Services

These services and events, except Scottish Salon which is open to anyone, are only available to the members of Clubs who are members of the Scottish Photographic Federation.  This includes the events and services of the PAGB and FIAP. No other Scottish organisation can offer you these services.

Who Can Join

For Clubs to be able to join the SPF they must be a camera club, photographic society, photographic club or photographic group with a published constitution and published program of events, united by a common interest in photography, meeting in person for mutual co-operation, education, entertainment or competition solely from a physical location within Scotland.

Although we cannot offer membership to Individuals there are many opportunities, activities and events open to Individual Club Members.

If your Club is interested in joining please contact the SPF General Secretary in the first instance.

Membership

As a condition of joining, as well as paying an annual subscription, you will be asked to supply a copy of your program and sign a declaration to say that you have a published constitution.

The SPF must, at all times, be provided with details of at least one club contact who will receive all mailings from the SPF - normally the club secretary. A second contact is advised, normally the competition secretary. Full details for one club contact must be published in our SPF Directory. We do not give personal details out to anyone out with the SPF.

Annual Subscriptions

A combined membership fee is charged for SPF & PAGB membership. As we are also members of FIAP, this also includes affiliation to them.

Our club subscription is charged at a ‘per member’ rate meaning smaller clubs pay less than bigger clubs. This is set annually at our AGM, and payable by the clubs, to the SPF Treasurer, by 31st Dec. Renewal details are emailed out to member clubs every November. Current details are available below.

New clubs are free to join at any time. Please contact the SPF Treasurer or SPF General Secretary for details.

2024 Membership and Subscriptions Changes due to Covid

*New Forms Now Available* The joint Annual Subscription for 2024 to the SPF (and PAGB) is at the reduced rate of £4.00 per member on completion and submission of the SPF Annual Subscriptions Form and payment, together with the SPF Membership Declaration Form by 1st January 2024.

Since 2016, it is now a condition of Membership that all Clubs require to complete a Membership Declaration Form annually at Renewal of Membership. This is to show that Clubs fulfil the following requirements outlined in our Constitution (and that of the PAGB) as follows –

“1.2 A Society may be affiliated to the SPF only if it is a camera club, photographic society, photographic club or photographic group with a published constitution and published programme of events, united by a common interest in photography, meeting in person for mutual co-operation, education, entertainment or competition solely from a physical location within Scotland.” - A full copy of our Constitution is available from this website (click here)  

Only Clubs who fall within this definition can be members of the SPF or PAGB, or compete in SPF/PAGB Competitions. If this causes a problem for your Club please contact the SPF Treasurer to discuss (contact here). The Insurance Brokers who the PAGB have agreed preferential rates for PAGB/SPF Clubs, have agreed this definition of a Club for insurance purposes and they will apply this definition to Clubs wishing to apply for Insurances. NEW - The Insurance company have also added 'virtual' Clubs to their Club definition wording. 

- Clubs must have paid and submitted their SPF Annual Subscription Form and SPF Membership Declaration Form 2023 with the SPF before renewing their Insurance with the PAGB's Insurance brokers to be eligible for this reduced rate. Clubs who do not renew their Membership with the SPF by completing these details by 31st December will not be able to take out Insurance under the PAGB's arranged preferential scheme. 

- No insurance cover is now included as part of SPF Membership, but preferential PAGB insurance rates are still available for PAGB affiliated Clubs through their SPF membership, including for MLI. The Insurance Broker for this is now Hive Insurance Services, please see full details under Insurances heading below.

Covid - Please see the following additional latitudes given for existing Member Clubs for 2024 relevant to this SPF Membership Declaration statement, who are currently only able to hold ‘Virtual’ meetings, which should be read in conjunction with the above.

