RPS SE May Newsletter

Canterbury Cathedral by Suzy Courtnage

1. Introduction

Welcome to the SE region May 2024 Newsletter

2. What has happened in the SE region since the last newsletter

3. News in the region

4. NEW events

5. Planned events for the next 10 months

6. Hello to new members

1. Introduction

As I said in April, our overall favourite image from the TWT in Canterbury is the one on the front cover of this issue. Cityscapes are not easy, especially outside of London. It needed something like long exposure, ICM and/or shooting at twilight to produce a picture that was out of the ordinary. Congratulations to Suzy Courtnage for the wonderful image above.

The Bluebells have come and gone, but we made the wise decision to view them in King’s Wood, near Ashford, Kent, 2 weeks earlier than planned. They were simply stunning. I’m not sure our photographs do them total justice, so my advice is to go there next year and be prepared to be amazed. I have included the 7 favourites of our combined efforts at the back of this issue.

2. What has happened since the last newsletter?

We brought forward the Bluebell event. A mild and wet winter really did mean they were around 2 weeks earlier than in previous years. I have never seen Bluebells like this. A massive thanks to David Jenner who gave us a talk on how and where to photograph Bluebells. We are aiming to go back and be there for 0730 next time to get the sun low in the sky across the beds of Bluebells. Put the 21/4/25 in your diary.

The AGM was a bit of a non-event I am afraid to say as only 1 person outside the committee attended. I’d like to take it a vote of confidence in our ability to run the region smoothly, but I’m sure it’s down to something else! We are financially secure despite any changes about to be imposed by the RPS; our events seem to be popular whilst we concentrate on no-cost click events; and we have even managed to recruit a Finance Officer, (thank you Colin Young). I have made some notes on the proceedings which you can read here

3. News in the Region

I missed the last MEMCOM, (regional and group head meeting), as there was a shortfall of RPS, Bristol attendees, so not much was missed in my opinion.

• The LRPS was due to go digital in April and as yet I see they are not ready. The methodology looks interesting though; you can submit 10 images anytime online. Quoting from the RPS LRPS website: “All entries will then be reviewed and assessed monthly, following the last Sunday of each month and applicants will be notified of the outcome of their assessments approx. 6 weeks later”. To me that sounds like an improvement and should meet their objective of getting more people through at LRPS level.

• We are continuing to use Billetto to supply event tickets. There was also due to be a new release of the software CRM last quarter. I understand this is still behind schedule.

• It is worth repeating we now do have a Finance officer. This is very good news as we are 2/3rds of the way towards having the mandated 3 officers per region.

4.

New Events

Paul Stillman, one of our longstanding committee members, will be leading a visit to the British Wildlife Centre on Monday 30th September. This is limited to 12 persons in the whole centre and is

especially arranged for photographers. We are charged a reduced cost compared to the normal £140 pp that the BWC normally charge. The link for this will available in the next 4 weeks.

Paul Burgess, another of our committee members is asking if you are interested in Project Photography and is looking to set up a series of workshops that will be called From Pictures to Projects Paul writes:

Our survey of members interest last year revealed that many of you would be interested in workshops devoted to “project photography”. There is a significant difference between producing individual technically perfect images for a club competition or an LRPS panel and developing an ARPS submission or a set of images for an exhibition or book.

The APRS requirement includes:

• A Statement of Intent that defines the purpose of the work, identifying its aims and objectives.

• A cohesive body of work that depicts and communicates the aims and objectives set out in the Statement of Intent.

Developing a statement of intent and a cohesive body of work, rather than individual images requires a range of skills and techniques that you may not be familiar with.

Starting in September, we are planning to offer a series of workshops online and face-to-face that will equip you with these skills and provide feedback to your project as it progresses to a successful conclusion.

Please let us know if you would be interested and if you think that this would be a good idea by emailing me at seworkshops4@rps.org

5. Planned events for the next 6 months and a taste of future events

Our philosophy is to provide free to attend events called click events. Sometimes you may be required to pay an entrance fee. A click event is focussed on a photogenic venue with a number of like minded people coming together to take images and socialise. We may opt to provide expert tuition via Zoom prior to some of these events. In addition to these events we will look at 1 or 2 Face to Face events with a tutor and 1 advisory day per annum.

You can see the proposed programme until December 2024 below, followed by ideas for 2025

RPS SE event programme: June 2024 - December 2024 (Status

of event correct as of 17/5/24)

Arundel Wetlands click event (pay on the door)

07/06/2024 Sold out, sorry

This is based at Arundel Wetland centre. We will meeting the cafe just inside and walk around concentrating on bird photography. The only cost is the entrance fee to Arundel.

Bewl Water click event (pay on the door)

14/07/2024 Places available

This is a click event, walking around Bewl Water with the opportunity to take photographs of the wildlife, water and beautiful surrounding countryside. The only cost is the car park.

Lullingstone orchid flower photography click event (pay on the door)

04/09/2024

The web link takes you to the Lullingstone own web page. We will provide link for the event very soon

This event is proposed in September, hoping that the Orchids, which are under grown glass are still available. The only cost is the entrance fee. This will a private tour as there will be no public on this day.

Project Photography (no link yet)

This is just a placeholder as we gauge interest in this type of event.

British Wildlife Centre

15/09/2024

30/09/2024

Please let Paul Burgess know if you are interested on seworks4@rps.org

The web link takes you to the BWF own web page. We will provide link for the event in July

Based at the British Wildlife Centre, Lingfield. A great opportunity to photograph native British wild animals up close. The price is very competitive, as it is only for this group, making it an excellent opportunity for photographers.

Knole Park click event (pay on the door)

27/10/2024

The web link takes you to the Lullingstone own web page. We will provide link for the event in July

Knole Park is near Sevenoaks. It is a SSSI and has plenty to photograph. The only cost will be the entrance to the park and we will then concentrate on the 1000 acres of woodland. The link is to the actual Knole Park website which is a NT location. The only cost is parking and entrance fee. (Free to NT members)

Photographing autumn colours click event

10/11/2024

The web link takes you to the Bedgebury own web page. We will provide link for the event in July

This is a face to face click event without a tutor to capture the majesty of autumn colours at Bedgebury. The colours at this time of year are magnificent.

Street Photography in London click event (no link yet)

15/12/2024

This is a street photograph day in LONDON. We will choose a route and roughly follow this. There will be no fee

Timing TBC

RPS SE event programme: 2025 (Ideas and rough timings so far)

February 2025 LRPS distinction advisory day 2025

April 2025 Use your phone as a camera

Late April 2025

May 2025

August 2025

September 2025

Bluebell Photo Workshop click event 2025

Margate click event

Broadstairs Folk Week ’25 click event

Birds of Prey workshop

6. Hello to new members from 08/04/2024 through to 16/05/24

Imogen Sands, Matthew Gordon, Rob Carter, Mike Young, John McAleely, Julian Cottrell, Richard Olusanya, Sinead Le Blond, Cesar Velasco, Stuart Hutchinson, Robert Hatton, Stephen Walsh, Neil Chalk, Sally Howard, blank

Russ Pullen, Peregrine Clarke, Michael Roberts, Shaun Soper, Don Hough

If you have any ideas for the region or want to help, please contact me at southeast@rps.org.

John Gough, RPS SE Regional Organiser