecutive days. The sky was better on the first day, but I was not happy with the light on the girls faces, so we all went back the next day, including Dave (my assistant and dog wrangler) who was holding a flashgun in a soft box. A long careful edit resulted in this
Myshot.Favourite Image No2 Sky Sony A1, Sony 35mm f.14 GM, ISO 400 f11 1/60th sec Dogs & foreground Sony A1, Sony 35mm f1.4 GM, ISO 100, f8, 1/200th sec
Well, I had to choose one of Penny for my other shot and this is one of the Penny 365 images that started the whole thing off. She is only about 4 months old and was in the growing stage where she was all feet! This has always been a popular image and one which shows a sense of humour.
Image of my choice
Sony A7R4, Zeiss Batis 40mm f2, ISO 320, f4, 1/125th sec
One 2 One advice
I had 121 advice from Paul Walker FRPS when thinking about an Applied panel with the 365 project of Penny. He suggested that the idea was too broad, and I needed to tighten up my idea for a panel. I had joined the Fellowship Peer Support group for Applied, Contemporary and Documentary genres (this is an unofficial group, but if you just take it as advice from a group of like-minded people and still use the official RPS 121’s it a very good idea). There the suggestion came for a Contemporary panel. At first I thought my work was too realistic for this genre, but the more I looked into it and understood it I realised that this would work for me.
To see more visit https://hollystranks.com
I then had SOI 121 and two further panel 121’s with Richard Brayshaw FRPS – which were very helpful. I reported back to the P2P group during this process and got further support and feedback. After my last 121 with Richard Brayshaw, I decided to go it alone and make the final decisions on my own. Sometimes too much well-meaning advice can lead to confusion and at this level you must have confidence your own decisions.
The final panel went off for assessment with 8 new images in that Richard had not seen, so whilst I felt quite bold about this and confident that the changes had been made with his advice echoing in my ears, I was also very nervous – it paid off though!
“Regular readers of Accolade will certainly recognise the name Simon Street FRPS as this is his 5th Fellowship! Amazing. Simon was also the first editor of Accolade. You may also be aware that Simon does prefer to hide his talents under a discreet bush and therefore, I have respected his wishes with him not submitting the usual size of contribution. I would encourage you to look at Simon’s work on his website – it is truly inspirational. Holly”
Success Story 20 Name: Simon Street Location SuccessfulSurreyFPanel Landscape May 2022
As a Landscape novice, I found even I could get a high-definition panorama by stitching several images together in Lightroom. I decided it would provide a new perspective on chalk downs to photograph them with a wider aspect ratio. So off I went – no tripod (sorry too heavy walking up the downs with!) – looking for gentle curving terrain. Sometimes on top of downs; sometimes at the base. But beware – files sizes with a few layers in Photoshop can run into Gigabytes quickly and my poor computer was crashing regularly dealing with the file sizes. You can see more of the panel at www.simon-street-photos.
FRPS Landscape Presentation Latout Downs
Simon Street,
The vista of wide Downs, I felt, was better communicated by a panorama aspect, helped by a moodier tonality.
My intent is to capture their stark escarpments and summit plateaux, topped by dramatic skies.
I hope the drama in a few images creates a sense of peace or trepidation, as they did for me.
Simon Street Landscape, 19th May 2022
The solitude on the Downs engendered very different emotions.
The subject of my portfolio is the chalk Downs running from Salisbury Plain through to the South Downs.
I have sometimes drawn-out the Down’s contours and textures with sun-spots and farm tracks. In others, I have drawn-out the rhythm created by multiple combes, trees or clouds.
Statement of Intent: Downs
Webmasters: André Meyer-Vitali ARPS and Katherine Maguire ARPS (beneluxweb@rps.org)
Chapter Organiser: Carol Olerud FRPS (beneluxnl@rps.org)
The Benelux Chapter is a very active group of photographers based in The Netherlands and Belgium, we have members in France, Sweden and the UK. Our Zoom Study Group sessions have attracted people from all over, something which started during 2020 when Covid-19 first reared it’s ugly head. We have been very happy to have these Zoom sessions every three weeks. We encourage photography and members to work towards their Distinctions, but we also encourage photographers who are interested in joining in with us too, sharing projects they are working on. We have meet ups when we can. We meet in Het Palet in Rotterdam every other three weeks, so we can look at our printed photos and work towards making panels.
Chapter Treasurer: Jeroen Dorrestein (beneluxtreas@rps.org)
done ICM with Martin Addison FRPS, organised by Janet Haines ARPS in Zierikzee for a weekend in 2019.
We’ve had distinction days with Ray Spence FRPS in Ghent in 2018 also staying the weekend.
We have had many workshops where we learn about a specific photographic genre from a specialist. This is always interesting as you will always pick up something new.We’ve
An advisory day in Brussels in 2016 with Roy Robertson FRPS and Armando Jongejan FRPS
our AGM of 2020 we were in Antwerp at the Photo Museum, we had a Tabletop Macro workshop given RichardbySylvester
The Rockin’ Rotterdam was huge project set up by Janet Haines ARPS in 2016/2017 to photograph each street within the city ring. An exhibition was held and a book was published. You can see inside the book via our https://rps.org/chapters/benelux/about/webpageDuring
LRPS and afterwards a guided tour of the museum.
A night photography workshop was held in Rotterdam in September 2020, given by Patrick van Dijk. So you can see just how much variety we like to do. The lockdowns in the last few years have made us pause a little but that’s where the Zoom sessions came in, contact could be kept and our group was wider – for those from afar. We will keep this up as it’s a great way to connect.
