External Awards
There are national and international bodies to which the Leicester Photographic Society is affiliated.
Our regional body is known as the Midland Counties Photographic Federation. It is one of 15 such federations in the UK. These in turn belong to the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain which is the body that co-ordinates photographic activities and competitions for clubs in the UK.
FIAP or International Federation of Photographic Art is the body to which national federations belong.
In addition to the in-house competitions, Leicester Forest Photographic Society encourages members to participate in national and international exhibitions and in doing so to gain recognition for their work and for the club. This also enables members to gain an understanding of the quality of work to which they may wish to aspire.
British Photographic Exhibition:
There are many exhibitions held around Great Britain, but about 12 of these belong to the British Photographic Exhibitions, Crown Award Scheme. These are held throughout the year and are open to all amateur photographers and club members. The exhibition is usually divided into sections; prints, slides and digital. These sections may be divided in sub sections; nature, colour and mono. Each photographer is invited to enter one or more sections with up to four images per section. There is a fee for each section entered to cover the cost of running the exhibition and to pay for judges.
The entries are judged by a panel of three judges who may give a score of between 2 and 5 using an electronic scoring system. Scoring is done without consultation amongst the judges. Usually a score of 11 or 12 will be accepted depending upon the number of entries and the standard of work. The criteria for scoring are as follows:
- in the judges opinion the image should not be in the exhibition
- the judge is undecided
- the image should be in the exhibition
- the image should be in the exhibition and be considered for an award
All accepted images will be exhibited and all entrants will receive a catalogue sometimes on CD regardless of success.
Gaining a Distinction:
For every acceptance 1 point will be awarded. Once 25 points have been accumulated an application can be made for a Crown Rating Award. This is free of charge and the letters BPE can be placed after the photographers name with the rating attached. Awards will be made after the following number of acceptances:
BPE1*...……………25 acceptances
BPE2*……………...50 acceptances
BPE3*……………..100 acceptances
BPE4*…………..…200 acceptances
BPE5*…………..…300 acceptances
There is no time limit to gaining these awards.
It is also worth remembering that an image which fails to be accepted in one exhibition may well succeed in a different exhibition with different judges and that images which have failed in one year may be re-entered in subsequent years. However, once an image has been accepted in an exhibition it cannot be re-entered in the same exhibition.
Fédération Internationale de l'Art Photographique
(FIAP )
FIAP exhibitions are held here in the UK and around the world.
Individuals and club members may enter these exhibitions in a similar way. It may be worth noting that some of these offer digital sections where images may be uploaded to the exhibition website and where fees may be paid by PAYPAL. The competitions are run and judged in a similar way to the BPE exhibitions.
There are a number of distinctions, which can be gained with acceptances in FIAP exhibitions.
AFIAP - Artiste FIAP
EFIAP - Excellence FIAP
MFIAP - Master FIAP
ESFIA - Excellence of Service
Hon FIAP Honorary Service
FIAP Award Criteria
The AFIAP award can be gained not less than 12 months after the first acceptance in a FIAP patronised salon 30 acceptances from at least 10 different images/works in 10 different salons in 5 different countries. Surplus acceptances/awards can be carried over to the EFIAP target which is:
Applications not made less than 12 months after AFIAP
150 acceptances including the 30 from AFIAP form at least 50 different works in 30 different salons in15 countries
5 awards including those from AFIAP
Royal Photographic Society Distinctions (RPS)
The RPS offers Licentiate, Associate and Fellowship awards.
Photographers need to submit panels of 10, 15 or 20 prints or slides respectively of the appropriate standard to achieve the distinction.
Photographic Alliance of Great Britain
Merit Awards (PAGB)
The PAGB offers three awards: Credit, Distinction and Master. To achieve this 10, 15 and 20 prints, slides or from 2009 digital images respectively are submitted to adjudication events which are held twice a year.
A certificate and badge are awarded. The judging is similar to the BPE awards but with a panel of six judges.
CPAGB: The photographer has achieved a good standard of club photography and supported PAGB events for 2 years – score 200 points.
DPAGB: The photographer expects these images to be accepted in open exhibitions such as the BPE and supported PAGB events for 3 years – score 300 points.
MPAGB: The photographer has achieved DPAGB, produces the highest standard of amateur photography and supported PAGB events for 5 years – score 450 points.
To view the PAGB website, click the relevant links from the External Links section on the right.
External Competitions:
Leicester Forest has many excellent photographers and their work deserves to be seen by others outside the club. We encourage members to enter external competitions and provide details below so you know what exhibitions are being held and how to enter.
Inter-club Competitions:
The Leicester Forest Photographic Society supports a number of local and national inter-club competitions and for this the support of members is needed by way of loan images of exhibition standard.
