On a shockingly bad day - weather wise, we made the (surprisingly) short trip to the NEC to attend Focus on Imaging and .....our date with the Royal Photographic Society. Suffice to say we were both extremely anxious and had a overwhelming desire to get it over with, (our own fault as we put ourselves foward for it!). Having arrived early we sat and chatted with other candidates as the panel members gathered. At 10.30 the Chairman rose and introduced himself and the panel members and the process began. Panels came and went, some succeeded and others didn't. A number of times the panel gathered to critically examine in some detail, specific photos within the candidates panel - a huddle and then off to their chairs to fill in the marking sheets. One of the panel gave a quick overview of their perception of the portfolio and then the marking sheets were handed into the Chair, who collated the results, sometimes glanced futher at the images and then pronounced whether they would or would not recommend the panel to the RPS council. Generally it wasn't too difficult to see why a panel did or didn't get recommended but there were some surprises - so you just don't know until they read your name out or not. As for us..... well mixed fortunes I'm afraid and I'm not allowed to say..just yet, but we will reflect on the experience, take a deep breath and ultimately get there (nobody said it was easy and success is so much sweeter when it's hard to achieve). Incidentally after lunch four panels in a row failed and the pass rate was hovering around the 65% mark - with a very clear steer towards technical excellence - ie sharp, correctly focussed and no blown highlights or blocked blacks.
Having been battered and bruised we reflected over coffee and a bun then dived into the Focus on Imaging expo. Everything you would ever need in the way of Photography kit! Having been for 4 years running it's getting very familiar, but still nice to have a few hours immersed in the all those lovely images (yes some living models), kit and superb inspiring lectures, just wish we had a fortune to spend on those fantastic cameras and lenses!!!!!!!!!!
Now we need to focus on the workshop in Hathersage and looking forward to meeting our participants and shooting some more frames.
PS I've tried an Andy Wharol type set of images which are going up in Nosh, Sheffield next week - come and view and let us know what you think.
