RPS eJournal BENELUX chapter issue 1 Autumn 2015

BeNeLux Chapter eJournal - number 1 - Autumn 2015 1


Acknowledgements

View from the RPS BeNeLux organiser

The Royal Photographic Society

BeNeLux Chapter

COPYRIGHTS The copyright of

photographs and text in this eJournal belong to the author of the article of

which they form part, unless otherwise indicated.

PROOF READING Dawn Black

COVER PHOTO Armando Jongejan FRPS

This is a part of a bunker

complex south of IJmuiden – Netherlands. The silent

witnesses lie in the dunes. This was one of the German defence bunkers and was built as part of the Atlantic Wall. Armando started to

make a new series of contemporary

photography. The cover photo is one of the results of a ‘Tobruk’. It is a foxhole for

a defensive position. It is nowadays surrounded by a

campsite, a seaport and steel industries.

CONTACT If you wish to submit articles

for the eJournal of Spring 2016, please send all copy

and images to the

RPS BeNeLux Organiser [email protected]

This is the first issue of our eJournal, made by and for the members of the BeNeLux Chapter. We hope that you like it!

In December 2013, Steve Johns LRPS, was appointed as the new RPS Benelux Chapter Organizer. A Benelux Chapter meeting was held in Brussels in March 2014 where the chapter was relaunched and a number of activities were planned. Richard Sylvester LRPS, became Chapter Secretary and to assist in the organization of activities in their countries, National Coordinators were named as Dawn Black for The Netherlands and Simon Hauxwell for Luxembourg. Further Chapter meetings have been held in May 2014 in Den Haag (organized by Dawn Black) and in June 2015 in Antwerp (organized by Eddie Maes). Members of Viewfinders (Brussels) and The Images International Photography Club (The Hague) participated in the Antwerp meeting in order to renew contacts and promote the RPS within these clubs.

An unofficial Distinctions Advisory Day was held in Brussels in February 2015 and we thank Roy Robertson HonFRPS for taking the time to facilitate this for us. A further Chapter meeting is being organized in Luxembourg in October 2015. A RPS Distinctions Advisory Day is being planned in Brussels on 13 February 2016. If you are interested in coming along more information about Distinctions and the preparation of panels for presentation at an Advisory Day can be found at: http://rps.org/distinctions.

The RPS Benelux Chapter currently has 35 members and provides a central point of contact for RPS members in Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg. Although organization of Chapter activities are centralized in Brussels, national coordinators in The Netherlands and Luxembourg stimulate local participation in RPS activities and events are held throughout the entire Benelux.

The Chapter is currently looking for members who can provide support as Newsletter Editor or as Webmaster, two very important positions for publicizing the Chapter and its activities.

Finally, we welcome contact from all who are interested in getting more information about the chapter or participating in its activities.

Richard Sylvester LRPS Organiser of the RPS BeNeLux Chapter


In this Issue

4 RPS Benelux Chapter Meeting on 17 October 2015

Clervaux – Luxembourgh

9 Long Exposure Photography

Photo Dawn Black – Long Exposure Photography

5 Involvement and ideas?

7 Contemporary Photography in Antwerp – Belgium

Photo Armando Jongejan

9 In the floodlight

12 Netherlands RPS Study Group The Hague

Janet Haines ARPS


RPS Benelux Chapter Meeting on 17 October 2015 by Richard Sylvester LRPS, Simon Hauxwell and Armando Jongejan FRPS

Our next RPS Benelux Chapter meeting will be held in Luxembourg on Saturday, 17 October. It will start at 10:00 AM with a tour of the Family of Man exhibition at Clervaux Castle in the north of Luxembourg, about an hour’s drive from the capital.

Impression of one the exhibition rooms and the cover of the photobook

This tour will be followed by lunch, an image review session which will be held in the conference room and then a business meeting where we will discuss the future activities of the Chapter, finishing at the end of the afternoon.

For those wishing to spend Saturday night in Luxembourg, various activities will be organized: dinner that evening, a photo walk in the old town on the Sunday morning, lunch, and then a museum visit on the Sunday afternoon. It promises to be a very interesting and enjoyable weekend.

As the details are still being worked out, please contact Richard Sylvester or Simon Hauxwell for further information: [email protected] or [email protected].

