Royal Photographic Society

This document arrived in the post today.

The journey towards it started on a beautiful day on Skye in August 2012, when I joined a course on landscape photography with Andy and Rosie Woodhouse. It is where I learned that I was taking competent snaps and that there was a world of more thoughtful, considered picture-making to explore.

In November of that year, I attended my first meeting of the local Tweeddale Photographic Group (TPG), to hear a talk by bird photographer Sandy Clelland FRPS. In chatting to Sandy after his talk, he encouraged me to consider joining the Royal Photographic Society and pursuing the route towards gaining an RPS Distinction.

I travelled a few more steps along the thoughtful/considered route with another course based in Mellon Charles under the guidance of Joe Cornish, Eddie Ephraums and Paul Sanders.

It has been an interesting journey - with a very long way still to go - leading to me recently gaining my Licentiate Distinction. Submitting a portfolio of prints of what you regard as your very best photographs for criticism by a panel of experts is a challenging experience, and possibly not for the faint-hearted. If, like me, you have invested a great deal of yourself in your photographs, it can be painful to have them criticised in front of you and others.

I would say that, in addition to your photographic skills, you have to be the kind of person who can rebound from criticism. I certainly found my first informal RPS "crit" a pretty traumatic experience. But receiving, reflecting on and learning from criticism is part of the journey towards improvement.

As I was mounting a set of prints recently for the TPG's 2014 Exhibition, I looked out last year's submission, and it was clear that my photography has improved significantly. The journey has been worthwhile, and it has only just started, but the most important step in any journey is the first one.

I've mentioned a few people in this note, and I want to record my appreciation to each of them for their inspiration and encouragement. The other person to add to that mix is Jack Lowe, based in Newcastle, who so beautifully printed my RPS Portfolio. He is a master printer extraordinaire. If you only ever see your images on a backlit screen, you are missing the wonderful experience of a really good handmade print on beautiful cotton rag paper.

If you would be interested in starting that journey yourself, take a look on the RPS website here.