I am a self-taught photographer and this has been my all consuming hobby for over 40 years. I have learnt a lot in that time through reading magazines and looking at other people's images and following a few YouTubers. However, only four years ago I decided that my photographic skills had plateaued. I wanted to do something to make my images standout. Family and friends were very complimentary but I knew in my heart that my images were not as impactful as I would wish.
I debated about what my next step needed to be. I looked at workshops and photographic tours but felt they were outside my budget and I wondered what would happen if the elements were unfavourable. I like to be spontaneous so I find it really difficult to plan too far ahead only to find an expensive trip is spoilt by adverse weather conditions. Taking it to extremes, I certainly know of friends who have travelled to Antarctica and their route has been greatly inhibited by poor weather. A huge let down.
In September 2018 I was shopping in Bracknell town centre when I came across a photographic exhibition run by Bracknell Camera Club. https://bracknell-camera-club.co.uk I had a look around the exhibition and was impressed by the quality and variety of their images. I got chatting with members and found out what I would get out of membership. I immediately recognised that the club had the potential to give me what I was looking for without the expense of photography courses. During the year running from September to June the club has 16 guest speakers. With that alone, it would amount to £4 for each event but with all the additional opportunities to see great images in competitions it was going to be even less than that; with approximately 37 meetings it amounts to a meagre £1.80 per evening. The annual memberships was going to cost me a whole lot less than one photographic workshop. It was worth a go, so I joined up.
One of the first talks was about underwater photography. I nearly gave it a miss thinking I would never be submerging my camera and diving to the depths of the ocean. However, I did attend and found out that even if the speaker is not discussing your preferred genre there are always gems of tips to glean from such talks. The variety of talks was amazing from photographing abandoned buildings, juxtaposing fashion with street art, minimalist landscape photography, journalistic photography, smart phone photography, portraiture, sport, aircraft, fine art and composites. Talks about composition, the decisive moment, visual awareness and so much more.
Very early on I joined in with the competitions which allowed me to gauge my ability and progress. I was hungry for inspiration and improvement. I listened well to the judges and responded to constructive criticism. I immersed myself in the camera club community, taking every opportunity to talk with members and learn from their experience and in no time worked my way up the leagues. I joined the special interest groups in the club which enabled me to expand my portfolio to include street photography, night photography, monochrome and studio portraiture. I joined the critique group which allowed me to identify flaws in my images that create distractions and I recognised that there is no more shame in post processing an image than there is with Van Gogh adding a few final brush strokes to his works of art.
Having broadened my skills I felt ready to go for my first qualification. With fabulous mentoring within the club and dedicated time and effort I was able to submit a panel to the RPS and was awarded my first distinction.
I was aware that there is a lack of female judges in the Southern Counties Photographic Federation (SCPF) and had it in the back of my mind that perhaps I might go down that route sometime in the future, however, the opportunity presented itself much sooner than I had planned and so I jumped at the chance this year and qualified as a Level 1 Judge in June 2022.
Training as a judge has taught me to not just to look at the technical aspects of a photograph, but look for that sense of visual awareness and expressiveness that makes a photograph really special regardless of the genre. I really hope that this new found knowledge enables me to empower others to push their love of photography forward to produce their best images and I very much hope that in reviewing their images and recognising a connection I will continue to grow as a judge and as a photographer.
Bracknell Camera Club has given all this with the added benefit of making like minded friends. Thank you.
Comments