RPS Digital Imaging Group News April 2020

DIG News April 2020

‘High Tide at the Sea Pool’ by Jenni Cheesman LRPS Winner of the Digital Imaging Group monthly competition for March

DIG News

April 2020

FROM THE EDITOR Greetings and salutations!

After last month’s bumper issue with results and news from the print exhibition selection and the AGM, this month we have something of the opposite. Suffice it to say that quite a lot of RPS workshops, talks and other events are being cancelled or postponed, including most of those organised by Digital Imaging Group Centres for this spring and summer.

But we do have further news of online events springing up instead of traditional meetings, and updates to plans for the days when we can all meet up again. So the world has not yet ended.

If you’re thinking to pursue an RPS Distinction, there’s a new closed Facebook group run by the RPS: RPS Distinctions **Official Group** It ‘is the place to be for chat, skill swapping, celebrations, inspiration and anything you need to know about submitting a Distinction.’ They have the chair of every Distinctions panel as moderators.

If you’re feeling a bit isolated and would like to hang out and chat about photography, please drop by the Digital Imaging Group on Facebook where you can also ask – and answer - questions. You’ll need to join it before you can participate, but the advantage is that it’s a closed group open only to DIG members.

Your contributions for this newsletter are very welcome. If you want to make a submission or have any news of interest to Digital Imaging Group members, email me at DIGNews@rps.org. The deadline for the May issue will be 26 April.

All the best, Deborah Loth (new) DIG News Editor DIGNews@rps.org 2

DIG News

April 2020

A WORD FROM THE CHAIR I expect by now that many of us have had cancelled or postponed some of our 2020 photo opportunities. But we will not be idle, so what have you turned to, to learn and to practice? We see the result of your skills at both the Print and the Projected Image competitions and the achievement that a Distinction bestows, so let us know what photographic skills you are looking to work on and why, during this immediate period of staying at home. What problems are you experiencing? Write to me at DIGChair@rps.org.

Members of your committee are putting their heads together to see what we can do to enable us to interact virtually. Can members who have publishing, both print and Web, and video production skills let DIG News (DIGNews@rsp.org) know both the nature and capability of those skills?

Your copy of DIGIT 84 should have arrived by now. If you normally receive a printed copy and this has not arrived, then do let us know. If you are an online member you should have received a link to the web page where you can read it via page-turning software. (Please do not send this members-only link to non-members.)

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DIG News

April 2020

MONTHLY ONLINE COMPETITION The winner of our March competition was ‘High Tide at the Sea Pool’ by Jenni Chessman LRPS, featured on the cover. (For more information about the friendly monthly competition, visit www.rps.org/DIGMonComp.)

Jenni Chessman LRPS A friend and I decided that we'd like to get a sunrise shoot in before the clocks went forward. Monday 9th March looked a likely candidate as high tide was forecast for about 5.15am and sunrise for 6.44am.

We both live in North Cornwall and picked Bude as a good location to head for; setting off at 5.30am we got there by about 6.30am, giving us plenty of time to set up, and once there we headed for the Sea Pool.

We were amazed at quite how high and ferocious the tide was, you could hardly see where the location of pool when we arrived and on descending the steps towards it we found we could only get down to the walkway running in front of the beach huts; to go any further down would be quite foolhardy as the waves were crashing over the lower steps and poolside.

I wanted a minimalist image and my focal point was the railings on the corner of the pool, the water was coming over in two different directions, so it was challenging to take the shot and get an interesting pattern in the water around the railings.

This shot was taken about 7.30am, at f13 with ISO 100, a 1.6 second exposure without filters. This was a long enough exposure to keep some structure in the waves. I cropped slightly in post-production and adjusted the levels. I am thrilled that it appealed to others, and many thanks to all who voted for it Second place was ‘In the Pink’ by Yvonne Mitchell LRPS.

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DIG News

April 2020

To view the gallery and not the ads, click where it says ‘VIEW 24 IMAGES’ in the upper righthand corner of the first image

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DIG News

April 2020

Third place was ‘Camber Sands’ by Ian Wilkinson LRPS.

To view the gallery and not the ads, click where it says ‘VIEW 19 IMAGES’ in the upper righthand corner of the first image .

