RPS Assessment Day

Spent most of the day on Sunday 23rd May at the assessment day for candidates for the Licentiateship of the Royal Photographic Society (LRPS). There were 26 candidates so there was a very wide range of submissions. Each candidate has to submit a panel of 10 images that are not only cohesive as a panel but each individual image should demonstrate  a level of competence in all aspects of basic photography.

There are four assessors and a a chairperson. Each assessor marks the panel independently although there is some conversation between assessors as they discuss various points. One of the assessors gives a general response to each panel that allows the audience some insight into the their view of the quality of the panel. If the panel is judged to be of the standard then it is announced as a successful panel and usually nothing further is said. For unsuccessful panels the chairperson gives a resume of where it has failed and it is this that provides for the audience a very good insight into the common problems that occur. It is a very good learning experience not only for those who have submitted panels but also others who have attended as observers.

I had submitted a panel and happily was successful so I can, subject to ratification, add the letters LRPS after my name. Whilst this may be useful the true value lies in the process of getting a sufficient number of images of the right standard ( many more than 10 because of the need for the images to form a coherent whole). You have to think about what you are doing both at the time of taking the image and during the process of producing the final print.

I used every opportunity to garner other peoples opinions of my work through my own contacts and at assessment workshops run by the RPS.  As I went through the process of refining my work, re-assessing its quality and constructing the panel there was a distinct improvement in my competency and the quality of the images I produced.

It is of note that I finalised my panel some four months before submission and put it away ( everyone is warned about the dangers of constantly returning to your panel to 'tweak' it). During this time I upgraded both my camera and printer and strived to improve my ability. When I looked at my panel immediately prior to assessment day my immediate response was 'I have done better work than this recently'. This was both satisfying (I am making progress) but also added more tension to the day that was nerve racking enough anyway.