Gloucester Camera Club

Images may be sent to exhibitions and salons in many countries.  Gaining an acceptance at one of these is an achievement in itself, as the standards are very high, and it can be a step on the way to attaining awards such as EFIAP.

AFFILIATION

Camera clubs in Europe are organized by affiliation.  In Great Britain, for example, clubs in an area are affiliated to a federation, such as WCPF, the Western Counties Photographic Federation, and MCPF, the Midland Counties Photographic Federation, the federation to which Gloucester Camera Club, GCC, belongs. These, along with numerous other federations, are affiliated to PAGB, the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain.  This in turn is affiliated to FIAP, la Fédération International de l’Art Photographique.  Thus there is a chain of affiliation – FIAP —> PAGB —> MCPF —> GCC.

ANNUAL EXHIBITION

The GCC annual exhibition has usually been staged towards the end of the season, often being open for two weeks, but the period of opening will generally depend on the available help. The next annual exhibition will be held soon after the start of the next season, that is, in September 2012, so there will not be such an event during the season of 2011 to 2012.  The day is usually divided into three shifts, 10 to 12, 12 to 2 and 2 to 4, with two members on each shift.  The venue is usually St John’s Church, Northgate Street. The club is greatly indebted to the church for this. Besides the stewarding, there is much other work, such as collecting and sorting the prints, printing and attaching labels, attaching adhesive pads, setting out screens, and attaching the prints to the screens.  DPIs are shown as a sequence on a lap-top PC.  The exhibition isn’t just a show: a judge is appointed and positions are awarded as in other competitions.   The exhibition affords an excellent opportunity for GCC members to meet members of the public, listen to what they have to say about their photographic experiences, and perhaps tell them about the benefits of joining a club.

ARPS

Associateship of the Royal Photographic Society, the second level distinction of the RPS.

AUDIO VISUAL – AV

An AV is a set of digital projected images (DPIs) that are shown automatically in a sequence, accompanied by suitable music.  The images are often on a theme, and are usually chosen and blended in a suitable way to create a harmonious flow with no jarring effects.

AWARDS

Awards are given by a number of photographic organizations, to people who have demonstrated particular levels of ability. After gaining an award, a photographer will be entitled to append letters to her or his name. Some awards can be attained only through membership and support of a camera club and the federation to which it belongs.

Battles are competitions between clubs.  GCC joins in two annual battles, one against Cheltenham Camera Club, and the other against Hereford and Worcester Camera Clubs. The latter is often called “The Three Counties Battle”, though none of the three clubs represents a whole county. To set up a battle,  a total number of images (T) per team is agreed, and also a maximum number of images per person (P).  Each club makes up a set of prints and a set of DPIs, which will include work by numerous club members, because of P. The total number of photographers can never be less than T / P.

Two categories of image are presented, prints and digital projected images (DPI). A judge comments on the images as in club competitions, and awards points to each image, up to a maximum of 20. Most image scores lie in the range 15 to 20.  The total number of points per team can never be more than 20T per category.  At the end of the evening, the points are added together, and the totals are announced for prints, DPIs, and all images together.

BPE – BRITISH PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITOR

Information about BPE awards, BPE1, BPE2, etc, can be found using this link – BPE awards.

It’s not about the camera, but you need to choose a camera carefully with regard to the types of images you wish to create.

COMPETITION

Competitions are important in many camera clubs.  In such a competition a knowledgeable and skilled judge examines a set of photographs and assigns either grades or points, depending on the type of competition.  The grading is based on both technical proficiency and subjective qualities.  In GCC the competitions are based on prints and digital projected images (DPIs), and are in the following categories – individual images, sets of five images (panels), and audio visuals (AVs).  In the case of the individual images, there are six competitions in a season, in three classes – advanced, intermediate or general, and beginner. Points are awarded as follows. First, 7, Second 6, Third 5, Highly Commended 4, Commended 3, Other entries 1. At the end of the season, the six sets of points are added to determine the winner.  There are also battles against other clubs, and a competition based on exhibits in the annual exhibition.  Members can also enter images for an external competition such as MidPhot, the annual exhibition of MCPF.

CPAGB

Credit award – blue badge and certificate, from PAGB. The award will be given for ten prints or ten digital projected images, with a total score of 200 points or more, that is, an average of at least twenty points per image. There are also pre-qualifications.

“Cambridge in colour” tutorials

DPAGB

Distinction award – Red badge and certificate, from PAGB. The award will be given for fifteen prints or fifteen digital projected images, with a total score of 300 points or more, that is, an average of at least twenty points per image. There are also pre-qualifications.

The EFIAP is awarded in several grades, such as bronze, silver, gold and platinum. They can be attained through gaining a sufficient number of acceptances as defined on the PAGB EFIAP page.

EPSA

Excellence award from the Photographic Society of America, their second level award.

EXHIBITION

The GCC annual exhibition has usually been staged towards the end of the season, often being open for two weeks, but the period of opening will generally depend on the available help. The next annual exhibition will be held soon after the start of the next season, that is, in September 2012, so there will not be such an event during the season of 2011 to 2012.  The day is usually divided into three shifts, 10 to 12, 12 to 2 and 2 to 4, with two members on each shift.  The venue is usually St John’s Church, Northgate Street. The club is greatly indebted to the church for this.  Besides the stewarding, there is much other work, such as collecting and sorting the prints, printing and attaching labels, attaching adhesive pads, setting out screens, and attaching the prints to the screens.  DPIs are shown as a sequence on a lap-top PC.  The exhibition isn’t just a show: a judge is appointed and positions are awarded as in other competitions.   The exhibition affords an excellent opportunity for GCC members to meet members of the public, listen to what they have to say about their photographic experiences, and perhaps tell them about the benefits of joining a club.

