Paying for membership of RPS

philthejuggler

philthejuggler

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Phil
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Hi all

About 4 years ago I passed my LRPS and consequently joined the RPS so I could have the letters after my name.

4 years on I feel like I'm paying £10 a month for a magazine I don't read and letters after my name I don't especially use.

I do a few weddings a year so my profile on the wedding company's website could still mention I passed my LRPS.

Has anyone else got their LRPS and then dropped the membership?

Phil
 
I have not but do you think your client base are likely to be effected by the letters? Are they likely to know what they mean? Your portfolio may be better suited to your clients and attracting new work.
 
Some years back I was much more involved with a nearby local group (I was even for one year the "program secretary".......................FWIW I never submitted for my Licentiateship ~ always meant to but never quite got round to it.

With budget more limited now this will be on my list of cancellations unless I can yet justify keeping it going???

As for the distinctions in general, well the RPS is IMO one body that has proper peer reviews for getting the "letters" and like any examination there is the warm glow & prestige when you get them but heh life is too short these days ;)
 
Thanks for the replies - I only do a few weddings a year when the business owner gets a second booking, so it is really his portfolio that initially attracts clients I guess.

I really think it isn't worth the money for me - I have no intention of doing the ARPS at this time and I don't need to pay £10 a month to say I did pass my LRPS qualification.
 
I've thought about doing my LRPS panel.

Are you saying if you don't pay £10 per month you're not entitled to use the letters after your name?

Seems like a con if that's so.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
I've thought about doing my LRPS panel.

Are you saying if you don't pay £10 per month you're not entitled to use the letters after your name?

Seems like a con if that's so.
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I guess it's their way of a guaranteed income.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
I've thought about doing my LRPS panel.

Are you saying if you don't pay £10 per month you're not entitled to use the letters after your name?

Seems like a con if that's so.
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I think the experience of getting a panel together and then going for the LRPS was a valuable one, but the membership @ £10 / month is getting on my nerves as I don't read the magazine you get and I don't take part in any regional events.

Technically you are not allowed to call yourself 'LRPS' unless you are a paying member. Apparently in the past, if you ever let your membership lapse you had to submit a new panel!
 
"You are only entitled to use the Distinction as long as you are a member of The Society."

I can't see how this is enforceable though.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
I've thought about doing my LRPS panel.
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Likewise.

GreenNinja67 said:
Are you saying if you don't pay £10 per month you're not entitled to use the letters after your name?

Seems like a con if that's so.
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And likewise! I can't say as I'd looked in to it too greatly, aside deciding a direction I'd like to take, but that does seem odd.

Edit: yep, that is the case.
 
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I've been meaning to do mine for a few years now but never got around to it. With a little' un now too, time is scarce.

I have been asked recently to go to a local small group of RPS members and get the guidance I need to do my L. I would present a DPI panel as printing isn't my forte.

Anyway, I do have an issue that if you let your membership lapse, you can't use the letters anymore. That doesn't seem fair, as you earned then when you got them, they should be yours for keeps and leaving the Society shouldn't affect that. It has been preventative for me in the past.

Another route is the PAGB awards, if you get a distinction with them, it's yours, for life, regardless.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
I've thought about doing my LRPS panel.

Are you saying if you don't pay £10 per month you're not entitled to use the letters after your name?

Seems like a con if that's so.
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Most Letters after your name vanish when you cease membership.
 
st599 said:
If it's like CEng, you get sued for misrepresentation.
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@st599 is quite correct. Practising under false pretences etc. if you try it on. All my former professional societies' letters are defunct, apart from my degree, since retirement. And quite right too!
 
BrynBoru said:
@st599All my former professional societies' letters are defunct, apart from my degree, since retirement.
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This is the distinction I guess. They are as much a product of the membership as they are qualifications, whereas my degrees, certifications, etc are the latter.
 
bcjames said:
This is the distinction I guess. They are as much a product of the membership as they are qualifications, whereas my degrees, certifications, etc are the latter.
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Makes sense - maybe I should start reading the magazines!
 