For the purpose of this ‘SPF Membership Declaration Form’ (and our Club definition Constitution Item 1.2) we can confirm that Clubs who would normally meet in person ‘face to face’, who cannot do so due to Covid-19 restrictions (or other such similar causes), that are only able to meet using ‘Virtual’ means (e.g. using Zoom, MS Teams etc.), do comply with this Membership Declaration and Constitutional item, even if meeting programs are published to your members in a more ‘ad-hoc’ manner during this time. (You are however advised to keep good records of your events).

The PAGB have also confirmed this for PAGB affiliation. As the PAGB Insurance Brokers have changed their defintition to accept 'virtual' Clubs this does not present any problem from an Insurance perspective.

The SPF still require you to lodge a copy of your syllabus with us when submitting your Membership Declaration Form, but this is no longer an Insurance requirement.

Syllabuses can be submitted by email or paper but not simply a link to an ever changing website page. Please see below for more details from an Insurance perspective. 

Insurances

Through membership of the SPF you have access to competitive insurance arrangements for camera clubs and photographers, as part of the PAGB network of Clubs via the NEW Insurance Broker Hive Insurance Services since 2023. This Insurance Broker has agreed preferential rates of Insurance exclusively for PAGB/SPF Clubs.

All Premiums are now payable direct to the Insurance Broker, payment of Insurances must not be sent to the SPF.

Cover is arranged by the Club directly with the insurance brokers Hive Insurance Services on the PAGB arranged competitive rate. The policy continues to run from 1st Feb to 31st Jan.

Hive took over from Darwin Clayton in 2023. Hive Insurance is delighted to be partnering with the PAGB, providing their Clubs with comprehensive, straightforward and reliable insurance services. 

Three elements of cover -

  • Public Liability - This provides important cover aganist accidents and injury whilst attending club events 
  • Property 'All Risks' - This provides important cover against loss, theft or damage to club-owned or borrowed equipment 
  • Management Liability - This provides important financial protection for directors/officials of the club or federation against being sued in conjunction with the performance of their duties.

Note - The Insurers no longer require the SPF to hold a copy of your Club Syllabus, or any additional details of Club outings or meetings out with your normal meeting night. However, it is strongly suggest that clubs maintain some record of what they have been doing for at least 3 years as that is the time limit in which a claim under PLI can be made. Current advice is that club’s should have some form of risk assessment in respect of any events or trips they organise. Insurers have a much better line of defence against claims if such an assessment has been done. 

If you require assistance creating a Risk Assessment please see more details under the General Guidance area of this website in the area headed Risk Assessment a Rough Guide (click here)

Note - From 2020 no insurance cover is included as part of SPF or PAGB Membership.

2024 Insurances - Hive have now set up their new website (click here) to administer renewals for 2024, which is now live (Jan 2024). This website accommodates more flexibility to the amount of All Risks cover Clubs require by removing the bandings, and also giving options of single article limits, so that you don't have to pay for more cover than you require. A new member's area will be created allowing clubs to log-in and download their policy documents whenever required.

All Clubs with existing Insurance with Hive will automatically receive a renewal notice direct from Hive to the person who administered their Insurances last year. Renewal emails are now beginning to arrive from Hive (15th Jan 24) NB - You cannot renew more than 60 days prior to your renewal date.

Any new Clubs wishing to take out one of these Insurances please click on the above weblink.

Note on 2024 Rates - This year, across much of their portfolio, the insurer is implementing premium increases of between 7.5% to 15%. Most of it is down to inflationary pressures, some down to scheme performance hence the variances. On the PAGB scheme they have tabled the following regarding premiums: From 1 November 2023, an increase of 15% on Public Liability, and 10% on Management Liability and All Risk Cover. HOWEVER - in exchange for a 3-year tie, the insurer will commit to NO MORE increases for the following 3 years. What's more, with the changes being made to All Risk Cover and Single Item Limit which will enable clubs to choose cover that exactly matches their requirements - clubs will no longer be paying for 'excess cover'. So despite the increases of 10%/15%, some clubs may still end up paying less or the same as before. NB - The PAGB's 3 year tie with Hive does not stop Clubs deciding to go elsewhere in future years.