The collection The Family of Man has enjoyed an eventful history, drawing 10 million visitors and prompting enthusiastic and critical reactions alike. Constituting an exceptional legacy that never ceases to generate stories and research. The exhibition was created by Edward Steichen as a collection of snapshots and emotions that aimed to convey a message of peace in the midst of the Cold War. http://www.steichencollections.lu/en/the-family-of-man.


Involvement and ideas? by Janet Haines ARPS and Armando Jongejan FRPS

Are you able to support our group?

Recently some of our members have had intensive email or personal contact. We have been talking about the future of our chapter and how we can grow and get better involved. We will use the RPS guidelines for the layout and colours. We’re sure you’ll understand we are photographers, but design is a different job. It is possible one of our members is more involved in Adobe Illustrator or Adobe InDesign and could help us here. Several members are willing to write an article, but we need someone who is able to support our group as an editor. If you think this could be you, please let us know and also contact Richard.

Ideas 2016 and 2017

As a starting point for discussion during our next meeting in Clervaux, we suggest the following

� 2015 - 2016: start collecting photographs by our RPS BeNeLux members for a print on demand book (POB). A POB is like a regular book, just you are able to print one or 100 copies (see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Print_on_demand);

� End 2016: publish our RPS BeNeLux photobook. We create one example and you are able to order your own hardcopy;

Examples from one of the POB services (other sizes are available)

� Beginning 2017: we try to have an article about our RPS BeNeLux photobook project in the international RPS Journal;

� An exhibition in 2017 with a selection of our photos in Fenton House – Bath (England). It needs about 30 - 40x50cm mounted images and an overview statement of what the exhibition is all about. They are framed and hung by Fenton House staff;

� Host other RPS photographers that come to our region on holiday. This need not necessarily mean putting them up in your house, but simply to suggest some great locations or photographic opportunities in your immediate locality. Thinking aloud here - we could in fact have a section on our RPS Web page of locations as a sort of informal guide for RPS visitors to Benelux. (Pascal van Heesch ARPS and Armando Jongejan FRPS did this several times and it was enjoyable);


Example Fenton House May 2012 (exhibition Armando Jongejan FRPS)

� We could consider having a ’twinning’ with another chapter. For example the Australian or Canadian, they seem fairly active (see text boxes).

o What we could do is have an annual friendly competition with them. Each Chapter to provide (say) 20 images each and exchange these;

o At each end we have an independent judge who assesses and marks the images from both groups out of 10 (where 10 is high). Scores are added for each group and the highest score is the winner;

o Provide them with informal feedback on their images; o By having a live judging at one of our meetings we record the judges

comments and then feed these back to them. So it is both fun and a learning opportunity.

� How can we help each other with creating series, themes or other photographic issues. For example: it took me (Armando) some time to develop the idea to make a new series of contemporary work of ‘bunkers’. Not just the buildings of World War 2, but a relation with the environment (see cover). Sometimes you know exactly what you want to make or create. Sometimes it takes more time, how are we able to advise other members when they have an concept and need some ‘help’?

What can we do as a chapter? Let us know by email ([email protected]) or during one of our meetings!

The Australian Chapter has been in existence since 1986 and is one of the most active of the RPS Overseas Chapters. We hold monthly meetings, produce a monthly Newsletter, usually hold an annual Exhibition, and liaise with RPS in the UK on behalf of Australian members. See more at: www.rps.org/regions-and-chapters/chapters/australia

We [Canadian Chapter] represent both amateur and professional photographers from all across Canada. Our Society is open to anyone to join. In fact, you do not have to be a photographer to join, just simply have a love for photography and a desire to learn more about it. See more at: www.rps.org/regions-and-chapters/chapters/canada


Contemporary Photography in Antwerp - Belgium by Armando Jongejan FRPS During our meeting in the Antwerpen FotoMuseum (FoMu) on 6th June 2015 Armando Jongejan gave a presentation about a series he made of Creebridge Caravan Park in Scotland. It was a talk about Contemporary Photography. Photography that conveys ideas, stimulates thought and encourages interpretation; photographs 'about' rather than 'of'1 During the Second World War Creebridge Caravan Park in Newton Stewart - Dumfries & Galloway - Scotland was a Prisoners of War Camp (POW). In 1941 the camp is noted as ‘Holm Park Camp, Newton Stewart, camp No.113’ and was in used for Italian prisoners of war. In 1943, when the Italians were defeated and surrendered in Italy, the Italian prisoners were repatriated to Italy. Subsequently, the camp housed German prisoners of the Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht. After the war in 1945, the camp became a displaced persons (DP) camp for refugees for the Soviets, coming from former Eastern Bloc countries like Poland and Czechoslovakia.

