When does the club meet?
The club meets on Monday evenings for a 7:30pm start in the St. Wilfrids Community Centre, Trinity Lane, Ripon, HG4 2AB. There is ample free parking. Come along earlier from 7pm to enjoy a coffee and a chat before the session starts. You can then meet our other members. We also have a mid session coffee break so you can once again join in the active discussions and be part of our mentor commitment to new members.
What is the club’s opinion of Digital Photography?
RCPS actively encourages Digital Photography. An increasing number now work entirely digitally. Some even work conventionally using “wet” processing. All pictures are treated equally in our competitions as long as the picture is all your own work. – a good picture is a good picture regardless of the how it was taken.
Are beginners welcome?
RCPS accepts members of ALL standards from complete beginners to professionals. A camera club is an excellent place for novices to learn. If you are just staring out in photography we can introduce you to a club Mentor to help you advance your skills. It is also helpful because our mentors cover all the major camera brands. We appreciate that we all started at the bottom of the rung, but RCPS club membership offers you a means to progress your skill sets much quicker.
You do not need an expensive camera, we have many members who have produced stunning winning images with a Smartphone.
Can anyone join?
YES absolutely! All we ask is an interest in Photography and a desire to share that interest with other like minded people.
Do any of the members do weddings or portraits?
Yes numerous members have or do participate in wedding & commercial photography, and yes that includes portraiture.
Does the club have darkroom facilities?
No.
Are there any lady members?
We have many female members almost 50/50. & some of the best photographers in the club are women, and you can see their work also in the societies galleries. We also have a fun ladies versus gents evening in our program where the gloves really come off.
What are our membership fees?
Club membership fees can be found on our About Us page here.
Can I try a meeting before I join?
Yes, prospective members can come along for several meetings as a guest after which you are expected to join. If you entered half way through our yearly prospectus you only have to pay half an annual subscription. Only fully paid up members can enter the RCPS competitions or be registered as a fully paid up member to enter the Yorkshire Photographic Union annual Competition.
Do you have to be a certain standard before entering club competitions?
No, our competitions are based on Digitally projected images & also prints. So if you do not print it is simple enough to just enter an JPEG image that is limited to a specific file size. We can give you help on how to achieve this with your computer or program, and information on this sizing is on our website. However prints should be properly mounted otherwise it could detract from the judging criteria. The main objective of our competitions is to see other peoples work, and to learn learn from the informed comments from the visiting judges. Judging of course can be personal, so you need to appreciate that it is only one persons opinion, what really matters is your choice and any informed comments on how you might be able to make your choice better to suit your style. Anyway we intend including a peoples choice after the judges awards to see a more club orientated balanced opinion.
I am an experienced amateur photographer, What else does the club have to offer ?
There are club a members whose past photographic career has been professional & others who have achieved recognized accreditations and are members of Salons. Some members regularly exhibit their work and present to other societies, and others who regularly enter world wide & UK salon competitions. However our Club activities are about sharing & learning. We have a program that brings in talented renowned speakers and also zoom speakers that would not normally attend because of the costs of travel. Our members use a wealth of different software programs that enable you to discover the benefits that help you to would decide what suits your requirements. Our links with the Yorkshire Photographic Union and 70 other clubs enable you to enter their annual competition. They also provide via our club membership mentor services 1 to 1 to achieve PAGB ( Photographic Alliance of GB ) accreditations.
I am not able to come every week. Is it still worth joining?
Our annual program enables you to plan what special interest evening you wish to attend. Including our internal workshop event evenings.
We will be re-introducing external member meetings on a social basis when the pandemic restrictions permit. This will be in our local cafe weekly meet up, and also a monthly pub meeting to cover any topic you feel free to discuss with the other attendees.
I am not enthusiastic about competitions, so what else does the Club offer?
There are informal member project groups, which we intend to expand to club special interest groups that can meet outside the club evenings to cover everything that is (a) photographic and (b) a project related. Our social media sites include a club Facebook group, and we are going to expand this in a trial to Instagram. We have during the closed season had outside meet ups, & we are planning to extend these as a year round activity. Members can notify the committee of any activity they think would be of value for a members meet up.
I don’t know anything about digital photography, nor do I have a computer. What can I do in this digital world?
We previously ran public workshops entitled ‘ An introduction to Digital Photography’. These are designed to help true beginners. If there are sufficient members who want this revised we can plan this for 2022. Most folks have a Smartphone & these can now produce excellent award winning images.
I have a compact camera and have only taken pictures of family and holidays. Is this not way below what a club expects?
Our club has members that cover all standards, and there is always someone to help and advise if you want to become more proficient. By coming along to meet like minded people you will soon be producing images that you will want to print and display. Good photographers do not need expensive equipment, it is all about light and your own minds eye & imagination. We have several members with only a couple of seasons experience who are now achieving awards regionally & also gaining credits regularly in our own monthly competitions.
I have seen the large mounted prints submitted for competitions, and this is way beyond me, so what could I do?
There is no need to produce large A3 prints, nor to print your own digitally. Prints can be made commercially from A4 upwards by a friend or commercially by quality photo labs online. They are very reasonable pricing wise. Mounting is not difficult, and we stage demonstrations of the techniques in our workshops.
Will I be welcomed if I should join, knowing how clubs often ignore newcomers?
We have learnt from experience that new members will not stay unless they are made to feel part of the society. So we are very proactive to ensure you are not just left to your own devices. The Club is very informal, and with our planned activities & mentor assistance you will be made to feel an important & valued guest.