Bill Blogs LRPG, MPH, TITS, OBW (Founder rmember of the knights of UK photo society great britain)

You can put what you like after your name.. depends on who your trying to impress.. Personally <<take note....... I can't see the point :)
 
I passed my 'ARPS' and 'ABIPP' in 1970 by submission of work in 'Scientific Applications' --- I found having the letters didn't get me any work at all when I became a local Freelancer in 1970 -- now of the others OR 'Staff Photographers' on the local newspapers had any 'Qualifications' at all -- membership of the National Union of Journalists was the one to have as on one paper when they 'worked to rule' the Reporters were not allowed to use ME or my Photos -- so a 'Staff photographer and NUJ member' would take my photos into their Darkroom and put them into the wash, then the dryer and bring them out an d give them to the Reporters as if HE had taken them -- then they got used !! When Maggie Thatcher 'Broke' the Unions I had no further trouble.
I have let my Membership of the Royal and the BIPP lapse now for many years as the SUBS went up horrendously
 
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It's the same with a lot, I'm a member of the Institute of Leadership and Management and therefore entitled to put MinstLM after my name, but actually more people have asked what it means/is for than have have said ah, so you're in The Institute, good stuff!

I won't be renewing again.
 
The thing is with these tings, unless you too are in the game, you won't have a clue what the letters mean. I'd always advise that they are a personal thing, and that achieving distinctions is only for personal gain rather than to aid in business etc. I've decided not to renew my RPS membership this year as I can't really afford to be throwing down £120 to use letters I haven't even achieved yet after my name.
 
I only joined the RPS when I submitted my ARPS panel, and have happily paid the subs ever since.

I don’t see problem with losing the right to the letters if you quit, it’s the same with my IET membership - I would no longer be able to use MIET CEng after my name. OK, so that’s a professional engineering membership that I use in my day job, but the principle is the same - no subs, no postnominals.

As someone has pointed out, the PAGB distinction is yours for life once you’ve got it.
 
my question would be ... how many of your clients even know what lrps stands for?
 
'Letters' can be a marketing tool if you use it, I do use it and it does make a difference

But that's not really what being a RPS member is about, having letters from a Pro body makes more sense if you really want them as a business tool

But if all you do with your RPS membership is read the magazine then you're really not getting much out of it or even trying to, so yes i can see why it looks expensive then

Dave
 
@DG Phototraining

Dave.

Please understand I'm not trying to be antagonistic here, but your moniker, and many of your posts, do confuse me mightily.

So, the RPS bit covers the photo, what covers the training?
 
I've been into photography since the late 1970s and know what the initials RPS mean, I also know what the initial ARPS and FRPS mean, but without doing a quick internet search I couldn't say what the letters LRPS mean, other than it being some sort of post nominal awarded by the RPS. Aside from that, most professional bodies only allow the use of their accredited post nominals if the accredited person remains a paid up member, if membership is in abeyance or lapses then the entitlement to use their post nominal is withdrawn. Some professional bodies offer the use of qualifying post nominals with '(rtd)' after them to denote retired members, usually at a much reduced membership rate.
 
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My grand father was a past tresident and fellow of the then IEE. he was later given an honory membership, which he could have used after he retired...but he never got round to retiring.

I was an early qualified member of the MPA. But gave it up when I took a non phographic position.

In some lines of work professional qualifications are necessary, but photography is not one of them.
 
simon ess said:
Except for "marketing" purposes

:D
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Any invented set of letters, preferably with a P and an F in them would work as well.

I knew a marketing manager, of a large company, with no qualifications, except for a degree in parapsychology,
He put NBQ on his business card.

( NO BL00DY QUALIFICATIONS)

He was later sacked, but that is another story. .. but if he had been any good at parapsychology he should have known it was coming.
 
DG Phototraining said:
But if all you do with your RPS membership is read the magazine then you're really not getting much out of it or even trying to, so yes i can see why it looks expensive then

Dave
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I've attended some local(ish) talks, took advantage of the free sig membership to join the Visual Arts group - because it appears to be the most active one in my area and at least one F from my club is one of the leads in it. After all what is the point in paying for something if you can't actively use it?I've even entered the online comps and tried to take part in the forum. But the forum is about as lively as a sloth on valium. I guess that's what comes with having an organisation whose demographic is mainly retired. Not knocking retired folks, just that they are less likely to be internet savvy or interested. The magazines are imho a bit meh. Some of the photography in them isn't exactly showcasing photography. I can still attend visiting speakers as a non-member. I wouldn't mind doing a distinction but I'm not interested in post nominals. In fact if I pay for another year it will be to do an L but as a hobbyist £135 for the membership + SIG is a lot of money for what is in effect an expensive magazine subscription and membership of a moribund forum. In fact the quarterly VA magazine is imho a much better product than the monthly one. Then when you consider that for a lot less I can subscribe to a couple of more specialised magazines, use this forum and still attend events I find it hard to see a reason why anyone would stay a member.

