LRPS Resubmission

OK, cutting straight to the chase, this time I passed and, for as long as I continue to pay the Royal Photographic Society their membership fees, I am entitled to refer to myself as a licentiate and use the letters LRPS after my name.  The title, LRPS Resubmission, however implies that this was not my first attempt.  So this post is really a sequel to the “Failed LRPS Submission” post of October, last year.

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Click on images above to visit the Flickr albums for the respective submissions.

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What was Different the 2nd Time?

As a result of feedback from the initial assessment and further discussion with the Amersham Photographic Society’s PIC group (the leaders of which are RPS assessors), images have been both changed and rearranged.

Changed Images

Original Image	…..	Criticism	…..	New Image
		RPS Assessors took great exception to the uneven lighting around the building, giving it a halo effect. Replacement considered, by the APS PIC Group, to be a “Chalk and Cheese” improvement over the original.
		Assessors complained about this as another example of uneven lighting producing a halo around the subject.  Also a magenta colour cast across the entire image. As with the image above, the uneven lighting was caused by heavy-handed post processing that I thought at the time emphasised the subject.  I now think differently. Replaced by a simpler image that better matches the portrait on the other side of the panel. [To see the reworked version of the original, click here.]
		My most contentious image in the panel – nobody who knew anything about portraiture liked this image.  It should have been changed much earlier. … and the gorgeous Chloe has to make way for my “Enigmatic Author”. Replacement, grudgingly considered “a better portrait” by the PIC Group.
		Not criticised by the official RPS assessor.  However, the PIC guys didn’t much like it; one thought the sky was too cyan and therefore unnatural. Replacement has the hue of the sky tweaked ever so slightly away from cyan towards blue.  Which does make it better match the llama image and perhaps look more natural.

Notwithstanding the above changes, and the ultimate success of the panel, the PIC group still considered images 1, 2, 4, and 5, i.e., most of the top row, “dangerously weak”.

Rearranged Images

It was suggested that I swap the positions of images 6 & 7 and 9 & 10.  This means that the darker images, (now 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10), form a “W” shape on the panel, or more of a “Checkerboard” appearance which is deemed aesthetically preferable.

What I Learnt?

In short, quite a lot.

I wince at the thought of the errors in the initial panel, even though some of these were not picked up during the official LRPS Advisory Day.

I understand the principles of laying out a panel.  The most helpful advice I received was:

1. Identify the central images of the panel
2. Find pairs of images that can go either side of these to keep the panel balanced
3. Ideally try to create a checkerboard arrangement
4. Assessors also tend to want to “read the panel” left-to-right and will look most critically at images on the right hand side.

Also: mounts maximum size; images minimum.  Looks classy, and any potential tiny defects are less obvious.

What’s Next?

The obvious next step after achieving a Licentiate with the RPS is to try for an Associateship, ARPS, or just “A”.  However, this is a totally different type of award which requires the submission of a panel of 15 images in a particular genre, such as Fine Art Photography, where the panel, supported by an artist’s statement, must communicate a particular creative vision.

I have already signed up for a “Credit” adjudication for the PAGB Awards in November this year.  This requires the submission of 10 images which are judged on an individual basis.  As I understand it, a score of 200 or more is required from 6 judges voting (yes: 4 points, no: 2 points) on each of 10 images.

In preparation for the PAGB awards, I hope to enter some of the Salons controlled by FIAP.  This is an effective way of testing out images, as those that fail to get accepted in a the majority of salons are unlikely to do well in the PAGB adjudication.  I can start working towards an AFIAP distinction, which requires, inter alia, 40 acceptances from 15 different photographs and 15 different salons.

 

Notes:

• Failed LRPS Submission
• LRPS Advisory Day

 

If you have any comments on the above, please post them below.

To see more posts on other photographic topics, or to follow my learning progress, please like or follow me on the social media channel of your choice to the right.