Firstly, a big welcome!
it’s great news that you are thinking of joining, or have joined our society!
We are a friendly club, covering a range of levels, aiming to help members enjoy their photography, share their work with like-minded people and improve their skills.
This guide will hopefully provide a useful introduction to the club. If you have any questions not covered here, please don’t hesitate to ask any committee member, or send an email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
2023/24 season:
We meet every Monday from September to May* in the old schoolroom.
(*If you bring your own cup, we will provide the tea and coffee for free)
@ 7.45 pm for an 8 pm start.
*as well as at various other times and places through the summer months
(see our programme for details)
- Click here for new members guide
- Click here to see who does what (photos)
- Click here for the seasons program
Membership in brief:
Non-members are welcome to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
to ask and learn about our society and whether it might be for you.
If you might be interested in joining you are very welcome to attend an event without any commitment.
Membership of the society, which runs from September to September, is £70*
(*£35 if joining from January)
Please fill in THIS form and bring it along, payment is to :
RPS*: Sort Code: 20-88-13 (Barclays) Account Number: 93883086,
(*please use your name as the reference)
(or email the form here: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you find that easier)
*This averages out at about £2 a meeting, with free tea and coffee provided*.
(*We are asking that you as members bring your own cups to keep the costs down. If you forget and need a paper cup we would ask for a donation into the honesty box, 40p is recommended).
We have a full programme of activities throughout the year.
Membership entitles you to :
-
Attend meetings at the Reigate Centre on Mondays (from September to May ) – which cover competitions and presentations from external experts.
-
Join any zoom meetings held by the club.
-
Join courses and take part in our mentoring programme for beginners and improvers.
-
Be assigned a dedicated mentor on request.
-
Gain access to our web tuition pages.
-
Get advice on attaining photographic distinctions with the Royal Photographic Society and other bodies.
-
Join our monthly themed competitions.
-
Attend monthly trips with other members to places of photographic interest.
-
Attend our monthly meet-up at Denbies (near Dorking) on the first Saturday of each month.
-
Take part in all print and digital image competitions (with separate classes for beginners and advanced photographers).
The membership covers the full spectrum of abilities from beginners to photographers of renown.
Beginners soon find that experienced members are very willing to advise and give help.
Reigate Photographic Society New Members Guide
Some useful links for new members:
- A programme of all Club events.
- Monthly meetup trips.
- Monthly themed challenges.
- Joining form.
- Competition Rules.
- How to submit entries.
- Club Constitution.
- Data Protection Policy
Who does what within the Society
(with pictures, some of which have links to pages if appropriate)
Nick Rogers – Committee Chairman, usually starts off the meetings (and has keys to the hall).
Tim Markey - Committee, Contact for new members.
Stephen Hewes – Committee, Secretary and coaching contact.
Modesto Vega - Committee, Treasurer i.e. the man who holds the purse strings
Colin Hodsdon – Committee, organiser of the annual exhibition and also our displays at various locations (like the Belfry shopping Centre).
Paul Renaut - Committee, Programme organiser(can also start off the meetings sometimes, has keys to the hall) and
Louise Barker – Committee, together with Paul organises the main programme for the season.
Rob Tweed – Projection team leader and PDI display software developer
Steve Farrington – Committee, Competition Secretary – ensures that Reigate’s best images are entered into external competitions.Steve also looks after all our print competitions
Geoff Loughborough – Monthly trips organiser
Jill Flower – Committee, Webmaster.
John Gall - Coaching/mentoring co-ordinator.
Pete Welch - General assistant
…and other key people
- Steve Lawrenson – Steve is our representative in the Surrey Photographic Association (SPA), a SPA judge and sometimes wise council.
- Don Morley – is also a SPA judge and ex-professional photographer.
Our Fellows of the society, recognised for their long-term support of the Society are:
- Don Morley, Steve Lawrenson, Carol & Lester Hicks
And lastly, all our other members for their support.