Images may be sent to exhibitions and salons in many countries.  Gaining an acceptance at one of these is an achievement in itself, and it can be a step on the way to attaining awards such as EFIAP.

FIAP is the main photographic organization in Europe, to which the national organizations are affiliated. FIAP offers a number of distinctions, as follows.  AFIAP-EFIAP; MFIAP; ESFIAP; HonEFIAP.  These are explained in the FIAP web-site – FIAP.

FRPS

Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society, the third and highest level distinction of the RPS.

A set of explanations which seldom includes the topic you want to know about. If it does include your topic, the level of explanation will probably be unsuitable. If it is suitable, there will probably be errors.

JUDGES AND JUDGING

There is no objective means of comparing images that could be assigned to a device such as a computer. Human judges are needed for battles, competitions, exhibitions and salons, and the process of judging includes a large subjective component.  Among the features that a judge may consider are the following:

Technical competence with the camera, including external factors.

Technical competence in processing, with either chemicals or software.

Subjective factors, such as mood, composition and choice of subject.

The weight attached to each of these considerations varies greatly among the many available judges. Not only that, but the styles of judging vary enormously as well. Some judges provide a couple of hours of high quality photographic exposition or tuition, while others may limit themselves to pointing out the faults they see in the images. Some are very kind and positive, looking for something good to say about every photograph, while others may seem to dwell quite harshly on blemishes that may seem quite insignificant to others. Some seem to concentrate on a particular type of feature, such as cropping, while for others there may be genres or subjects that they dislike.  It can be easy for beginners in a club to be upset by a judge’s comments. We should remember that no judge is omniscient. Many are superbly qualified by experience and wisdom, but we cannot expect that every judge will have had vast experience of portraiture, landscape work, macro photography, sports photography, industrial photography, marine photography, etc. Judges are only human, and they may talk about their own work and knowledge more than we might like.

Whatever they do, we must remember that they don’t spring into being as they enter the door. They may have left work and travelled a long way through heavy traffic, with a snatched meal, in order to get to the meeting on time, and they may not arrive home till very late after the meeting. And although they receive travel expenses, they are giving a service for a lot less than a commercial payment for the hours given.

Licenciateship of the Royal Photographic Society, the first and lowest level distinction of the RPS.

Master of Arts, a second level degree that can be awarded for work on the subject of photography.

MCFP – The MIDLAND COUNTIES PHOTOGRAPHIC FEDERATION

MCPF is one of fifteen federations which comprise The Photographic Alliance of Great Britain – PAGB.  The member clubs of these fifteen federations are automatically affiliated to PAGB.  PAGB is, in turn, affiliated to la Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique – la FIAP.  Further information about these organisations can be found in the following links. – - MCPF – - PAGB – - FIAP.

MIDPHOT

The annual exhibition of MCPF is MidPhot.  Club members who wish to try for PAGB awards must support MidPhot as specified in the PAGB web-site.

MPAGB

Master award – gold badge and certificate, from PAGB. The award will be given for twenty prints or twenty digital projected images, with a total score of 450 points or more, that is, an average of at least 22.5 points per image. There are also pre-qualifications.

The member clubs of  fifteen federations, of which MCPF is one, are automatically affiliated to PAGB.  PAGB is, in turn, affiliated to la Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique – la FIAP.  Further information about these organisations can be found in the following links. – - MCPF – - PAGB – - FIAP

PAGB offers three grades of award; Credit – CPAGB; Distinction – DPAGB; and Master – MPAGB.  Before attempting to gain a PAGB award, a photographer must support federation events as specified in the PAGB web-site.

PAGB stages three photographic competitions per annum.

PANEL

A panel is a set of images on a theme, chosen to illustrate the theme individually while forming a harmonious unit.  In GCC the number of images is five, which may be prints or digital projected images (DPIs).  There is a separate article about this topic.

PHOTOFOLIO

Photofolio is a competition between member clubs of MCPF, with individual awards. Acceptances form the basis of the circulating Portfolio of Prints and Slides, which is available to clubs.

PPSA

Proficiency award from the Photographic Society of America, PSA, their first level award.

PSA – PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Information about PSA can be found on this page - PSA. The Photographic Society of America (PSA) has a Recognition Of Photographic Achievement  (ROPA) program which recognizes members who have extensive exhibition records and who have excelled to PSA Divisional Star levels. Two Distinction Awards are offered: Proficiency (PPSA) Award and Excellence (EPSA) Award. Effective from 1 July 2010, PPSA equates to a total of 96 images and 288 Acceptances in International Exhibitions/Salons recognized by PSA.

Photographers often refer to the “quality” of a photograph. With a row of photographs, it soon becomes obvious what this means.  Or does it?  What do you think it means?

RPS

The Royal Photographic Society. Please use this link to see details. RPS

Images may be sent to exhibitions and salons in many countries.  Gaining an acceptance at one of these is an achievement in itself, and it can be a step on the way to attaining awards such as EFIAP.

“Cambridge in colour” tutorials