Update on Yorkshire BIPP

Back in December, I floated the idea of BIPP activity local to South Yorkshire. Since then, I've been going to meetings in Selby most months. The drive can be a pain, expecially when it takes me 50 minutes to get to the M1 from my home on the other side of Sheffield. But it's been well worth it.

The meetings are advertised on the regional website, as well as via email. I've found them really helpful. Most of the presentations have been skills-oriented, which has suited me as I've still so much to learn. There's a very friendly and supportive atmosphere, with informal discussion and networking during breaks and continuing after the meeting's been formally closed. The committee, experienced and busy photographers, obviously put a lot of effort into putting on stimulating and productive meetings. And they must find the attendance levels and feedback they get very rewarding.

For example, there have been two presentations on off-camera flash for outdoor portraiture, one by Clare Louise using Speedlites and another by Steve Howdle, using Elinchrom Ranger Quadra kit. Taken together, these gave lots of practical guidance and inspiration.

Most recently, there was an excellent full-day workshop on Photoshop retouching of portraits by Dave Wall. He's a very engaging speaker, witty, friendly and informal, and explains things very clearly. His teaching methods are very sound, including frequent admonitions against writing things down whilst he's demonstrating them, with promises to repeat instructions specifically for the purpose of everyone writing notes on a process before he moves on to the next item. He covered a lot of ground and seemed to satisfy participants with varying levels of knowledge of Photoshop.

Most of us brought our laptops and Dave passed around pen drives with the images we were to work on. The committee had set us all up with trestle tables and power extensions to make us convenient workstations.

It was especially helpful to see how to make subtle changes to an image rather than "overcooking" them. I did find it ethically challenging, though, to be invited to make changes that the subject would not be aware of, but which would leave them feeling better about themselves (e.g., by having their width reduced by 5%). I couldn't help wondering whether this doesn't reinforce potentially damaging ideas that people need to be seen as thinner than they are in order to feel acceptable. Is it OK for us photographers to encourage our clients to subscribe to the potentially unhealthy "size zero" norm of thinness?

Dave took us through the process of whitening a white background by masking off the subject. I'd read this up before but had never seen such a clear, thorough and systematic demonstration. I have since found this a promising tool for unpainted background areas of my reproductions of watercolour paintings or botanical illustrations.

I made a point of spending much of the following day reviewing my notes and trying out the techniques Dave had presented. This went very well. I was able to reproduce nearly all that Dave had presented without difficulty, testimony to his first-rate skills as a teacher.

Altogether an excellent event, for which I'm very grateful to Dave and to the committee for organising it so well.

Although the Owl at Hambleton (near Selby) is a very suitable venue -- comfortable enough without being too plush or pricey, unpretentious but well-prepared meals at reasonable prices, and very convenient for the motorway network -- the committee are interested in reaching out to members based some way away, such as South Yorkshire. This might be by putting on additional, local meetings. I said I'd ask around for ideas re possible venues. Any ideas, fellow-members from South Yorkshire?

Now I'm a Qualified Photographer: So What?

Does it matter whether a photographer is qualified? Some people seem not to care one way or the other. Some photographers say they can get work without bothering with formal qualifications, based on word of mouth and the quality of what they've done before. Just as some customers have told me that all that matters is personal recommendation, and whether they like the person's previous work.

But coming to it after a career in another profession, where qualifications are absolutely essential, I felt differently. I wanted to demonstrate an assured level of competence, recognised by a respected professional organisation. So I looked into the UK organisations that offer qualifications. The one I chose was the British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP). This is solely concerned with maintaining and improving professional standards, developing skills and encouraging continuing professional development, facilitating communication in the photographic industry, and safeguarding the future of the industry. It doesn't function as a commercial trade organisation. It does genuinely seem focused on improving members' skills. It doesn't hard-sell goods and services to its members. It also appears to have the most rigorous and systematic assessment processes.

The entry level qualification is Licentiateship. This represents an established level of skill and competence. It requires you to present a panel of 20 images (preferably mounted prints) that demonstrate: composition, control and lighting of the subject; and sound technical competence. The images have to fall within a specific category of photography: mine were Press & PR. A Working Profile document is also required, which describes your working methods in general as well as specifically in relation to each of the submitted images.

I've been favourably impressed with the processes involved. BIPP offers one-day training courses to candidates at reduced rates. It also offers candidates free mentorship from senior members (BIPP Fellows). Regional meetings provide opportunities to share your work with other members and get useful advice. The judging of submissions is carried out by three Fellows, who examine the images before inviting the candidate in for feedback. I found this very informative, with the strengths and weaknesses of individual images very trenchantly described. I got really useful advice on how to develop my skills and my style of work. It certainly felt rigorous, anything but a walkover. I felt I could easily have failed to pass, had I worked any less hard on the images I submitted.



Here's an image the judges said nice things about. They liked the composition with its use of the windows into the atrium beyond. It shows artist Cynthia Harrison at Bank St Studios in Sheffield and was part of my commission to photograph artists' studios for Open Up Sheffield in May 2008. More of these images are on my website.

So now I'm a qualified photographer. So what? I do feel anyone employing a photographer would be well-advised to choose someone qualified with BIPP. And also that I've been validated, through a process I found well worthy of respect, as having shown myself competent. I'm also encouraged to pursue my development as a photographer, to aim in due course for the next level of qualification, BIPP Associateship.