We naturally encourage involvement in club life which for example includes taking turns serving refreshments and ‘stewarding’. ‘Stewarding’ means opening and setting up the room and locking the room at the end of the evening. It sounds daunting but other members muck in to help, so you are not left to do it alone.
As well as the weekly meetings, there are the monthly Denbies Natters, where folk meet informally at Denbies café on the first Saturday of each month at 10:30 for a couple of hours, to have coffee and chat about ‘stuff’. This is a great way to meet other members.
Finding your way around the season’s programme
The season’s programme is a varied mix of competition evenings, visiting speakers and social sessions.
Paul and Louise aim to have external speakers cover diverse topics each season so that there is something for everyone.
The programme is available here: RPS programme of events .
If there are any topics or speakers you would be interested in, please let Paul and Louise know.
There is also an ‘Extra events’ programme of activities in addition to the regular Monday evening meetings.
Details are available here: Monthly Trips
This listings, available on the programme of events page of the Society’s website, with updates also provided to members during the year.
Coaching/Mentoring Service
The Society offers a coaching/mentoring service to help members improve their skills, or address specific subjects.
More details may be found here: Coaching programme
Speak to Stephen Hewes or John Gall for more information. Or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Competitions.
We run several competitions during the year, giving members a chance to show their work and also receive constructive feedback. We have a multi-round competition which runs through the year and then some other, more focused competitions such as the one-day Chatham challenge, and the set-subject competition.
Our main competition runs throughout the year, comprising four rounds with members able to submit up to 2 entries in each ( Three if you are in Academy) . The competition covers three categories – colour print, mono print and Projected Digital Image (“PDI”).
There are two sections in the competition: A point-scoring section for a marked assessment including technical aspects, and a critique section for those who wish to have their images assessed as the ‘judge’s selection for a gallery wall’ (with no points awarded)..
The marked competitions are judged by Surrey Photographic Association judges, with entries marked out of ten. Marks are accumulated across the year with trophies awarded to the highest in each class.
As you’d expect, we need to have some rules, and these can be found here: RPS competition ruless
There are also notes on how to submit PDI entries that can be found here: How to submit PDI entries
What’s important to bear in mind is that there is no compulsion to enter competitions until you feel you are ready. Many new members prefer to listen to judges' opine on other people’s work and get advice from members before submitting their own.
If you want to have an idea as to how your images would get on in competitions, you will find that most existing members will be only too happy to provide feedback and encouragement! We do occasionally run a New Skills group whereby members can present images for informal review before entering them in competition or bring them to one of our Denbies meetings. You’ll also find some tips on how to improve your images at the foot of the competition rules webpage.
Club trophies and their current custodians
< TBA >
Other Photographic Events
You may hear reference to Surrey Photographic Association events during the season which the Society may participate in. These are:
- Rosebowl Competition
The Surrey Photographic Association (SPA) organises this and the Society usually submits an entry. Members may be asked to submit digital images for consideration by a selection team of willing volunteers. Five digital images are required to be submitted, each one being from a separate photographer.
- Albany Cup Competition
This competition is for a panel of four prints, which are judged both separately, and as a cohesive panel. A selection team will decide on the format of the entry and will collate the Society’s entry.
- SPA Inter-Club Competition
The Surrey Photographic Association organizes two inter-club competitions, where our Society’s Selection Panel chooses a pre-determined number of prints and digital images from work submitted for the Annual Exhibition competition. The competitions take place as one event for prints and another for PDI’s, both with silent judging. Silent judging is where the image is displayed, and three judges give a mark electronically, so there is no feedback on the image, nor any indication of its source club.
Equipment
- Canon Cameras
The Society had an association with Canon, and some years back we were given two cameras for members to use. These are an EOS 30D and an EOS 450D, with either a 17-55mm or 18-55mm zoom lens. These cameras can be borrowed by members and can be helpful in deciding if the Canon system, or indeed a DSLR, is right for you. You may need to ask around to locate who currently has them.
Society Constitution
Unsurprisingly the Society has one – it can be found here: club-constitution
July 2023
Comments powered by CComment