Please Note that to be eligible for these 'PAGB' Insurances you must already be a paid-up Club for 2024 in advance of the 1st February Insurance renewal date so please ensure you have sent us your payment by 1st January, otherwise your Insurance will not be valid.

Hive Quote and Buy new site can be accessed (click here)

 

Notes from Hive Insurance via the PAGB 2023 - Whilst the focus is generally on Public Liability insurance, which is a mandatory requirement from the PAGB, there are other plans you should consider that are designed to protect the club itself and those who run it, through to members and even equipment.

Firstly ‘Management Liability’, which is a very popular inclusion alongside public liability. This policy protects the club’s management team (chairperson, treasurer etc) against any errors or omissions which could land them with legal problems or disputes. Very often it could be an innocent mistake or error, but without Management Liability, the individual could themselves be held accountable for compensation and legal costs. And given that clubs are run by volunteers on goodwill, it’s no surprise why most clubs choose to include this form of protection for their management team. 

Another vital consideration is ‘All Risk’ cover which covers damage or theft of club-owned or borrowed property and once again most clubs have this in place. 

Lastly, for your peace of mind I just wanted to remind clubs that our insurance is sourced through AXA (NB - not all Insuarnces are via AXA please refer to Hive website for full details), a name most of us will recognise. They are a leading insurer in the public liability sector with a strong reputation for providing high quality cover supported by strong levels of customer service.

Note – the insurer prefers that you do not apply for your plan any earlier than 2 months in advance. So if your renewal date is 1 February, then please make your purchase from 1 December onwards. If you have already submitted your application please do not worry though, there will be no impact to your plan.

Our Quote and Buy site can be accessed (click here) - New Site 2024

You can also view the Hive Insurance Policy Schedule, or see more info on the Public Liability & All Risks Policy or Management Liability Policy by accessing the above webpage and scrolling to the bottom of the page where you will find links to all of these under the Important Documents heading immediately below the submit button.

Reminder - Clubs must have paid their SPF/PAGB Annual Subscription for 2024 to the SPF and submitted their SPF Membership Declaration Form 2024 with the SPF to be eligible for this Insurance with Hive Insurance Services. Annual Subscription and SPF Membership Declaration Forms require to be submitted to the SPF by 31st Dec 2023. Clubs who do not renew their SPF Membership for 2024 are not eligible to take out Insurance under this scheme.

e-Mailing Lists and e-Newsletters

Our member clubs receive regular emails containing information and details of relevant events. This includes subscription renewals, rule changes, event notifications and results.

In addition clubs receive both the SPF e-FLASH our own e-newsletter and the PAGB’s newsletter PAGB e-news via email. From time to time they also include offers from photographic supply companies, exclusive to our member clubs.

These e-communications combine to keep you updated with any information we think may be useful to your club members, as well as essential information. 

Please visit the SPF e-flash area (click here) for copies of this publication, and for the PAGB e-news website (click here) 

If you are not sure what the emails that come from the SPF look like, please download the PDF supplied below.

SPF Directory-Handbook

All member Clubs are provided with a copy of the SPF Directory-Handbook several times per year.

The SPF Directory-Handbook lists all of our SPF Member Clubs, SPF Judges and Lecturers, along with our SPF Executive. This is supplied as a link to an electronic PDF format booklet for either online use or as a printed booklet.

All of the SPF Clubs’ details are supplied to aid Clubs in organising or advertising events, between one another. We are also happy to promote events between Clubs from time to time via email, this website or our e-FLASH.  We retain this information securely and confidentially and we never divulge these details to anyone else. Re data handling, we are registered with the Information Commission and comply with all Data Protection requirements. The Data Protection Officer is Libby Smith.

