DIG News April 2020

‘High Tide at the Sea Pool’ by Jenni Cheesman LRPS

Winner of the Digital Imaging Group monthly competition for March

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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

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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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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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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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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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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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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

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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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‘Holiday Tea’ by Fay Bowles ARPS

WELCOME to our new members this month…

Mark Allen Belfast

Rose Atkinson LRPS Wells

Raymond Bailey LRPS Horsham

Timothy Barber Bristol

Iain Byrne LRPS Wigan

Gerry Coe FRPS Bangor

Wendy Davies Alton

Tony Davies LRPS Llandudno

Derek Fowler Mitcham

Rob Furber Sawbridgeworth

Ann Gardner Le Petit Bornand, France

Glenys Garnett Wakefield

James Mccarthy LRPS Gillingham

John McMahon Berkhamsted

Sue Phillips Tadley

Edward Rosen Summit, NJ, USA

Alan Walker ARPS Ambleside

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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

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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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‘Vik Sands, Iceland’ by Robert Bracher ARPS

‘A Table for One’ by Robert Bracher ARPS

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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.

Kathryn Alkins ARPS London

Alan Collins ARPS Fareham

Jennifer Baker LRPS Exmouth

Martyn Bennett LRPS Hereford

Wendy Davies LRPS Alton

Kevin Flanagan LRPS Aberdeen

Jorma Kärkkäinen LRPS Kiuruvesi, Finland

Cameron Leask LRPS Linlithgow

(Muriel) Ann Nissen LRPS Salford

Mary Venables LRPS Deal

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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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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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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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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/new-

website. 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

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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.