The Eric Deeming Story
Having been made redundant and deciding to take early retirement I was looking for projects to do. As a member of the Royal Photographic Society I decided o make a submission for my LRPS.
I started by seeking the advice of Malcom Kus ARPS EFIAP/B, who pointed out certain criteria to look for when putting a panel together. As they are looked at as a panel you need slides that are of the same exposure, or they need to start dark, go light (not overexposed) and finish dark. The slides need to be sharp and well presented (remounted n clean mounts and spotted with name and title.
You need to look for slides to open the panel that are looking from the left to the centre and to close the panel with sides that are looking inwards. The slides do not have to be ones that have been in exhibitions, but should be ones that hold together well both in content and exposure.
The first task was to get as many slides as I could because the criteria called fora knowledge and competence with camera techniques and I was advised to sort out 50 slides from which to make my final selection. After many hours of sorting and changing around the panel and with the deadline for the submission getting closer I asked Malcolm to come round and help with the final selection.
This is allowed as long as you put the name of the person on the paperwork. After an evening of debate we agreed on the panel to be submitted. We changed one slide from my original selection often. All the shots except one were taken on Konica film. The ‘odd man out’ was Fred Hanks which was shot on Jessop’s colour slide material.
The final selection was:
1. Stonehouse and Evans: taken at a niotocross meeting at Brownhills, Staffordshire.
2. Eddy: taken at Scarborough where they race around Oliver’s Mount.
3. Austrian Transport: taken on a walking holiday in Austria.
4. Rosebay Willowherb: taken on a walk along our local canal.
5. End of the Day: taken on holiday at Fuschl in Austria.
6. Evening Reflection: Again taken at Fuschl.
7. Sunset on Lake Fuschl: Again taken at Fuschl.
8. Running Water: Taken at Pystell Rhyde Waterfall in Wales.
9. Fred Hanks: Taken at Mallory Park. The club of which I am a member holds a competition in which each member takes 2 shots with a Cosmic camera. This was one of mine that year.
10. Red Racer: Taken at Oulton Park.
After packing the submission and sending to the Royal Photographic Society, you receive by return a slip informing you that they have received your submission. It is then kept in the sealed envelope until the day of assessment.
You then wait until the day you pick up from the mat the letter from the Royal with your name on it - "E. Deeming, LRPS". Without opening it you know you have obtained your goal which started many months before.
Since submitting my application the rules have changed. You now have to submit ten slides on a theme, as you do with the ARPS and FRPS.
