Mike Kitchingman was awarded his LRPS in July. He had been planning a print panel submission until Covid-19 came along and face to face meetings were cancelled.
I was therefore curious to know how Mike had got along with the new RPS arrangements for Distinctions during the health crisis.
Here is Mike's story....
"For a number of years, I toyed with the idea of going for an LRPS Distinction but at the beginning of 2019 I made up my mind and started assembling what I thought would be an acceptable panel.
‘Easy’ I thought but looking at it again a week later I could see that it fell far short. ‘Not so easy’, I remonstrated with myself.
So began a long, arduous but rewarding task, during which I learnt a lot about myself and my approach to photography."
My first port of call was to read and read again the requirements necessary to achieve a Licentiate
"From then on it was a question of gathering 10 pictures and rejecting and replacing until I thought I had a reasonable panel demonstrating different techniques and variety in approach.
I was also aware that each image should be perfect in every way: no burnt out highlights, clean and sharp with no halos or colour fringing, nothing obtrusive in the frame, good composition."
"I then concentrated on my ‘11th Image’, the panel itself. It had to be balanced and cohesive.
I decided that a 3,3,4 layout would best suit my images. I booked onto a Distinctions Workshop and an Advisory Day, I was all prepared.
And then ‘coronavirus’ hit. The meetings were quite rightly cancelled with no foreseeable dates in the offing.
However, all was not lost as the Distinctions Department moved the whole Advisory and Assessment process online including a dedicated private Facegroup page.
It was now possible to have one-to-one Advisories via Zoom and to submit ‘Panels for Print’ for online Assessment.
With renewed enthusiasm, I immediately booked an online Advisory, which proved invaluable. It was suggested that I replace a couple of images. With this done I had a second one-to-one and, in the Advisor's opinion, I was now ready.
I saw there was an Assessment on July 15th and hurriedly booked a place, submitting as a ‘Panel for Print’. I received an email from Simon Vercoe the day after the Assessment to say that I had been successful!
To anyone thinking of applying for a distinction, I would say go for it."
It’s a most rewarding journey and will teach you so much about your photography.
If you are thinking about an LRPS Distinction, there is lots of information on the website. Here are some links to get you started...
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