344 DISTINCTIONS 344 / THE RPS JOURNAL / MAY 2016 / VOL 156

Transcription

1 344 DISTINCTIONS 344 / THE RPS JOURNAL / MAY 2016 / VOL 156

2 FEATURE SPONSORED BY LOST IN A SEA OF SAND ABOVE The first photo I took with my wide-angle lens. I was very resistant to getting the lens as I really like details and am not so interested in landscape. I was wowed by this, though, completely surprised by how the lens made the rock so imposing. Olympus E-M5, 12mm lens PARSLEY ON A SHELF RIGHT I was in Warsaw for a long weekend, and ate at a lovely modern restaurant. This perfectly balanced composition was begging to be photographed. Olympus E-M5, 25mm lens DORIT S HAT LEFT Parija, who works with me at Citizens Advice. She s wearing a hat by my friend Dorit Young, who designs them for Muslim women. Olympus E-M5, 75mm lens Ilya Fisher LRPS As the Licentiate is about demonstrating technical ability, my main aim was to show a variety of approaches and techniques. I included portrait, landscape, details, slow and long shutter speeds and short and long depth of field, while at the same time balancing the panel colours so they work together. Most of the images use a 25mm (50mm equivalent) prime lens. When I bought my Olympus I was new to serious photography and I only knew how to point and shoot. A friend recommended I start with a 50mm lens. I loved this idea as it meant VOL 156 / MAY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 345

3 346 DISTINCTIONS I could get to know the camera and lens without the extra variable of different focal lengths. Starting with the prime was invaluable in helping me appreciate the distortion you get with different lenses. I now have several primes and one zoom. I was a textile artist and think this comes across in my interest in texture, particularly my fascination with details of peeling paint and scraps of wall posters. I also love an image to be taken from straight on and balance symmetrically although I am trying to make myself take images from more unusual angles. The central image of the boats was burnt out until it was pointed out to me. Bringing down the brightness in that area was the easy part noticing the fault was harder. I am not sure if I would have passed without the wonderful advice of Richard Walton FRPS who was at the advisory day I attended and kindly had a final look at my images shortly before the big day. I hope I learned from this to look more closely at the prints, not just images on screen. FACT FILE Ilya Fisher began taking photos during a trip to China with a borrowed compact camera. Last year she took the Society s Open University course digital photography: creating and sharing better images 346 / THE RPS JOURNAL / MAY 2016 / VOL 156

4 FEATURE SPONSORED BY ASSESSOR S VIEW ROBERT GATES ARPS, CHAIRMAN OF THE LRPS PANEL Ilya s panel contains all the ingredients required for a successful submission. We do see panels that are very specific in subject matter but Ilya has chosen to show us plenty of variety in both subject and technique. From portrait to close-up and landscape to still life, Ilya has shown that she can tackle a wide range of subjects. It s obvious that she knows her camera controls and has carefully chosen aperture and shutter speed to create the effects she wants to achieve. The panel has been very carefully constructed, taking into account the colours and shapes together with the final image sizes. The boat image, ideally positioned in the centre of the top row, demonstrates a good eye for simple composition and colour. The portrait shows control of detail in the dark shadow areas, and in the bottom row the highlights have been well controlled in the last image. The station picture is a good example of how to use a slower shutter speed and the panel members liked the inclusion of the union flag to create context. The still life of the bottle is very minimalistic and shows good control of lighting. Looking at the original print of the teasel, it was bitingly sharp with a very diffuse background free from annoying distractions. All these features, coupled with excellent print quality and presentation, gave the panel members every reason to recommend that Ilya be awarded the Distinction. CAMDEN POSTERS LEFT Taken in 2014 during a workshop. I started to take shots of really interesting old walls with peeling paint and torn posters. Olympus E-M5, 25mm lens VICTORIAN MOVEMENT RIGHT Victoria Station, as homework for the Society s Open University course. The station is perfect for a slow shutter speed as some people are hardly moving and others are rushing. The colours make it striking. Olympus E-M5, 25mm lens, 1/5sec SHOREDITCH WALL BELOW The image that started my ongoing obsession in looking closely at walls. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX300 HANGING PLAN Ilya has chosen to show us plenty of variety in both subject and technique' VOL 156 / MAY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 347

5 348 DISTINCTIONS A study in success Ilya Fisher tells how the Society s online Open University course helped her achieve her LRPS Image: Fiona Alison MEET THE ICONIC RANGE OF UPGRADED Fi n e Art Professional Inkjet Media from PermaJet PermaJet have enhanced their entire range of textured and smooth fine art inkjet papers. The finest cotton based surfaces available with professional quality inkjet coatings. From only: vat for 25, A4 sheets from: JOIN THE EVOLUTION How many images in your Licentiate panel were taken as part of the OU course? Of the 10 images in the LRPS panel, four of them are from my EMA assessment panel at the end of the course. On completing the course, what more did you have to do to get your Distinction ready for assessment? I had to trawl through all my images to find 10 plus spares that I thought were good enough. Having the advisory day booked was a real push to get on with it, to prioritise. Continuing to take photos gave me more choice. Was achieving your Licentiate the logical next step? Yes. I had already been encouraged to try but, since I had only been photographing seriously for seven months before the course started, I didn t feel ready at all. Were you encouraged to achieve your Licentiate once the course was finished? I was encouraged by other Society members and also by friends in my camera club. The Facebook and Flickr groups we set up following the course are still going strong, A panel image entitled Seven Bits of Cobweb with the original members and new people who have since started the course. They are very encouraging to those who want to do the Licentiate and we are all giving feedback, not only on the images and layout, but also on size, printing, mounting, advisory days and so on. What was the most helpful thing you learned? How to look at your own images. We were also taught how to look at and comment on other students images. How confident do you now feel about taking things further? I would like to try for the Associate at some point, but I ll need a really good idea for that, something that means a lot to me. We all wanted another course to pick up where this one left off. I d really like another OU/Society course and would like to think of it as a next-level course, maybe intermediate rather than beginners, and not just centred on achieving my Associate. Ilya Fisher To find out more about the online course, go to rps.org/ learning/ onlinecourses 348 / THE RPS JOURNAL / MONTH 2016 / VOL 156