August 2023 Newsletter
Summer is bashing on, and the hot, dry sunny spell seems a bit of a distant memory now as we settle into a pattern of sunny, stormy, warm, wet, and windy. Nature always pays it’s debts the old fermers say, so perhaps that’s just how it should be. Ying and Yang. Certainly, when you look abroad, or even just out of your hotel window if you are actually abroad just now, and see the searing heat and wild fires that are going on, then Alba ain’t so bad.
The good thing about the sun dropping down in it’s apex is that the photographic quality of the light rises with that…we get raking shadows, softer peaks, later sunrises and earlier sunsets. ☯
August is a busy month for Scotland, with so many tourists arriving from all round the UK, as well as Europe, USA, and Asia. If you’re a landscaper, then that poses problems, and if you’ve tried getting the Fairy Pools in Skye recently you’ll know what I mean. I’m going to be in Lewis for the first few weeks…bit of work, bit of fun, bit of photography, and luckily it’s an area I know well, so I know where to go to avoid the busy bits, if not the midges. It’s also an opportunity to catch up with some of our more remote members, and this is something that everyone could be doing…wherever you’re going, have a look at the RPS websites, check out the FB pages, see if anything is happening or anyone is planning anything, and get involved. That’s where the fun lies. Gabh an spòrs sin.
Monthly Competition
July /August’s (yep a 2monther) topic is Summer Holidays, and you should submit your entries to Ken, sized at 1000px wide, by as many pixels as you want tall, via Scotlandweb@rps.org.
I’ll leave Findlay’s elegant winner up for this month too…well deserved.
Opponents in Harmony Findlay Rankin ARPS
What’s On in August?
Landscape SIG day at Linlithgow Loch & Peel, led by Viv Cotton 4th August.
https://billetto.co.uk/e/member-led-event-linlithgow-loch-peel-tickets-846697
Edinburgh International Print Exhibition, RPS Scotland Exhibition, and RPS Visual Arts Exhibition - EPS, Fringe Venue 130, 5th - 27th August
Contemporary / Documentary, Landscape, Creative Eye: Day Oot, Edinburgh 8th August, details below, booking closed now.
Flow Photofest…Eigg Landscapes: Mairi MacAulay LRPS, XOKO Inverness Shambellie House events…there’s a few, so here’s the home link: https://www.shambelliehouse.org/
Pollok House, Glasgow: Martin Parr - Think of Scotland, until end of August.
Adam Geary - Sweet Spot, Arbroath Brothock Gallery, July to October: https://www.adamgeary.com/#
Stirling Photography Festival, August:
https://www.stirlingphotographyfestival.co.uk/
A wonderful plant based exhibition at The Verdant Works, Dundee, until the end of August….24 separate categories of stunning imagery, not just about a bonny rose. There’s also a smaller Exhibition upstairs by Matthew Schwartz, and that’s pretty cool too. Tomato soup and Cheese Scone is a winner.
https://igpoty.com/exhibition/dundee-heritage-trust-igpoty-16/
Further Ahead
RPS Grampian: 2nd September Day Oot. To join this group contact Nigel Corby on RPSGrampian@gmail.com
DIG / Landscape: Talk-Walk-Talk Coastal sessions, 7th Sept for the initial talk, and then various dates. http://talkwalktalk.org
Contemporary / Documentary Scotland meeting: 12th September - Douglas J May FRPS will share his journey and thoughts on Contemporary Photography. To join this Group email Steve on sqarehole@btinternet.com
Photoforum - Northern: 7th October, Community & Arts Centre, Nairn.
Photoforum - South West: Shambellie House, Dumfries 11th November
https://rps.org/regions/scotland/photoforum/ RPS Scotland Talk series: 17th October - Kit Martin
Ongoing?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000v4db Dealbh is Slighe - Image and Path, a wonderful series of photography programmes, hosted by Calum McLean. It is in Gaelic, but there are subtitles, and each episode is short but very sweet. Recommended.
Like all parts of the RPS, and I guess like many organisations of all types, we are actively considering how we can best stay relevant and good value for our members, and communication…both ways…is an important part of that. If there’s anything you want to ask, or request, or just get off your chest then please do so, and as your committee in Scotland we will support and help you wherever we can. We are looking at a number of events over the next year, which I’ve listed below, so if you have any opinions on these either way please let us know, as this will help us decide whether to carry on organising them or not.
Online Photoforum…end of January ’24? We have two face to face photo forums coming up (see above), one in the South, one in the North. They’ll happen again next year, and maybe a more central one too, but for those who live remotely or can’t travel easily we thought about an annual online one too?