Please feel free to tell me what I'm missing or why £120 for a charity is reasonable? Especially when compared to say the National Trust - £64.80 entry to hundreds of properties, English Heritage - £54 400 properties, Devon Wildlife Trust - £34 50 nature reserves, etc. As well as the fact that they all do valuable conservation work and you can volunteer if you wish.

By comparison the RPS seems to not offer much, certainly for the money. People have mentioned other professional bodies and associations but they are often either a necessity or an aid to a career and membership is based on strict entry criteria. To join the RPS has no such requirement yet it's fees are much closer to professional bodies than those of charities. I can't understand why.
 
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simon ess said:
@DG Phototraining

Dave.

Please understand I'm not trying to be antagonistic here, but your moniker, and many of your posts, do confuse me mightily.

So, the RPS bit covers the photo, what covers the training?
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Hi bud

Nothing taken 'badly' here, but now I'm stuck wondering what your post is asking? Loving the irony of that lol

Happy to answer here or via PM if that suits you better :)

Dave
 
If it is not assisting in growing your business, ditch it.
If you believe it is of use, then retain it. Surely it is an expense you can use when submitting tax returns?
 
Wayne Els said:
say the National Trust
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Ah yes - the National Trust. I was in one of their lesser properties, having paid to go in, and raised my camera to my eye, upon which a warder stepped smartly forward and said that photography was not allowed. I challenged her to say why not and she coudn't answer. Anyway I was not best pleased. And as if you can police photography in the age of the smartphone! So the National Trust can get stuffed. Especially since much of their chosen remit is to preserve the grandiose excrescences of the aristocracy.

And yes - charities can have some virtue, but generally, I detest institutions. There's something smug about them - middle-aged, middle class, what have you. None of my forefathers had letters after their names and they were all hard-working, principled, ethical and liberal people.

RPS ....
 
droj said:
Ah yes - the National Trust. I was in one of their lesser properties, having paid to go in, and raised my camera to my eye, upon which a warder stepped smartly forward and said that photography was not allowed. I challenged her to say why not and she coudn't answer. Anyway I was not best pleased. And as if you can police photography in the age of the smartphone! So the National Trust can get stuffed. Especially since much of their chosen remit is to preserve the grandiose excrescences of the aristocracy.

And yes - charities can have some virtue, but generally, I detest institutions. There's something smug about them - middle-aged, middle class, what have you. None of my forefathers had letters after their names and they were all hard-working, principled, ethical and liberal people.

RPS ....
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I'm not a member of the NT or English Heritage but simply posted them for a cost/benefit comparison to the RPS.

I thought you can take pics in NT properties but you can't use flash.
 
I have been having this same conversation with myself over the last few weeks. I got my renewal letter through the other day. I did my LRPS a few years ago. I have been to a handful of events in my local area, aside from that there is hardly anything of interest going on in my local area. A lot of events all seem to be around HQ in Bath, which is a long way and even more expense to get to. I get the magazines and read them when I get chance but currently I am sat here a good 6 months behind. I really feel, and I am not trying to start an argument, but I feel its more aimed at the older person, with plenty of time and money on their hands.

Its £120 a year, then each talk at my local group is £10 a go, workshops are min £99 a go, distinctions cost a little bit, but what I am saying here is it mounts up and quickly.

At the point of writing this post and having thought a lot about it, I do not think I will be renewing my membership.

I really enjoyed the process of creating my LRPS panel though and its a worthwhile process for anyone to go through.
 
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I have my L with the BIPP and always question weather to leave or not . Ive never even considered using the letters after my name as it just shows I'm the least qualified you can be lol now if I had my F then maybe I would make use of the letters
 
antc said:
I really enjoyed the process of creating my LRPS panel though
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I can see the point of that - engaging with a challenge. It's all the rest, though ...

No doubt some people like having letters after their name, especially with the royal R in there ...
 
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