I had joined Hertford and District Camera Club in 1972, in an attempt to take my photography rather more seriously, and the Club's competitions were a good stimulus for new work. It helped when judges commented honestly on the prints, good or bad, rather than awarding an average mark to keep everyone happy. My darkroom technology at the time was basic: but dish processing 20 x 16 inch colour prints was fun, as was glazing them on a sheet of glass in the days before resin coated paper! / more...

 
I made a big effort to enter some of the better exhibitions, and surprised myself by being accepted in a few – the best possible morale boost. [24 acceptances among the above photos; details with the full size images]. I felt (and still do) that it was important to visit the exhibitions to compare my prints against the others under display conditions; sometimes I thought I'd done well, but other times I felt lucky to be there. The other important stimulus for me in the early '70s was joining the Royal Photographic Society and submitting prints for my Associateship – there's a separate RPS Associateship page about this.

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