Church Stile House

Last year I booked myself on to an ARPS advisory day which by sheer luck was being held in our village hall. I achieved my LRPS about 3,5 years ago and I thought I should try and get the next level of distinction, the ARPS. However somewhere along the way I got a bit disillusioned with the Royal Photographic Society and was not that motivated to achieve it - this was exacerbated when asking for advice about the category within the ARPS that my panel would fit into, I was advised that I needed consent from the people in the photos and could not submit a panel without that. As I did not have consent I decided not to enter a panel of photos for critiquing and rather just attend today as an spectator. 

It was a very interesting day, and the assessment judges giving advice on panels that others had submitted for feedback were excellent. I also found out that consent is never required as the images submitted for a distinction are done in a private forum so consent is not necessary - so I was given the wrong advice from the RPS distinction department. There were some very strong panels seen today and some weaker ones, but in each case we all learnt so much from the advice given and the constructive criticisms made. One thing about the journey to getting a distinction from the RPS is that you certainly learn to perfect your technique and develop a critical eye for the weak spots that are not acceptable in making a photo a good one, namely imperfect focus, especially in portraits where the eyes have to be perfectly sharp, blown highlights, poor processing techniques and weak compositions. I know many blippers know what I am talking about. I think as a photographer it is important to receive constructive criticism without taking offence, as that is how we learn and improve.

I am not sure if I will ever submit an ARPS panel, I am finding it difficult to choose a subject that is niche enough to prepare a panel of 15 images of it. Maybe one day I may get inspired by something!

It was a long day with a short break for lunch, when I walked to Costa to get a coffee and noticed this tree in bloom. This is Church Stile House, the oldest house in the village dating back to the early 17th century.