Idea of a hanging plan? Photos: Armando Jongejan FRPS

In 1964 the former Prisoner of War camp became a campsite. The first owner was Mr. David Baird. Original parts of the Prisoners of War Camp are still visible in 2009 where the roads were built by the Italian Prisoners. In concrete we see the name ‘Italy 43’. The guard tower is not in use, but still overlooks the campsite. An original barrack with the fire buckets in front of it is now utilised as a storage room/garage. The house/reception was originally the prison for violent prisoners. The phone box was formerly the sentry-box and the foundations of the barracks are in use for the static caravans. The laundry room was built in 1968.

1 Source: Royal Photographic Society - Contemporary Group


Since 1998 John Sharples has owned the campsite and sometimes he meets old prisoners of the barracks. At the reception desk he has a framed photo to show to people who are interested in the history of the camp site.2

Armando took his photographs in 2009 and during the presentation he talked about the concept of making a series and about unexpected results such as an article in the RPS Contemporary Group Journal, a publication in a book of the Dutch BMK 50 years anniversary, an exhibition with two photos of this series during the Photo Festival Naarden 2015 and three photos on our RPS website (see screen shot above). There was even a discussion about the series. Is this good enough for a distinction? But this was not the question of this series. It was about how to approach creating a series for a distinction. Are you making 15 photos or perhaps 50 to select them back to just 15 photographs for a step in the distinction process. You have to select and select and… “kill your darlings”. It must hurt to keep the final selection. If you have a good selection of about 13 photographs and you need 15, do not select two “old” photographs to fill the gaps but make at least ten new ones and start to select again, until you are satisfied. It is not about one perfect photograph, but about a coherent body of work. Selection is also ‘about’ rather than ‘of’. 2 Special thanks to John Sharples and source: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS)


In the floodlight Your photographs in the next issue? Feel free to send your contribution and selection of at least five photographs to [email protected] and who knows? Your article in our next issue? In this issue some great photographs of Dawn Black (The Hague - Netherlands)

Photo Dawn Black - Wembury Bay & the Great Mew Stone - ISO 200, f/16, 15 seconds

Long Exposure Photography by Dawn Black Depending on who you speak to or which forum you frequent, long exposure photography can be defined as anything longer than half a second to more than 30 seconds and into minutes. The effects that you will achieve with longer exposure times will all depend on the speed of the moving elements within the frame and like everything in photography; there are no hard and fast rules. When creating a long exposure image all the usual considerations of composition and light apply but we add in the element of time. We will create an image that the eye itself cannot see and this requires some vision. Whether you want to record dynamic moving clouds, swirling waters, to record or even eliminate moving people in a busy place, shoot light trails or go completely minimalistic the possibilities are there for us. Personally, I use long exposure in my landscape work. In order to create long exposures you need to practice and perfect your technique. Here are some considerations you should think about:

� A tripod is a must. In long exposure photography, be it light painting, light trails or long exposure in landscapes, the shutter is open for more than a second so it is imperative that you have the ability to keep the camera absolutely still;

� Use a cable release or remote release to trigger the shutter so you do not risk moving the camera with pressing the shutter button (If you do not have one you can set the camera to timer on a 2 or 10 second delay). A cable release is also a necessity if your exposure time is longer than 30 seconds with your camera on Bulb mode;


� In low light the shutter speed naturally needs to be long but during the day you will need to cut down the amount of light hitting the sensor. To do this you need Neutral Density (ND) filters to block the light. These range from 2 up to 16 stop filters, depending on how long you want to make the exposure;

� If you use a very dense filter like a 10 or 16 stop ND the camera may not be able to auto focus through it. Compose your image, focus then switch to manual focus so your focus is locked before adding your ND filter carefully onto the front of the lens. Alternatively use the AutoFocus Lock (AF-L) button to lock the focus;

� In order to calculate the exposure time needed use a phone app such as ND Calc or Photographer’s Tools to work out the exposure time according to your chosen aperture and filter (especially if like me math was never your strong point!);

