RPS Southern Region Newsletter - Spring 2020

Volume 1 | 2020

New slet ter WELCOME

Rape field near Stockbridge by Sandy Chestnut

Hello and welcome to our Spring Newsletter.

Our event programme for 2020 is firming up with a full schedule of Distinctions Advisory days across the region, as well as photowalks and a series of technique workshops.

The new RPS website was launched at the end of last year. If you hasn't visited it yet, have a look.

To head straight to the Southern Region Event Page click here.

In this newsletter, our Q and A is with award winning equine photographer, Luke Parkinson.

We look forward to catching up with you soon at one our events.

Best wishes, Paul Cox ARPS, Regional Organiser 1

2020 EVENT PROGRAMME Keep an eye on the event page on the Southern Region website to book the following events.

Events will be published when dates and venues are confirmed.

Advisor y Days

Locat ion

Dat e

Licentiate Only Advisory Day

Brownsword Hall,

March 1st

Dorchester Associate Only Advisory ? Travel & Contemporary

Hamworthy, Poole

May 10th

Licentiate Only Advisory Day

Birdham Village Hall,

June 7th

Chichester Associate Only Advisory ? Applied & Documentary

Salisbury

August 2nd

Licentiate and Associate (Fine Art) Advisory Day

IoW

September

Licentiate Only Advisory Day

Old Basing

December 6th

Photoshop Layers Workshop

TBA

April

Introduction to Studio Lighting Workshop

Hamworthy, Poole

May

Introduction to Architecture Photography Workshop

TBA

June

Introduction to Documentary Photography Workshop

TBA

July

Introduction to Landscape Photography Workshop

TBA

September /

Wor k sh ops

October Introduction to Infra-Red Photography Workshop

TBA

October

Kingley Vale ? Yew Tree Wood

Chichester

March 25th

Street Photography

Winchester

May 29th

Langford Lakes Nature Reserve

Steeple Langford

July 19th

Ph ot ow alk s

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Technique Workshops presented by Dave Peckham ARPS Dates and locations will be released shortly for two technique workshops presented by professional photographer, Dave Peckham ARPS. The workshops will be avalable to book through our event page on the Southern Region website.

St u dio Ligh t in g Studio portrait by Jana Murray

There has always been a certain mystique to studio lighting and flash lighting. Many photographers believe they can?t achieve good results unless they have the use of three or more lights.

Ph ot osh op Layer s

Others believe studio lighting is costly, yet today it is surprisingly affordable.

Layers are the backbone of Photoshop, possibly the most important ?Tool?in the software.

This event will attempt to dispel such myths and introduce you to the use of flash in a studio or home setting.

This event is an introduction to Layers and will cover the ?Layers Panel, ?what Layers are and how they work, Adjustment Layers, Layer Masks, an introduction to the Blending Modes most useful for photographers, and an introduction to compositing.

Through demonstrations, Dave will present the lights themselves, light modifiers and positioning of lights.

Sout hampton LCE Photo-Video Show The RPS Southern Region will be attending the London Camera Exchange Photo-Video Show at the Novotel in Southampton on Sunday 3rd May 2020.

If you are visiting the show, come on over and say hello at our stand and find out the latest news on what's happening in the Southern Region and the RPS. We would love to hear from you; all suggestions and feedback are welcome.

For more information about the show click here.

Dave Peckham ARPS at last year 's show

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Kingley Vale Photow alk, near Chichester The Southern Region is planning a photowalk in Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve on the 25th March .

The reserve is a very special place as it is the largest yew wood in Europe. It was designated one of the country?s first National Nature Reserves in 1952.

Kingley Vale is known for its twisted and ancient yew trees and includes a grove of veteran trees which are among the oldest living things in Britain. Several are at least 500 years old, with the oldest measuring more than five metres in girth.

It also has superb chalk grassland with an abundance of chalk-loving plants like birds foot trefoil, kidney vetch and fairy flax. You can also find 11 different species of orchid in the Reserve including bee, common spotted and frog.

Photo by David Ashcroft LRPS The Reserve is signposted from there and is about a 15 minute walk along an all access footpath from the car park to the main entrance. Here there is a small field centre with permanent displays and more information about the Reserve, beyond this point the terrain is more challenging.

The Reserve also contains one of the most important concentrations of well-preserved archaeological sites in Southern England, including 14 Scheduled Monuments of which the Devil's Humps and Goosehill are the most prominent.

We will be confirming details of the event on the Southern Region website in the very near future.

Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve (NNR) is 5km north west of Chichester.

Int roduct ion to W ildlife Photography If you are interested in photographing wildlife and want to take stunning photos like this, join Paul Rigg ARPS at Langford Lakes, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust Site, on July the 19th.

During this practical afternoon workshop, Paul will introduce wildlife photography and share his expertise in this field.

Details will be available shortly on our wesbite.

Langford Lakes by Paul Rigg ARPS 4

VOLUNTEERING AND VOLUNTEERS Request from Paul Cox, Regional Organiser Have you ever considered volunteering with the RPS? The Southern Region volunteers are a skilful and committed set of individuals without whom we wouldn?t be able to achieve what have.

And I am very grateful to each and every one for their help and dedication to the region.

However, to continue to improve our reach and engagement levels we need more volunteers.

So, if you are at all interested in helping the region (and the RPS) through giving up a little (or more) of your time to assist in the management and/or organisation of events and activities then please do get in touch.

My contact details are: Email: southern@rps.org Phone: 07748 115057

REQUEST FOR PHOTOS

Stormy night by Sandy Chestnut

The RPS website was recently updated along with the Southern Region site. We are seeking photos from members to feature on the new site.