This was taken at dinner in Pelt 9 nationalities present! It was so successful that we have been asked to do it again in 2023. See: https://fotofestivalpelt.be/en/ The streets fill with fantastic photos, worthwhile to visit!
Quite a lot of successful Distinctions have been had in the last few years. Recently, Carol Olerud gained her Fellowship Distinction (see below), Gerry Phillipson his Associate Distinction, Katherine Maguire her Associate Distinction, Héctor Epelbaum his Associate Distinction. Several other members in the Benelux Chapter also have distinctions. This helps a lot as we can comment and discuss criteria requirements needed for successful panels, for those working towards them.
In 2021 we supported the Pelt International Photo Festival in Belgium. It was very successful, we had our members’ print exhibition, supplied a jury member for the photo competition and we held a workshop weekend in September with a day with a mentor for the street photography workshop, Pieter van Leeuwen, and we gave presentations on the second day.
We are organizing a weekend in Maastricht this Autumn jointly with the Brussels ViewFinders Photoclub. It’s excellent that we combine some events and have a truly international experience. English is the common language, as well as is photography!
on Monday afternoon, so plenty of time! Most of us travelled by train – which had some very unfortunate delays on the return journey. The end results will be published in the Germany Chapter eJournal as well as our own Chapter eJournal which is reviving with a change of Editor. The group consisted of members from both The Netherlands and Belgium. A couple of non-members joined in as well. We will discuss our results in a Zoom on 13th July.
Most recently a small group of five people went to Munich, Germany to do a workshop on the Munich Subways. We joined with the Germany Chapter under the guidance of Chris Renk. We spent two full days exploring the subways, arriving on the Friday afternoon and leaving
Carol Olerud FRPS July www.carololerud.com2022
In the past we have made 25 editions of our eJournal with Armando Jongejan FRPS as editor. Inside them are loads of information, photos, interviews and reports of events. They can be found here: https://rps.org/chapters/benelux/journals/
If you are interested in joining one of our Zoom Study Group sessions, please send an email to Carol at beneluxnl@rps.org our next one is on 19th July and we will have a long summer break resuming on Zoom on 4th October. With a physical meet up on 1st November in Het Palet, Rotterdam. The Maastricht City walk is being organised and if you want to join in with that too, that would be lovely!
Fellowship – Contemporary Carol Olerud ARPS
I brought my camera in at every visit. We were limited to the amount of family members that were permitted to go in at a time, so we took it in turns. My sisters and I got very good at reading the instruments measuring his vital signs. There were many tubes with medicine and food being pushed into his body to help him. It was awful. Having these photos helps me deal with my grief and puts some perspective on it. It is now many years ago, gradually I have accepted that he is no longer with us. It has taken me some time to get this far, that I can share this body of work. I really feel it is important, especially in the times we have been in. Many families could not visit their loved ones and could not say their farewells. I can’t imagine how hard that was!
Maybe I can help others by sharing my own pain and sadness and get that conversation going. Death is peaceful in the end. A part of life. The end of life.
Talking about death is still very much a taboo. It’s emotional and if you haven’t been touched by the loss of someone close to you, it’s quite possibly frightening.
18 Days – a time of great sadness
Statement of Intent
My intention with this panel surrounding the 18 days my father fought for his life in the Intensive Care unit at the hospital, is to try and break open a conversation. To remove the fear and get the idea out there that death is a part of life, the great circle of life.
Watching someone very dear to you struggle to live, get all the medical assistance available to him and then realise he is losing the battle is extremely difficult.
https://carololerud.com/18-days-a-time-of-great-sorrow to see images in full
• DIGIT – our highly-regarded quarterly print magazine (available online to DI Online members)
RPS Digital Imaging promoting the art and the craft of digital imaging
• Online events – special rates (currently free) for our monthly programme of high-calibre speakers on a wide range of photographic subjects
You can subscribe as a DI Online member for half the price and enjoy all the benefits of DI membership, but without receiving print publications, which you view online. All DI members enjoy:
• Workshops – special rates for online workshops covering a variety of topics and for other online and face-to-face events organised by the DI Centres
RPSphotography.members can join Digital Imaging portal.rps.org/s/add-special-interest-groupsat.
Digital Imaging (DI) supports all photographers using digital imaging no matter what their preferred genre. We provide stimulating and inspiring opportunities for everyone to learn and improve their
• Print Exhibition and Projected Image Competition – free entry to these two annual collective productions, both selected by a panel of highly respected photographers and both featuring a printed catalogue (available online to DI Online members). Images which have been selected for both can be viewed on the DI Hall of Fame.
View available online events and workshops: Signbit.ly/RPSDIEventsListingOnline.upforalistingofforthcoming online events and workshops: bit.ly/RPSDIEventListings
• eCircles and Print Circle – groups of members who share images, ideas, knowledge via a variety of means, ranging from postal to Zoom; there are Critique eCircles, Processing eCircles and a Projects eCircle, as well as a postal Print Circle
• Accolade – a twice-yearly online magazine which celebrates members’ Distinction journeys
• DI News – a monthly newsletter to keep members up-do-date with events and opportunities, and to showcase their interests and current projects
• Monthly Competition – a friendly monthly image competition with winners chosen by members
• DI Forum – at present we have a closed Facebook Group open only to DI members for questions, discussion and image sharing
Hanging Plans for more detailedACCOLADEviewing
11
Ingrid Popplewell ARPS
Lindsay Southgate ARPS
David Pearson FRPS
Holly Stranks FRPS
