Scared To Death!

A very scary day today! Not my usual lazy Sunday touring about the countryside looking for a blip. Not quite a near-death experience, but quite close!

The Man chauffeured me and sat with me for moral support as I waited to present a panel of 15 images to advisors from the Royal Photographic Society and a roomful of candidates and observers.

There were about a dozen of us showing panels for advice, most for LRPS and 3 of us for ARPS distinctions. When I did my LRPS, I didn't go for advice as there wasn't an opportunity in the north of England, I simply sent off my mounted prints to Bath for the Assessment. This time I thought I'd better take advantage of any hints they could give me.

Waiting was the worst bit. As I listened to the faults with other panels, I just wanted to grab my box and make a break for freedom. I could go and be cheered up in the car park by Mr Skeleton, he says "Hi" by the way.

Unlike the Licentiate panel where you display 10 images which show a range of your abilities with your best images, for the Associate distinction my panel of 15 had to be composed with a definite end purpose. So a theme following a train of thought was required.

My turn came just before lunch and the ARPS advisor was kind.to me. He liked my theme and thought it fitted the category well. I won't go into what I was working on just yet but let's say I need to look at some aspects and make some images a bit more imaginative and exciting.

That will do for me, I got the encouragement to continue. None of us got away without some adjustments to our panels, though a couple may be ready to have a go at LRPS now.

Oh! AND I met a blipper, well, almost, well I mean she has a journal and I hope she'll soon start using it. She knows walkingMarg in real life!