RPS Southern Newsletter - Autumn 2020

Volume 3 | 2020

New slet ter WELCOME

Fall in Autumn Š Paul Cox ARPS Hello and welcome to the Southern Region Autumn 2020 newsletter.

towards the end of October, and this year will be no different (details later in this newsletter).

I hope that you are managing to successfully navigate yourselves through this very strange and difficult period in all our lives, and keeping well and out of harm?s way.

The? pandemic took the wind out of everyone?s sails, with complete event cancellation eventually wiping out any face-to-face meetings for 2020. As a Region we have long based our engagement with members on face-to-face contact, through Advisory days, Workshops, Photo-Walks, Specialist events and the like, so the social restrictions hit us hard.

Autumn signals the time for us in the Southern Region to look back over the past twelve months and start planning for the next twelve. We (historically) hold our Annual General Meeting

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To date, we haven?t responded very quickly to the new way of engagement through virtual events and have relied on those events organised by Head Office and other parts of the Society to attract members and provide an increasing number and variety of workshops, lectures and special interest virtual events.

It was initially difficult to understand how we, as a group of volunteers, could reach our membership. However, as challenging as it has been, we are now entering a period where we are better prepared to contribute to the Region?s activities in 2021 and, hopefully, attract the attention of members with the events we will be announcing in the coming weeks and months.

Lockdown gave me time to reflect on my time and role as Regional Organiser, the goals I set myself, my achievements and, more importantly, what I can offer the Region in the future.

Portrait of Paul Cox ARPS Š Jana Murray This reflection led me to my decision to stand down as Regional Organiser and make way for a person who is more qualified to take the Region forward into the next phase in the progress of The RPS in the Southern Region.

David Ashcroft (Secretary), Bhupinder Ghatahora Treasurer), Jana Murray (Publishing Editor), Chris Tank (Web Editor) and Dave Peckham (Event Organiser) for their outstanding work and contribution to the Region. I would also like to give a special mention to Paul Rigg, Anthony Topham, Glen Fonteneau and, of course Eric Ferbrache, our intrepid event organiser on the Channel Islands, without whom we would not have been able to achieve what we have in the last four years.

I will be formally standing down at our Annual General Meeting and handing over to Bhupinder Ghatahora to guide the Region through the coming years.

I would like to express my personal thanks to the Volunteer team who have supported me and the Region through the last four years that I have been in role. I would particularly like to thank

Very best wishes, Paul Cox ARPS, Regional Organiser

Sout hern Region Annual General Meet ing This year ?s AGM will be a virtual event held on Saturday 24th October 2020 at 1400 using Zoom Meeting software.

Election/re-election of officers (Regional Organiser, Secretary and Treasurer) Questions & Answers

The meeting will include:

If you would like to attend this year ?s AGM please send an email request to southern@rps.org and I will send a ?zoom?link to the meeting and an agenda nearer the time.

Regional Organiser ?s Statement Secretary?s Statement Treasurer ?s Statement 2

2021 EVENT PROGRAMME

Autumn evening in Salisbury Š Paul Cox ARPS

Whilst we are busy planning another year of events for 2021, we understand that we will need to be adaptable to changes in circumstances and be prepared to rearrange (or even cancel) events.

Vir t u al Ph ot o-Walk s Presentations and guided walks through well-known, and not-so-well-known, locations in the Southern Region.

We will therefore be concentrating on virtual events and workshops, some free of charge and others chargeable, all of which can be booked through our RPS website.

Face-t o-Face Ph ot o-Walk s Meet-ups in interesting locations across the region, currently 6 per group as per Covid-19 restrictions.

A more comprehensive list of planned events will be circulated before the end of the year, but here is a taster:

Face-t o Face Dist in ct ion s Advisor y Days We are planning to resume our successful face-to-face Distinctions Advisory Days and will begin with a (trial) combined Associate and Licenciate Advisory Day at a location (to be confirmed) in Basingstoke. We will of course follow guidelines to ensure the venue is Covid-safe.

Vir t u al Pr esen t at ion s 'How to Plan and Execute a Documentary Photography Project' by Paul Cox ARPS. Vir t u al Wor k sh ops 'How to Produce a Photobook like a Pro.' 'Camera to Print' - a repeat of the popular workshop by Dave Peckham ARPS first run in 2019.

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VOLUNTEERING Attracting volunteers to the Southern Region group has always been a thought-provoking problem to work through. So much of what we do is reliant on volunteers - and more volunteers mean more events which mean more member engagement. The constant catch-22.

Bhupinder Ghatahora (Treasurer) will be stepping into the Regional Organiser role following an official vote at this year ?s AGM, which will mean that she will be standing down from the Treasurer ?s role.

If you would like to put yourself forward for either of these two important officer roles that are now vacant (Treasurer and Publishing Editor) please get in touch by email in the first instance, to southern@rps.org and we will reply with a role description to provide a clearer picture of responsibilities and expectations for each role in the RPS and Southern Region.

We are not alone in our quest to attract volunteers; all Regions and Special Interest Groups are eager to attract volunteers to their collective committees.

We are losing two of our volunteers this Autumn with Paul Cox (Regional Organiser) and Jana Murray (Publishing Editor) standing down.

FLICKR COMPETITION WINNERS Thanks again to everyone who took part in our summer Flickr challenges. It was a lot of fun seeing all of the entries. Here's another chance to view the winning photos. ?Wh at ?s Th at in You r Kit ch en .?

Hand Mincing Š Paul Rigg ARPS

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?Sm ar t ph on e M acr o/ Close u p.?

Allium Christophii © Shaun Forward

?Scen es f r om you r Exer cise Rou t e?

Fawn in Wildflowers © Andy Holmes 5

CONTACTS Sout hern Region TITLE

NAM E

EM AIL

Regional Organiser

Bhupinder Ghatahora ARPS

southern@rps.org

Southern Secretary

David Ashcroft LRPS

southernsecretary@rps.org

Southern Treasurer

Position vacant

Ar ea Coor din at or s Basingstoke & North Hants

David Ashcroft Bhupinder Ghatahora

Emails as above

Bournemouth & West

David Peckham ARPS

davepeckham@mac.com

Channel Islands

Eric Ferbrache ARPS

rpsciorganiser@gmx.com

Salisbury & South Wilts

Paul Rigg ARPS

paulrigg@outlook.com

Southampton & South Hants

Paul Cox ARPS

southern@rps.org

Web Editor

Chris Tank

southernweb@rps.org

Publishing Editor

Position vacant

Social Media Editor

Position vacant

Specialist Volu n t eer s

Volu n t eer s Salisbury & South Wilts

Anthony Topham

atopham9@gmail.com

Dorset & West

Glyn Fonteneau

gfphoto.wcc@gmail.com

Documentary Group

Christopher Morris

Christpher.wmorris@btopenworld.com

Digital Imaging Group

Barry Senior (Hon) FRPS

digsouthern@rps.org

Landscape Group

Richard Ellis

landscapef16@gmail.com

Region al Special In t er est Gr ou ps (act ive)

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