Hi all .. forgive me for blowing my own trumpet, but this morning I was fortunate enough to be awarded a distinction by the Royal Photographic Society. I am now allowed to use "LRPS" after my name. It was a nerve shredding experience, as me, along with 30 or so other people, had 10 prints assessed by a panel of five judges.

However, , I do want to thank all the good folk of this forum (and others) who have commented on my work in the critique forum, etc. It has all helped me improve and part of the credit goes to you!

The portfolio I was assessed on is at:

http://album2591.fotopic.net/c1114936.html

Thanks again
Mike

congrats!

Keep up the good work.

Mike,
I am sure this is a big honor, which you deserve.
But for us Yanks, can you explain what this means a little more.
What does it mean to not use "LRPS" after your name, for example.
Thanks for sharing this with us and being apart of this community.
Brian
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Congrats Mike,

I'll call you tomorrow to try and arrange a meet in London. I'll buy a celebration pint.

Roger

Awesome! Good job and congrats!
:D

Congratulations. Glad that none of us steered you in the wrong direction or you had the sense to ignore our less useful comments.

Now you will need new business cards!

Again, congratulations!

Way to go - congrats! :thumbsup:

Congratulations!

Thanks all very much. I'm just home from a celebration dinner with my wife, and I am still on cloud 9 where I will be, no doubt, for a little while.

Mtbbrian - basically, the Royal Photographic Society is the premier photographic organisation in the UK, and goes right back to the beginnings of photography. They have always offered 3 levels of distinction - the Licentiate (the one I just got), the Associate, and the Fellow, with the designatory letters LRPS, ARPS, and FRPS. The last one is very rare and is only given to people who seriously advance the science and art of photography. The L and the A are somewhat more accessible. In photographic circles they are very respected and to have an RPS distinction certainly opens some doors - however, for me, the point was to have a really worthwhile challenge which would stretch me. Getting it is a vindication of the work I've put into it for over a year now. I imagine there is some US equivalent (American Photographic Association or something).

Cheers
Mike

Thanks for the explantion.
I even more impressed now.
:thumbsup:
Brian

Wow! Congratulations Mike!!! :thumbsup:

Excellent! Congratulations!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Onya Mike :thumbsup: Now double the price of your services :D

Jurgen

Once again, many thanks. It's lovely to share the moment with people passionate about the same hobby. :p

Cheers
Mike

Congrats Mike, I was wondering what come of it, You and Ruffus party a little when he gets there.
Greg

Congrats man! Great photos also.

I'm just home from a celebration dinner with my wife, and I am still on cloud 9 where I will be, no doubt, for a little while.
Congratulations !
A well deserved celebration.

Our local photographic club here in Oxford is quite active in developing people:
3 FRPS, 7 ARPS, 2 LRPS ... http://www.rps.org/
4 MPAGB, 10 DPAGB, 11 CPAGB ... http://www.pagb-photography-uk.co.uk/

As a teenager I won 3rd place in two successive years in their open competition, but never joined the club. Back then it seemed all focussed on your own colour darkroom work and that just wasn't for me.
I just used the local photo shop's service and submitted 5x7s (hey what did I know) and couldn't afford the 12x18 prints that the winners used. Size mattered to the judges I thought.

You might have nudged me to go try again.

Smartwombat .. thanks for your kind words :)

I am very fortunate in my own club in that they have embraced digital pretty easily. Nor have I ever found ANY judge to be biased against digital prints at a maximum of A4 (which is all I can produce). I think clubs sometimes get a bad press, but to be honest I have always found mine to be helpful and encouraging. It's a small club (only 28 members, not all of whom are all that active). We have only one FRPS and one ARPS and now, with me, we have the set! It was the FRPS who encouraged me to have a go.

But, as I have said before, the letters don't mean nearly as much as the challenge - a year of working for this has taught me a lot, especially about critiqueing my own work.

I recommend it! :p

Cheers
Mike

Excellent work Mike and congradulations. I know you sweated the portfolio a lot for this event and obviously it was all worth it in the end.

Nice work.

Jay

Thank you Jay

Mike