Tag: The Societies

The Socities of Photographers Convention 2017

Well yes, I agree the title does make it sound a little Geeky but it is one of the major photography events of the year. So what’s it all about?

It is Europe’s largest all welcome photographic convention and is held at the Hilton London Metropole Hotel near Paddington station.

The event is attended by photographers from around the world, amateur and professional alike. There is a huge choice of seminars, and workshops to attend.

The 20″x16″ Print competition is very popular and any merits in this competition are not to be sniffed at. The entries are high and the judging is very tough!

Aspiring photographers can also have a panel of images judged for either Licentiate, Associate or Fellowship Qualifications.

There is a tradeshow on Friday- Sunday where there are many exhibitors, from all aspects of photography. A great place to speak to suppliers, see what’s new on the market and get ideas.

On Saturday evening there is a Grand Awards dinner. This is attended by 500+ people and is a great social event.

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The Gold images from the year are displayed through dinner and the awards for both Trade and Photographer are presented.

Gold Image by Clive Hall. (Sadly the photograph of my Gold did not come out well)

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The individuals go up on stage to get their awards and have a photo taken after with trophies or certificates.

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My good friend Clive Hall having his photograph taken after receiving his Fellowship Certificate. Well done Clive.

A very enjoyable event. I am excitedly awaiting the arrival of my new backgrounds and have found some great new products for my customers. Looking forward to next years event already.

 

 

Gold Award

Really excited to have achieved a Gold Award this month in the Societies Monthly International Competition. Such a happy little dog and we had great fun in the studio getting her to stay in the basket and also get the head tilt.

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She came with a couple of her collie friends and the image I entered into the Monochrome category got a Highly Commended.

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Thank you for reading my post http://www.meltaylorphotography.co.uk

Mel Taylor LSWPP and QGPP

Putting things off until tomorrow is easily done. We all have busy lives and I am sure all of you have had good intentions to get things ticked off your must do list and still have not got round to it! I think two years ago I had this good intention to apply for Photography Qualifications. However, I got busy looking after the family, working, continually improving my skill and knowledge base to insure my images are of a good quality.

This year I figured enough was enough it was something that must be done and that applying for my first qualification was a good way to mark of my achievements and assure my customers and potential customers that the quality of my images are deemed off a good professional standard by the Fellow’s of the photographic societies that I belong to. There are a lot of photographers for customers to choose from these days in this digital age. So I wanted to assure my customers that I was a good choice for them, not only because they like my style but because my images are of a high consistent quality.

So at last I selected a panel of images and decided to use Dog Portraiture as my theme as this is one of the areas of photography that I am most passionate about.  My 20 images were submitted to the SWPP (The Societies), for my licentiate, the images are reviewed by a panel of four Fellow’s of the Society and I am glad to say that I passed with Flying colours!

digital photographer_0092I have also been awarded Qualified Status with the Guild of Photographers.

I am now planning the submission for my next qualification, but want to shoot new images for it over the summer months.

Thanks for reading my post and if you would like to see more images please go to www.meltaylorphotography.co.uk.

 

 

 

 

Highly Commended Images

The Societies, run a mothly image competition which photographers from all over the world enter trying to get the highest Gold Award. These images are then put forward for consideration for Photogapher of the Year, where the winners are announced at the European Photographic Convention held in London in January.

You are permitted to enter one image per category each month.

January 2015 entries have been judged and I gained Highly Commended for two images. These images will be re-reviewed at the end of the year but further judges an may be upgraded to Gold.

The first image was in the Pet Portrait Category.

 

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The second image was in the Wedding Photojournalistic category. This is the first time I have entered this category so was pleased with the result.

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To celebrate success in these competitions I have decided that for  my 2015 entries I will provide my clients with a Complimentary Mounted Print at 8″x6″ or 9″x6″ for any images that gain a Highly Commended and a 12″x8″ or 10″x 8″ mounted print for those that get awarded Gold.  A small thank you for allowing me to use the image.

The Societies Convention

Only a few days now until I will be off to The Societies Convention in London, Europe’s largest photographic convention. Photographers from around the world gather, both professional and armature to network, take advantage of the extensive training opportunities available, look at new products available on the market and gain awards.

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This year is particularly exciting for me as I was nominated for Photographer of the Year in the Category of Nature. The competition had over 12,500 entries.

So I will be going heading off to London with my posh frock on Friday and staying over for the awards dinner on Saturday night in the hope that I do well. I will also be taking advantage of some of the available training and am attending a full day workshop on Saturday.

Last year I had great fun and signed up for John Denton’s Safari evening. The images in the post were all taken on this Location Workshop.

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Nominated for The Societies’ Photographer of the Year 2014

This week I got great news that one of my Nature images, that gained a Gold Award with the Societies in July this year has been shortlisted for The Societies’ Photographer of the Year 2014. The Societies is Europe’s largest all-welcome association for the serious photographer.

I am thrilled to have been shortlisted for the award this year. We are blessed in and around Letcombe Regis to have wonderful  countryside and an abundance of wildlife. My nominated image of the Hare won a Gold Award in the Societies Monthly competition earlier in the year and was taken in Letcombe Regis early one morning in June this year.

I will be competing for the prestigious award of “Nature Photographer of the Year” and The Societies’ “Photographer of the Year,” with the winner being revealed at The Societies’ 2015 Convention Awards Dinner held on 17 January 2015 in London.

Please check out  www.meltaylorphotography.co.uk.