Photography With Distinction

[Rose]

Myself, Tom, Bill and Paul attended the workshop today. It was a really interesting and thought provoking day which started off with a session explaining what the distinctions were all about and how they worked. We were shown a good selection of images representing the standard required at all three stages. We were also shown - and encouraged to mark ourselves - a number of images which had achieved different marks at CPAGB assessments - some meeting the standard, some near misses, some fails, and some exceeding the standard and deemed worthy of DPAGB. It was interesting that certain images polarised opinions and changed their position several times ! There were one or two surprises when the actual scores were revealed but overall we weren't far out in our own judgements.

We were all struck by the standard of work once people started getting their own pics out for assessment. We all received some very valuable feedback and advice, both on our individual images and the overall standard they represented in our work. The assessors were encouraging, but honest in their critique. Many people have gone home knowing exactly what they can do to improve individual images.

There are a number of things we have taken away from the day and I think we are planning to share them at a future club meeting, along with the images we took for assessment and the critique we obtained.

[Mike Farley]

Thanks for the quick update, Rose. I am still somewhat frustrated at having missed it, but it could not be avoided.

Hopefully the members's evening will not be on 17 June as I am presenting at another club that night.

[Paul Heester]

They mentioned a few web links on the day which some may find useful.

Tony Riley mentioned the SPA's facebook page (if you are on fb) - https://www.facebook.com/groups/surreypa/ there is also an SPA image sharing group https://www.facebook.com/groups/477474472369772/. They also run a For Sale and Wanted group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/368829713224554/ And they also mentioned an unofficial PAGB group for assessment of photos - https://www.facebook.com/groups/photodistinctions/

The CPAGB have their own site http://www.thepagb.org.uk/ plus there is a news-related site http://www.pagbnews.co.uk/ with the option of signing up for newsletters to keep you informed.

[Rose]

I've joined the FB pages. I posted a couple of images on the 'unofficial advice group' page and got some detailed feedback from Rod Wheelans himself ! The page is quite active and looks like it's going to be a good source of feedback which will help put together a potential selection in due course.

[Mike Farley]

They mentioned a few web links on the day which some may find useful.

Tony Riley mentioned the SPA's facebook page (if you are on fb) - https://www.facebook.com/groups/surreypa/ there is also an SPA image sharing group https://www.facebook.com/groups/477474472369772/. They also run a For Sale and Wanted group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/368829713224554/ And they also mentioned an unofficial PAGB group for assessment of photos - https://www.facebook.com/groups/photodistinctions/

The CPAGB have their own site http://www.thepagb.org.uk/ plus there is a news-related site http://www.pagbnews.co.uk/ with the option of signing up for newsletters to keep you informed.

Thanks for the links, Paul. Curiously there is no mention of the second FB page on the main SPA website. To gain access and see what it is all about I have actually joined Facebook, something I never, ever thought I would do. So far, I have only been admitted to the hallowed sanctum unofficial PAGB assessment group, but I am not sure how useful that will turn out to be. From what I have seen so far no one seems to have submitted an image that gets the flying tick .....