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DIG News

April 2020

ONE UK MEMBER Fay Bowles’s adoption of the still life genre may prove inspiring for everyone locked down at home. It’s just a shame we can’t actually show you her lovingly crafted, beautiful prints.

Faye Bowles ARPS It all began when my husband bought me a small digital camera. A few months down the line I had joined a camera club and was learning skills from other members. I enrolled on educational courses on photography and Photoshop and realised too late that image making was an incredibly addictive hobby.

‘The Opportunist’ by Fay Bowles ARPS I played with Landscape, tried my hand at Wildlife and enjoyed Creative photography and Photo-montage – and then an illustrated article in a

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DIG News

April 2020

photographic magazine showing a Master Class in Still Life caught my eye and – as they say – the rest is history!

‘Sweet Peas’ by Fay Bowles ARPS I was fascinated by the techniques and varied subject matter of the Old Masters (1600-1800) and browsed through books and Fine Art websites and then started creating and photographing my own set ups. By this time I owned a DSLR, tripod, off-camera flash and reflectors and although I prefer natural light, I invested in some very inexpensive studio lighting 8

DIG News

April 2020

mainly so that I could keep photographing even during the winter evenings.

‘Unwelcome Visitor’ by Fay Bowles ARPS Still Life photography is definitely not everybody’s cup of tea, but I enjoy the challenge to create an image that has only ever existed in my imagination. Finally having achieved the image the icing on the cake is to choose a beautiful art paper and to see the complete picture emerge from my printer – what more could one want?

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DIG News

April 2020

‘Holiday Tea’ by Fay Bowles ARPS

WELCOME to our new members this month…

Mark Allen Rose Atkinson LRPS Raymond Bailey LRPS Timothy Barber Iain Byrne LRPS Gerry Coe FRPS Wendy Davies Tony Davies LRPS Derek Fowler Rob Furber Ann Gardner Glenys Garnett James Mccarthy LRPS John McMahon Sue Phillips Edward Rosen Alan Walker ARPS

Belfast Wells Horsham Bristol Wigan Bangor Alton Llandudno Mitcham Sawbridgeworth Le Petit Bornand, France Wakefield Gillingham Berkhamsted Tadley Summit, NJ, USA Ambleside 10

DIG News

April 2020

AND A SECOND UK MEMBER It’s also hard not to be inspired by Bob Bracher’s sheer, good-natured enjoyment of photography.’

Bob Bracher ARPS How many of us started with one of these, only to end up with something a little more complicated with rather more buttons?

It was the birth of digital photography that brought me back from just taking family

‘Katherine’ by Robert Bracher ARPS 11

DIG News

April 2020

snaps, to seeking out a broader range of photographs. I then converted my LRPS, obtained in a bygone age, to an ‘A’ and also went ‘international’, securing an AFIAP. More importantly, I have viewed marvellous work from a wide range of photographers, some of whom have become friends and all have been inspirational.

‘The Roca Gallery’ by Robert Bracher ARPS I look upon myself as having an eclectic style. That is to say, ‘no style at all!’

However, if I had to settle on one thing, it would be that of Mono.

Graphical, portraiture and landscapes, often in an abstract style, are my leaning and I do try to stay focused on these subjects.

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DIG News

April 2020

‘Vik Sands, Iceland’ by Robert Bracher ARPS

‘A Table for One’ by Robert Bracher ARPS 13

DIG News

April 2020

May I leave one message: ‘please print your family photos and put them in an album’. My elder son is now 44 and I committed myself to doing this at his birth. I am now on album number 76!

The images shown were taken in Iceland, a bathroom showroom in Fulham, a cafe and I also have a very patient niece!

DIGITAL IMAGING GROUP MEMBER DISTINCTIONS Congratulations to members who gained Distinctions so far in 2020. All will be invited by Holly to submit their work and story to DIG Accolade.

