Now available as a download a completely self- explanatory  guide to assist anyone wishing to gain an Associateship Distinction.  Although specifically aimed at Natural History photography, it should also provide useful guidance to any prospective Associateship applicant.

The whole process of preparing and submitting an application is described, with plenty of advice and suggestions of how to work towards a successful submission.  There is a large Tutorial section designed to give you an understanding of the characteristics of a successful Natural History photograph by looking at a series of images and making an assessment of each, which can then be compared with the right answer.   You can exercise your own judgment in making up a possible Associateship submission from a set of images on a lightbox, and comparing this with the set which was actually approved as successful.  You can also try your skill at presentation – take a set 15 images which were successful and see if your layout matches the original.

There are several recently successful portfolios to view, each with their hanging plan and statement, and you can also download an application form and the comprehensive Distinctions Handbook which sets out the criteria and requirements for the Distinctions.

Obviously we cannot guarantee that you will be successful in your application just because you have worked through this guide, but once you have been through it, you should have a good idea of what is expected and we very much hope that you will both learn from and enjoy it.

Click here to download the Interactive Natural History guide