Our regional body is known as the Midland Counties Photographic Federation. It is one of 15 such federations in the UK. These in turn belong to the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain which is the body that co-ordinates photographic activities and competitions for clubs in the UK.
FIAP or International Federation of Photographic Art is the body to which national federations belong.
In addition to the in-house competitions, Leicester Forest Photographic Society encourages members to participate in national and international exhibitions and in doing so to gain recognition for their work and for the club. This also enables members to gain an understanding of the quality of work to which they may wish to aspire.
British Photographic Exhibition:
There are many exhibitions held around Great Britain, but about 12 of these belong to the British Photographic Exhibitions, Crown Award Scheme. These are held throughout the year and are open to all amateur photographers and club members. The exhibition is usually divided into sections; prints, slides and digital. These sections may be divided in sub sections; nature, colour and mono. Each photographer is invited to enter one or more sections with up to four images per section. There is a fee for each section entered to cover the cost of running the exhibition and to pay for judges.
The entries are judged by a panel of three judges who may give a score of between 2 and 5 using an electronic scoring system. Scoring is done without consultation amongst the judges. Usually a score of 11 or 12 will be accepted depending upon the number of entries and the standard of work. The criteria for scoring are as follows:
- in the judges opinion the image should not be in the exhibition
- the judge is undecided
- the image should be in the exhibition
- the image should be in the exhibition and be considered for an award
All accepted images will be exhibited and all entrants will receive a catalogue sometimes on CD regardless of success.
Gaining a Distinction:
For every acceptance 1 point will be awarded. Once 25 points have been accumulated an application can be made for a Crown Rating Award. This is free of charge and the letters BPE can be placed after the photographers name with the rating attached. Awards will be made after the following number of acceptances:
BPE1*...……………25 acceptances
BPE2*……………...50 acceptances
BPE3*……………..100 acceptances
BPE4*…………..…200 acceptances
BPE5*…………..…300 acceptances
There is no time limit to gaining these awards.
It is also worth remembering that an image which fails to be accepted in one exhibition may well succeed in a different exhibition with different judges and that images which have failed in one year may be re-entered in subsequent years. However, once an image has been accepted in an exhibition it cannot be re-entered in the same exhibition.
Fédération Internationale de l'Art Photographique
(FIAP )
FIAP exhibitions are held here in the UK and around the world.
Individuals and club members may enter these exhibitions in a similar way. It may be worth noting that some of these offer digital sections where images may be uploaded to the exhibition website and where fees may be paid by PAYPAL. The competitions are run and judged in a similar way to the BPE exhibitions.
There are a number of distinctions, which can be gained with acceptances in FIAP exhibitions.
AFIAP - Artiste FIAP
EFIAP - Excellence FIAP
MFIAP - Master FIAP
ESFIA - Excellence of Service
Hon FIAP Honorary Service
FIAP Award Criteria
The AFIAP award can be gained not less than 12 months after the first acceptance in a FIAP patronised salon 30 acceptances from at least 10 different images/works in 10 different salons in 5 different countries. Surplus acceptances/awards can be carried over to the EFIAP target which is:
Applications not made less than 12 months after AFIAP
150 acceptances including the 30 from AFIAP form at least 50 different works in 30 different salons in15 countries
5 awards including those from AFIAP
Royal Photographic Society Distinctions (RPS)
The RPS offers Licentiate, Associate and Fellowship awards.
Photographers need to submit panels of 10, 15 or 20 prints or slides respectively of the appropriate standard to achieve the distinction.
Photographic Alliance of Great Britain
Merit Awards (PAGB)
The PAGB offers three awards: Credit, Distinction and Master. To achieve this 10, 15 and 20 prints, slides or from 2009 digital images respectively are submitted to adjudication events which are held twice a year.
A certificate and badge are awarded. The judging is similar to the BPE awards but with a panel of six judges.
CPAGB: The photographer has achieved a good standard of club photography and supported PAGB events for 2 years – score 200 points.
DPAGB: The photographer expects these images to be accepted in open exhibitions such as the BPE and supported PAGB events for 3 years – score 300 points.
MPAGB: The photographer has achieved DPAGB, produces the highest standard of amateur photography and supported PAGB events for 5 years – score 450 points.
To view the PAGB website, click the relevant links from the External Links section on the right.
External Competitions:
Leicester Forest has many excellent photographers and their work deserves to be seen by others outside the club. We encourage members to enter external competitions and provide details below so you know what exhibitions are being held and how to enter.
Inter-club Competitions:
The Leicester Forest Photographic Society supports a number of local and national inter-club competitions and for this the support of members is needed by way of loan images of exhibition standard.
