20-A Family Viewing-Nick Hopwood

About Rushcliffe Photographic Society

Meet the Committee
A Brief History
Affiliations

About us

We meet every Monday evening at 7:30pm from September to June at the Tollerton Methodist Church in Tollerton. Our membership includes enthusiasts of all standards from absolute beginners to more experienced photographers as well as some professionals. Our programme for 2024-25, includes social events, practical and technical evenings, competitions, outings and much more.

Rushcliffe Photographic Society is affiliated to the North and East Midlands Photographic Federation (N&EMPF), and through them to the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB).

From its early days in 1978 with just 14 members, the Society has become one of the fastest growing photographic clubs in the East Midlands region. With a membership of 75 to 80 enthusiasts from the Rushcliffe and district area, the Society is now also one of the largest in the Region and fulfils its objective of increasing the appreciation and enjoyment of photography. A growing number of our members have gained distinctions with the Royal Photographic Society and PAGB and have also achieved successes in national and international competitions.

Special Interest Groups

The Rushcliffe Photographic Society committee offers supported activities within a member development structure that enhances our members’ skills and enjoyment of their photography.  We now have the following groups:

The Chair's Welcome 2025 - from Andy McDonald

Welcome to the Rushcliffe Photographic Society

I am very pleased to welcome you all to our 2025-26 season. We will continue having most of our meetings face-to-face, with additional speakers on Zoom which allows us to reach further afield for our speakers.
We are happy that we can continue to meet in the Tollerton Methodist Hall, and we hope to be able to continue meeting there once the building sells.
During our new season the club will be offering the following:

  • Club competitions, split between projected and prints with external judges.
  • Talks across a range of genres, from renowned photographers.
  • Instructional Evenings covering a range of techniques and processes.
  • Practical and Outdoor Shoot out evenings.
  • The Special Interest Groups continue covering the following:
    • Monthly Projects
    • Monochrome
    • Studio
    • Development and Distinctions
    • Video

We will also be arranging exhibitions in local venues; I encourage all members to submit some pictures as this is a great way to showcase your photography. Our club has a great ethos, of encouraging members to get the most out of their photography, regardless of their experience level or equipment. A lot of hard work goes into this. The individual committee members work tirelessly throughout the year to ensure that the current season’s activities are run whilst also planning and preparing the next year’s season. I also want to highlight the dedicated volunteers from the wider membership who look after all the special interest groups, organising and setting up the exhibitions, Zoom recordings, Facebook pages, trips away, other meeting opportunities and of course the setup and facilities on our meeting nights (including refreshments of course). For this year I would be remiss to not mention the amazing work done on the Group Projects – the results really are stunning and it is wonderful to see so many members represented across those projects.

On a personal note, I would like to thank Jim Voce and Edward Goodwin (who have stepped down from the committee) for their service to the club whilst welcoming Trevor Lax, Simon O’Halloran, Jezz Richings and Stuart Senior on to the committee. But I would also like to thank all of you as the members for your support which is essential to the continued success of our club.

Finally, please remember that the Society is run for its members, so I encourage you all to share any suggestions or ideas about the club. I also hope that you all take opportunities during this season to share some photographs whether by entering competitions, submitting for exhibitions (including N&EMPF), through the Special Interest Groups, on our Facebook pages or by contributing to the member run sessions we have during the year. Please reach out to me or any of the other committee members if you need any assistance, advice or just to get a second opinion.

Andy McDonald ARPS