Scottish weekend…April-ish, somewhere Central Belt-ish? This was a fairly popular fixture pre-COVID, and we’d like to get back to that. We’re thinking a few talks, a few workshops, the Exhibition selection, a variety of advisory panels hosted by the SIGs, and at L, A, F levels. You could attend for part of a day, all day, the whole weekend. Any thoughts on this? Would you potentially be interested?
Let us know: scotlandsec@rps.org
Down Came the Rain
Mike Tibbs ARPS
RPS Scotland
August: Edinburgh Photographic Society
October: Kirkcudbright Arts Centre 2024.
January: Eden Court Theatre, Inverness
February: Aberdeen Arts Centre
ExhibitionNEW Talk-Walk-Talk – coastal photography
Landscape and Digital Imaging groups would like to invite you to join us on our UK wide new programme for all RPS members.
What is Talk-Walk-Talk (T-W-T)?
First we run an online TALK on Thursday 7 September at 19.30 with Richard Ellis ARPS giving us a talk on hints and tips for how to take good coastal images. You choose the coastal WALK you wish to go on from 30+ walks around the UK, including the IOM and Guernsey.
The final part is the TALK where you get together locally with your walk group, or in some cases Region, to share images from the walk and discuss what you have learnt.
Part 1 & 2 (Talk and Walk) are FREE to all RPS members. Depending on how your walk group wish to organise the final talk there might be a small fee if you (say) hire a room.
Walk Leaders have added details of their walk to a special booking site – an interactive map of the UK showing where all the walks are being held. Click on the walk that you wish to attend to read all about the date/time/location. Once happy you have chosen the right one for you go from the walk page to the booking link. In booking the walk you are simultaneously booking the 7 September talk.
You may book more than one walk if you wish, but if you do so please attend both as otherwise you might be taking another members’ booking place. Each walk has a limitation of 10 walkers, so book early so as to not be disappointed. Walk leaders are not necessarily landscape photographers. They are there to organise the walk and the subsequent ‘talk’ session. By attending the 7 September talk you will get all the information you need. The TALK with Richard will be recorded so if you cannot make the date it will be online for later viewing; or even a reminder viewing prior to your walk. Both Landscape and Digital Imaging groups have supporting web pages or go directly to the booking web site at http://talkwalktalk.org There is an Islander option for those not living on the mainland too. https://talkwalktalk.org/walk/coastal/scottish-islands
We hope you will join us and enjoy this T-W-T programme. It is a great opportunity to get together on your walk with other local RPS members.
Should you need to contact us please email TWT@rps.org
Edinburgh Day Oot - a Festival Photography Day
Tuesday 8th August
Contemporary / Landscape / Creative Eye / Documentary SIGs
9.30 @ Edinburgh Photographic Society
Edinburgh International Print Exhibition
RPS Scotland 2023 Exhibition
RPS Visual Art Group Exhibition
Accompanied walks
Festival Performers @ The Fringe
Cityscape and Architecture @ The New Town
Nature and Art along Leith Walk
RPS Members:
C / L / CE / D SIG Members -£5 per head.
Non - C / L / CE / D SIG Members - £7 per head.
Non RPS Members:
£10 per head
Charlotte Square Colin McLean LRPS
All to include entrance to the EPS Exhibitions (Fringe Venue 130), and a copy of the Exhibition catalogue (all fees reduced by £5 if you have already paid to enter the EIPE)
This day is now full, but if you want to be added to the cancellation list email Steve on: sqarehole@btinternet.com
To book your place email Steven Whittaker ARPS: sqarehole@btinternet.com
RPS Scotland Committee
RPS Regional Organiser:
Dave Ferguson LRPS scotland@rps.org
Committee:
Ken Ness FRPS scotlandweb@rps.org
Kirsten Bax LRPS scotlandtreasurer@rps.org
Steven Whittaker ARPS scotlandsec@rps.org
Local contacts
Northern
Dave Shillabeer ARPS
Morton Gillespie ARPS
Grampian
Nigel Corby FRPS
Tayside
Robin Millar
Fife
Monica Vella
Ken Goodfellow LRPS
Mark Reeves FRPS
Central
Bob Black
Lanark
Douglas Thompson FRPS
Glasgow
Andy Pinch LRPS
Anne McKelvie
Borders
Fiona Cadger ARPS
Colin McLean LRPS
Ayrshire
Clive Watkins LRPS
South West
Jean Robson FRPS