If you'd like to see your photos published online, please send your favourite images as jegs to our web editor, Chris Tank, at southernweb@rps.org 5

Chopsticks by Mark Sheldon FRPS

MEMBER Q & A Luke Parkinson LRPS Interview by Jana Murray Luke Parkinson is an equine photographer based in Lymington in the New Forest, Hampshire.

Q. Wh en did you f ir st becom e in t er est ed in ph ot ogr aph y an d h ow ?

A. I became interested in photography when I spotted some kingfishers on our village pond in the New Forest. I started out with a Canon 300 film camera and 28-90mm kit lens. It was disappointing to see a small blue speck in the centre of my prints when they came back developed, but it made me want to get better equipment to get better results. Over time I was able to upgrade to a Canon 350D with a 70-200mm f4 lens.

Q. You gr ew u p ar ou n d h or ses an d ar e k n ow n f or you r beau t if u l equ in e ph ot os. Wh at m ak es h or ses su ch a f ascin at in g su bject f or you an d w h at ar e t h e ch allen ges of f ilm in g an im als (t h ey say n ever w or k w it h an im als or ch ildr en !)?

I continued to photograph kingfishers, with my father, Lyndon Parkinson, and Dean Mason. We would drive to Dorset and be riverside before first light and leave after dusk, sitting just a couple of metres away from the birds. It?s one of my most enduring memories.

Q. How did you f in d t h e LRPS jou r n ey?

A. Living in the New Forest all my life, and having ponies in the family, it was natural for me to be drawn to photographing horses. Feeling a connection between with the horse helps produce the best results. Working around the horse, I need to be sure I have their full trust and they have mine.

A. I was fortunate enough to receive my LRPS through my Level 5 HND qualification. I worked hard to achieve a standard of work equivalent to LRPS and I've had two exhibitions in Lymington and at Southampton City Art Gallery.

Each horse I photograph is different. A dressage or showjumping horse, for example, would stand tall and proud - here I could focus on some close ups of the muscular features of the show horse and the curvature of the dressage.

It?s so rewarding to see your hard work in print and displayed for the joy of others to see.

The horses can get quite bored during the shoot, however it?s amazing how inquisitive and alert they become when you have a bucket of nuts or a packet of polos. When photographing BE90 champion, Wayland Timberry, and owner, Sophie Albury, we even used my Collie?s squeaky toy!

In 2012 I was shortlisted for Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year and British Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

I would encourage anybody to apply for a Licentiateship through the Royal Photographic so that you go through the process of selecting your work and displaying your images in a professional format.

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Q. Can you t alk u s t h r ou gh som e of you r beau t if u l h or se ph ot os.

The RPS also offers bursaries for MA and BA (Hons) courses for those who want to top up their photographic qualifications.

A. The two images above are very similar, however I just love their eyes! Both were taken on my Nikon D810 with the Sigma 105mm Art lens. I like the simplicity of the images, but they also leave the viewer wanting to know more; they doesn?t give any clues away about the horses' professional careers.

Q. Wh at ?s n ext on you r ph ot ogr aph ic jou r n ey?

A. I am going to continue pursuing my dream of photographing horses professionally in the studio, .

I previously photographed Birds of Prey in the studio and this is also something I would like to do as a project in the background.

The photo on the previous page tells a different story; the horse is tacked up with a tight rein which means that it must be mounted. The lines of the image all lead to the head of the horse.

The lights are perfectly positioned to light the face and neck, but also the other side of the horse, giving a rim light on the mane. Without those, the dark mane would probably just blend into the background.

I also plan to continue where I left off with my wildlife photography. Kingfishers are what made me start this journey and what have given me some of the best memories, so hopefully, when I am not editing and photographing horses, I will be spending time relaxing with my camera by a river.

Q. I u n der st an d you ar e a big f an of t h e RPS. How can t h e societ y at t r act m or e you n ger m em ber s lik e you r self ?

To find out more about Luke's work visit his website. For a private commission, email Luke at luke@lukeparkinson.com

A. The RPS is an internationally recognised organisation and the fee for the membership is very good - in fact one of the very best.

I would encourage anybody of any age to join the RPS for any of the many benefits offered to members.

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CONTACTS Sout hern Region TITLE

NAM E

EM AIL

Regional Organiser

Paul Cox ARPS

southern@rps.org

Southern Secretary

David Ashcroft LRPS

southernsecretary@rps.org

Southern Treasurer

Bhupinder Ghatahora ARPS

southerntreasurer@rps.org

Basingstoke

David Ashcroft Bhupinder Ghatahora

Emails as above

Bournemouth & Dorset

David Peckham ARPS

davepeckham@mac.com

Channel Islands

Eric Ferbrache ARPS

rpsciorganiser@gmx.com

Portsmouth & East Hants

Martin Silman

southernevents@rps.org

Salisbury & South Wilts

Paul Rigg ARPS

paulrigg@outlook.com

Southampton & South Hants

Paul Cox ARPS

southern@rps.org

Web Editor

Chris Tank

southernweb@rps.org

Publishing Editor

Jana Murray

southerneditor@rps.org

Social Media Editor

Position vacant

Ar ea Coor din at or s

Specialist Volu n t eer s

Volu n t eer s Salisbury & South Wilts

Anthony Topham

atopham9@gmail.com

Documentary Group (main)

Mark Philips

doc@rps.org

Documentary Sub Group (Chichester)

Janey Devine FRPS

docse@rps.org

Digital Imaging Group

Barry Senior (Hon FRPS)

digsouthern@rps.org

Landscape Group

Jim Souper

landscapenews@rps.org

Region al Special In t er est Gr ou ps

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