Successful LRPS Panel

09/03/10

When I joined the Royal Photographic Society in April 2009 one of my objectives was to gain one or more of their distinctions.

The Royal Photographic Society (RPS) provides a considerable amount of information and guidance through its web site. These resources include The Distinctions Handbook, an interactive DVD and links to articles etc. that provide invaluable advice. I studied these carefully and read thoroughly the occasional articles by successful distinction applicants that appear in RPS publications such as The RPS Journal and DIGIT, the magazine of the RPS Digital Imaging Group. I also spoke with a number of friends who have experience of the RPS Distinctions process.

I discovered that it was possible to attend both Distinctions Assessment Days and Distinctions Advisory Days as an observer. So, as a next step, I sat in on both an Assessment Day and an Advisory Day.

Using the information I had gleaned from the on-line resources and these two events, I then set about developing the panel of 10 prints that I would need for an LRPS panel.

I reviewed all my images and made a short list of around 30. I then looked at all of these critically to ensure that they all met the technical criteria required of a successful LRPS panel. To my amazement I found that nearly all of them needed to be re-worked! Some because they fell short of the technical requirements of the LRPS Distinction, others because my post processing skills have developed significantly over the last 5 years!

I then set about re-working the images - some very quickly fell by the wayside as they were technically deficient or they had insufficient pictorial merit.

I was then left with around 20 images and spent a considerable amount of time developing a balanced panel. During this process I sought the views of others. This was extremely helpful as several panelling options developed from these discussions, that, frankly, I would not have seen for myself.

In total, I had 8 variations of the panel before I settled on one that I took along (together with several "reserves") to a Distinctions Advisory Day only 8 days before my Assessment Day on 8 March 2010. I was reassured by the feedback from the Advisory Day and decided to take the same panel to my Assessment Day at Focus.

My allotted slot at the assessment Day was scheduled for mid-afternoon. I ensured that I had plenty of time to complete the 100 mile journey to the NEC and arrived, accompanied by my long suffering wife, Jean, at Focus with plenty of time to spare.

We spent a couple of hours wandering round the trade stands at Focus, but really, my mind wasn't on all the bright shiny equipment and materials that we looked at!

In the afternoon, we went along to the Assessment Day which ran so efficiently. And then my images went up for assessment! By this time my finger nails were completely bitten away!

The assessment process seemed to pass so quickly - all those months of work, deliberation and occasional self doubt for perhaps only 10 minutes on the wall! One of the assessment panel commented on my work - mostly favourable - minor issues (or were they minor?) with one of the prints. The marking papers were filled in and collected by the chair. Following a quick shuffle of the papers I was asked to identify myself and advised I'd been successful - Euphoria!!!

So was it worth it? In a word, YES. I have learned so much about my photography during the process of re-working the images and putting the panel together. My processing skills have improved significantly and I am now far more critical of any of my images that fall short of my new found technical standards. I now have an assurance that my work has reached a clearly defined standard. I can also add LRPS to my name and that, of course, gives a degree of personal satisfaction.

One final benefit has been that by reviewing my work from a five year period I have had an opportunity to take stock of my photography and give considerable thought to where I want to go next with this absorbing hobby.