June 2023 Newsletter
Summer is starting, we hope, after a grey Spring, and it’s nice to see some drier and warmer weather. Many folks will be going on holiday, catching rays and foreign light with their skin and their cameras. Scotland doesn’t get the same heat as “abroad”, but we do get great light, especially in places like the Western and Northern Isles… go landscapers go. There is also a slew of fairs, shows, open air gigs, festivals all starting to happen too, so the documentary folks have plenty of opportunities to capture our Society in all it’s glory. The footie is off, but there is cricket, lots of cycling events, white water rafting, motorbike and car racing, horse racing…sporty types can’t complain there. And last but not least nature is in full bloom with plants and beasties galore in every nook and crannie, surely enough to satisfy the most ardent of wildlife photographers. Arty and dreamy types are lucky, as their imagination is just overflowing all the time anyway. What I’m trying to say is…get your cameras out and working.
The Advisory Day at Bridge of Allan on the 10th June has been cancelled. There was only 3 booked members, and none of them were bringing panels for discussion / advice. Why is this? Is it the timing? Is it the location? Are you not bothered about distinctions? Are you confused / dispirited about distinctions? Are you using the 1:1 sessions offered by the RPS instead? A combination of any of those? Or something else? Let us know, and we’ll try and sort out future Advisory Days to better suit you all.
Monthly Competition
Congratulations to Steven Mackay whose “Woodland” image is shown above. This month’s deserved winner, amongst another fine entry.
Lots of voters too, so keep that up.
June’s topic is Sport, and you should submit your entries to Ken, sized at 1000px wide, by as many pixels as you want tall, via Scotlandweb@rps.org.
Misty Woods at Sunrise Steven Mackay ARPS
What’s On in June?
RPS Scotland Exhibition: Carnoustie Library
Lanarkshire Group Exhibition: Chatelherault Country Park, ML3 7UE
Entries close for Edinburgh International Salon on 5th June
https://www.edinburghphotosalon.com
22nd June: Contemporary / Documentary Scotland SIG - Introductions, and Nigel Corby on his F journey, and beyond. To join this SIG regional group contact Steve on sqarehole@btinternet.com
[Rec]ount Photo International Exhibition, about numbers, exhibiting in Edinburgh and Barcelona. Entries end on 30th June www.recountphotoaward.org/
Further ahead?
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.
DIG / Landscape: Talk-Walk-Talk Coastal sessions, 7th Sept - 31st Oct.
Contemporary / Documentary: Douglas May FRPS, 12th September, to join this SIG regional group contact Steven sqarehole@btinternet.com
Northern Group - Day Oot to Kingussie, 16th September. mortong31@gmail.com, or dshillabeer@tiscali.co.uk
Northern Group Photo forum 7th October, Nairn
Landscape SIG: Birks of Aberfeldy 16th Oct - led by Annette Forsyth
Landscape SIG: The Hermitage 31st October - led by Annette Forsyth
Northern Group Day Oot: The Hermitage and Killiecrankie, 22nd October
Northern Group Weekend: Fort William 27-29th October
Landscape SIG: Cairngorms 5-11 November Residential workshop, with Mark Banks
Ongoing?
https://igpoty.com/exhibition/dundee-heritage-trust-igpoty-16/
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://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.
Talk-Walk-Talk (T-W-T)
RPS Landscape (LS) and DI groups have joined forces to deliver a new programme for members. The first one starts in the autumn when we focus on Coastal photography. The T-W-T project has three elementsTalk – an online Zoom talk on 7 September, by the recent past LS group Chair, Richard Ellis. Richard will deliver a presentation that will guide and advise those less familiar with the genre as to how to achieve the best results.
Walk – we will have a series of walks around the UK mainland and UK islands throughout late September to end of October. These will be led by local people who know their area well. They are not experts in the subject but there to simply lead a small number of photographers on the walk.
Talk - the final session is the feedback where you will meet locally at an agreed time and place for your walk group to mutually discuss and enjoy viewing each other’s images.
For those of you that live on our beautiful islands you have not been forgotten, we will be offering you an option which involves a Zoom discussion.
At present we are very busy pinning down all the sites for walks, currently we have 25, but could do with another couple in the North of Scotland, Northern Islands and North Wales. If anyone feels that they might be prepared to help with one of those areas (you don’t need to be an accomplished seascape photographer) please let me know as soon as possible (by emailing digmem@rps.org). Places will be bookable from late July so keep an eye out!
The Rain Came Down Mike Tibbs ARPS
RPS Scotland
May / June : Carnoustie Library
August: Edinburgh Photographic Society
October: Kirkcudbright Arts Centre 2024.
January: Eden Court Theatre, Inverness
February: Aberdeen Arts Centre
Exhibition
In other news…Nigel Corby has started a Grampian Group, and he was joined by 7 other members on the 20th May for a wander around Aberdeen. Photographs were taken, coffee was imbibed, and hands were shook…a successful 1st meeting, and more are planned. This new grouping joins the very successful Northern Group, the solidly busy Lanarkshire Group, the growing South West Group, and the fledgling Tayside Group. Each of these Groups is open to any and all RPS Scotland members, and their events will be published on the RPS Scotland website, which you can access via the QR code above. However, they are primarily there to give a more local focal point for RPS members in the airts and pairts, and they’re not meant to be huge or vastly busy things. Small can be good, small can be inventive, small can be personal. Please support and join in where and when you can.
On top of that the Contemporary / Documentary SIGs now have a Scottish Group, and they have a few events organised too, which will be a mix of face to face events and zoom sessions.
You could argue that the RPS is quite an expensive organisation to join, although it is also fair to say that there is plenty of ways to maximise your personal value for money of your RPS membership. One of the best ways is to join a SIG, because they are all pretty cheap, and offer a great combination of newsletters, emails, publications, events, and each one of them targeted towards their particular genre of photography.
On the front page we spoke about the disappointing response to our June Advisory day, and conversations I’ve had with other Regions paint a similar picture. The Travel SIG recently held a weekend with a combination of events… talks, workshops, advisory sessions, and that seems to have been successful, and maybe that’s where we’ll end up going, with the SIGs organising advisory sessions around other events, and the Regions hosting them. Whatever way it goes, RPS Scotland will be there to deliver and assist, and while I can see the clear benefits of 1:1s, when you’re heading Distinctions way, not least the removal of geographic limitations, there is much to be gained from watching and listening to others’ comments and criticisms, and just the social interaction that happens on these days is pure gold dust.
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)
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 ARPS 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