Jennifer Baker LRPS Martyn Bennett LRPS Wendy Davies LRPS Kevin Flanagan LRPS Jorma Kärkkäinen LRPS Cameron Leask LRPS (Muriel) Ann Nissen LRPS Mary Venables LRPS

Exmouth Hereford Alton Aberdeen Kiuruvesi, Finland Linlithgow Salford Deal

Kathryn Alkins ARPS Alan Collins ARPS

London Fareham

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DIG News

April 2020

SPOTLIGHT ON A DIG VOLUNTEER Sue Totham DIG Print Exhibition volunteer There is nothing I like more than seeing photography in print, so when the position became vacant, the opportunity to show the variety and creativity of DIG members was just too good an experience to pass up.

The last 12 months have been nerve-racking and sometimes frustrating, but also very satisfying. I took over after the 2019 Selection day, so I went home with 160 newly selected prints plus many to return to members. There were four exhibitions already booked, Crosby was the first, followed by Swindon, Smethwick & Edinburgh.

Digital Imaging Group Print Exhibition 2019 This all sounds easy, you may be saying, where was the frustration, where were the nerves? Well, if you entered this year you will know we changed the entry process from an Excel spreadsheet to an on-line system. This took most of the data entry out of my hands, and into Ian Thompson’s very capable hands, but I largely felt helpless during this time. I didn’t have control and I’m told I’m a control freak, but we got there, and everyone got their entries entered, return postage was paid, overseas members had their prints printed and mounted and I received package after package of prints from members who couldn’t attend the Selection day themselves. My postman was asking, how many more?

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DIG News

April 2020

So, on Saturday 22nd Feb I headed out to Birmingham with 8 large Nomad boxes of prints, half from last year ready to return to members, the other half, new prints received as part of this year’s entries. On the day, we had over 400 prints to work through. It was a busy and tiring day but very enjoyable.

Smethwick Photographic Society is currently the only venue able to take all the prints. I am struggling to widen the exhibition circuit: we use Velcro corners to hang the prints but I’m finding most exhibition venues need them framed. This would have storage, weight and cost implications for me and DIG. Do you know anywhere that can host an exhibition and if possible be free of charge? This year is proving even more difficult as all exhibitions are currently cancelled. I just learned that Crosby has been re-booked for September and Swindon for November, virus allowing!

If you have any suggestions for an exhibition venue, contact Sue Totham.

Because the spring and summer exhibitions have been postponed for several months, all of top 30 shortlist images are now available to view on our website HERE. There are two slideshows: one of images which won ribbons and the other of the remaining shortlist of the top 30 images for showing in smaller venues.

EVENTS & RESOURCES Plans are going forward for DIG’s regular annual events, with the Projected Image competition on 19 September 2020 at RPS HQ in Bristol and the AGM and Print Exhibition selection in February 2021.

The DIG committee is also planning an online event tentatively scheduled for 9 May 2020. We hope to have more details for you within the next week or two. If this initial event goes well, there will be a series of further events.

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DIG News

April 2020

Janet Haines has drawn our attention to a useful listing of online resources for learning about photography from your own home and at your own pace: https://www.viewfinders.be/resources/elearning Clicking on any of these ads will take you to its RPS Events page where you can find more information:

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DIG News

April 2020

THE RPS WEBSITE The new RPS website may still be proving a challenge to some. For guidance from the RPS on website basics, visit https://rps.org/newwebsite. For detailed information on setting up your profile and how to set up a gallery, visit https://rps.org/media/i3aaf51z/myrps-editing.pdf.

If you have not had an opportunity to explore the site, you might want to take a look at the President’s news page from Dr Alan Hodgson: https://rps.org/about/president-news/ For everyone’s convenience, we include this list of shortcuts to the main Digital Imaging Group pages at the end of each newsletter.

Digital Imaging Group website shortcuts: DIG Home page www.rps.org/DIG Membership www.rps.org/DIGMembership Committee www.rps.org/DIGCommittee News www.rps.org/DIGNews Monthly Competition www.rps.org/DIGMonComp Print Circle www.rps.org/DIGCircle AGM www.rps.org/DIGAGM Print Exhibition www.rps.org/DIGExhibition PDI www.rps.org/DIGPDI Tutorials www.rps.org/DIGTutorials 18

DIG News

April 2020

Publications www.rps.org/digpubs There are links to all the Centres from the DIG Home Page.

The three members-only links (DIGIT Archive, Accolade and Welcome Page) are to be found in the email message announcing this newsletter.

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