� When the shutter is open make sure that you don’t risk any light leaks through the viewfinder by covering the back of the camera with a dark cloth of some kind;

� ND filters can cause some colour casts so shooting in RAW is recommended to make it easy to correct any colour shift in post-production;

� Long exposures can create noise in a digital image. You can set the camera to compensate with Noise Reduction switched on but this will make the camera take another image of equal length with the shutter closed to identify where there is noise. This can waste valuable time when you could be shooting – especially if each exposure runs into minutes! Noise reduction in programmes such as Lightroom is so good I recommend dealing with it in post-production;

� Use the lowest ISO you can to extend the shutter speed and use apertures of less than f/16, dependent on what depth of field you want (it may seem natural to stop down the aperture to extend the time but you can encounter issues with defraction and haloing if you do).

Photo Dawn Black - Rottemeren at Dawn ISO 200, f/5,6 , 200 seconds

Photo Dawn Black - Calm at Dovercourt ISO 100, f/11, 64 seconds

My usual routine is to set the camera up on the tripod, set the ISO to 200, aperture between f/8 and f/14, compose my image then take a test shot. If needed I’ll add a ND graduated filter to hold back the sky and even out the exposure then take another test shot. Once happy with my histogram I use this as the base exposure to calculate the speed I need with the ND I am using. Once I have focused the image I also switch to Manual focus so the lens does not hunt once the filter is on the lens. Only then do I add the ND filter, take my shot and wait for the magic to happen!


Photo Dawn Black - The Pepperpot, Bride Stones, Dalby - ISO 200, f/11, 180 seconds

Photo Dawn Black - Llandudno Pier - ISO 200, f/16, 15 seconds


Netherlands RPS Study Group – The Hague by Janet Haines ARPS A primary reason many people join the RPS is to attain their photographic Distinctions. These are staged assessments on panels of work at various levels of competency. When starting out this is a daunting task to try to do alone and unsupported; despite plenty of online support there is nothing like the personal touch. When living back in the UK Janet Haines started a group at her local photography club which she called the Study Group. This was opened up to other clubs and had around 20 people attending. Individuals wanting to do their RPS Licentiateship (LRPS) came to regular meetings and worked towards successful panels and achieved their Distinctions. Having moved to the Netherlands in early 2015 Janet decided that this same idea could be mapped across to a whole new group of individuals who wanted to achieve their LRPS level. So with the assistance of Dawn Black an email was sent out to people who we thought might be interested and 12 people decided they wanted to know more.

Photo: Dawn Black

At the inaugural meeting Janet showed several successful LRPS and ARPS (Associateship level) panels, explaining how to put a panel together and the various elements the assessors will judge against at the final Assessment. All 12 attendees felt that with help and support that gaining their LRPS or ARPS was both achievable and a good goal to aim at. In the past Janet has found that everyone attending a Study Group and taking their various Distinctions, at any level, finds that the quality of their work noticeably improves. Having clear goals and targets to aim for gives them focus and the big bonus is the pride in knowing that they have the magic letters LRPS or ARPS after their name when they succeed.


But as Janet is always very quick to point out – it is NOT only about the letters after your name, it is far more about setting yourself a challenge and working steadily towards it. You do not have to compete against others. You take as long as you need, or do it as quickly as you like. The group concluded the meeting by agreeing a monthly meeting to be held at the PhotographySchool.NL facilities in Den Haag. Janet will continue to guide them and assist them to put together their panels at both L and A levels. In February the BeNeLux Chapter is privileged to have Roy Robertson coming along to their meeting in Brussels and as an RPS Distinctions Assessor he will give the Study Group members the benefit of his knowledge as to whether they are ready to go straight to final Assessment or indicate where more work is needed. Anyone can join the Study Group, whether an RPS member or not. So if you missed the first meeting then do not worry, we are flexible and can accommodate new members at any stage as this is a rolling programme. So if you want to join then do contact Janet Haines on 0031-(0)6-44474144 or email [email protected].

Photos and hanging plan: Rosie Mathieson LRPS (member UK Study group)


Any questions?

RPS eJournal BENELUX chapter issue 1 Autumn 2015

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Transcript of RPS eJournal BENELUX chapter issue 1 Autumn 2015