To those of you who have achieved a distinction at the Royal Photographic Society, LRPS, ARPS or FRPS, I salute you. I have just returned from an advisory day at their new HQ and would like to share my experience, and hopefully writing this will be cathartic because I am spitting feathers right now. To those of you who don't know, applying for a distinction involves submitting a panel of images which are assessed by a panel of judges without conferring with the applicant. There are however advisory days when your panel plus a few spares can be discussed and recommendations made about going forward after maybe making a few changes. I had an advisory session with a Fellow of the RPS a few weeks ago which went something like this: I like your overall panel, that works well. First image very nice, just lighten that bit; second image, love that, ready to go; third image ditto, fourth, change the colour balance; that spare is a really strong image just crop slightly and include, and so on. You get the picture, conclusion was make some processing tweaks and I should be ready to submit but as a precaution have one more advisory day first to make sure all the boxes are ticked.

So, to today. Fifteen people had booked for the 1015 to 1630 session; after half an hour of waffle we got started. Now anyone with an ounce of sense would have calculated that just 20 minutes per review had been allowed for but the first couple were conducted as if they had all the time in the world, chatting over minutae, swopping photos around, advising on printing techniques. Then a couple of digital submissions were up on a vast 13' wide screen and as it was the first time using the kit they took ages working out how to work it. By lunchtime I was pulling my hair out, guessing I would be one of the last to be seen.

After lunch it carried on as before, until with just forty minutes left and four more to see it was my turn, and they suddenly realised they were running out of time so my assessment was very rushed although we had all paid the same fee. Now, the same photos the previous advisor had liked and recommended this one dismissed out of hand as boring or with faults, so diametrically opposed opinions both on subject matter and technical quality. My submission of 10 + 6 spares was whittled down to 7 usable ones, and the rejects included one selected for Outdoor Photography magazine. But the main problem was I had printed on a photo lustre paper (not the advisor's favourite Photospeed, a definite mark down) and which the overhead lighting played havoc with, which apparently was my fault and not that of the poorly designed installation.

I came out furious that I had wasted so much time, effort and money, got completely opposing opinions and received no constructive criticism latterly other than to change my print paper, so the end of that particular line for me. Maybe I will feel different when I have come down off the ceiling but I doubt it.

The woods around here aren't great for the classic bluebell woodland photo, being either too sparse in bluebells and/or too many conifers, so the keen ones go miles for a decent shot. However I recently discovered some woodland a couple of miles away just outside Loxley which fits the bill, although it is private with warning notices. Luckily the road passes through the middle with a small lay-by so today with a mix of rain and bright spells I grabbed the camera and a couple of lenses with polarisers and parked up waited for the sun, and took some shots from the roadside. If we get a clear dawn, preferably with some mist, I will return for some more atmospheric shots. Anyhow here are a few from today.

By “van” I take you mean a campervan, which seems to me the most useful accessory after a tripod! Great images, I see why you grabbed the first one, and they get better and better as I scroll down especially the moody ones. Nice.

A beautiful set, thanks for the commentary. Those look like native bluebells too which is a bonus.

Sounds a bit weird, and probably beyond my Lightroom skills, but I might try toning down the green background to give the paint a bit more pop.

That’s why I took the long lens! One of the paint throwers jokingly threatened to tango me but I replied she would end up head first in her bucket. Thanks all for your comments, the day was a real mood lifter, like being in kindergarten again.

I missed out one of my favourite shots so put it in the gallery instead.

With all the negativity around Pentax tracking focus I had reservations about how today would work out, with the K1 + DFA* 70-200 f2.8. I needn't have worried! Here is a selection; first the lambs to the slaughter:



And now for the rest:

Oops, sorry, HD PENTAX-DA*11-18mm F2.8 ED DC AW, Pentax launch a couple of new lenses and I go dizzy with excitement! Anyway, to quote: "the latest model in the new-generation Star (*) series - a lens that provides exceptional image quality to be able to accommodate the super-high-performance digital cameras of the future..exclusively designed for use with PENTAX APS-C-format digital SLR cameras." So there you have it.

The just-launched DFA 11-18mm f1.4 lens gives the biggest clue yet for commitment to high end APS-C cameras, just read the press release.

That’s impressive.