Almost all of the SPF Judges and Lecturers contained within our SPF Directory-Handbook are willing to visit clubs for out of pocket expenses only, also included is information useful to running a club, correct procedures for booking Judges & lecturers, help and advice on organising digital competitions together with entering SPF competitions and details of what is allowed, as well as current definitions.

The PAGB used to supply a PAGB Handbook which contained Judges and Lecturers from all 15 Federations, together with additional information. The PAGB Handbook is no longer published and has been replaced by a PAGB Online Judges and Speaker's list as part of it's CES website*. SPF Club Committee members can register for access to this area to see and book Judges and Lecturers from any Federation. You can now also search the lists to see who will be happy to present 'virtually'.

PAGB CES Online Services inc replacement for PAGB Handbook

The CES holds information such as contact details and Club and Federation memberships. Since anyone in the world can create an account, account holders must be specifically authorised to access only the information they require for whatever status they have as a Club member, a Club officer or a Federation officer. We call these ‘approvals’, which must be requested, independently verified, and then managed over time.

The PAGB has produced a printed Handbook, once every two years, which has been delivered as one copy per Club. The Handbook contained a mix of content, such as contact details and procedures, but the majority of the content was the lists of approved judges and lecturers from throughout the PAGB. This made the Handbook vital to programme secretaries. This information is now held within the PAGB CES and is administered by the various Federations. So far the CES has over 600 judges and about 1000 lectures. More will follow.

With this on-line speakers register it is now possible for an approved CES account holder to access details of speakers without searching for the handbook, or wondering whether the information is still accurate.

So, what does ‘approved’ mean in this context? Just as the Handbook was available for use by any member of a Club committee or a Federation committee, the accounts in CES which can access the speakers’ contact information are those approved as a Club or Federation officer (committee member).

Now that the CES has evolved into a service delivery system, there is a real need for Club committee members to have a CES account with Club officer approval so that they can access services for their Club. There are still many PAGB affiliated Clubs which have no officers recorded in the CES. Those Clubs have effectively excluded themselves excluded from PAGB provided services until they have at least one account approved as an officer.

Please see the document below in the downloads area for more info and how to gain access to this service as an SPF Club Member or SPF Club Committee Member. Contact Libby if you require assistance as she also helps administer the PAGB CES site.

SPF Judges and Lecturers

The SPF maintains a list of individuals from our member clubs who are willing to give their time to visit our SPF clubs as SPF Judges and/or SPF Lecturers in person or in a number of cases 'virtually'. All SPF Judges and Lecturers are listed within our SPF Directory-Handbook. Club Committee members listed with us on our mailing list are automatically sent the link to a new version as soon as it becomes available. They can also request a copy from the SPF General Secretary, between updates being issued.

The PAGB used to supply a PAGB Handbook which contained Judges and Lecturers from all 15 Federations, together with additional information. The PAGB Handbook is no longer published and has been replaced by a PAGB Online Judges and Speaker's list as part of it's CES website*. SPF Club Committee members can register for access to this area to see and book Judges and Lecturers from any Federation. You can now also search the lists to see who will be happy to present 'virtually'.

The Judges and Lecturers listed in both the SPF and PAGB, unless otherwise indicated, charge no fee and agree to the standard arrangement for bookings and out of pocket expenses, as outlined in our 'All Things Judging and Lecturing' page of this website, and as outlined on the PAGB Website. The recommended maximum rate for car travel is set by the PAGB and SPF. 

Everything related to Judging and Lecturing for use by both Clubs and Judges alike is available from the dedicated webpage All Things Judging and Lecturing to visit (click here)  You can also contact the SPF Judges Liaison Officer (click here) or SPF Lecturer's Secretary (click here) or via the SPF Executive page. 

* More will appear here shortly re accessing the PAGB CES website and these lists. If you require assistance in the interim please contact Libby.

Judges Assessment Day

The SPF runs a Judges Assessment Day for those interested in becoming an SPF Judge. This is our opportunity to see prospective Judges in action, with a view to inviting a few new faces on to our SPF Judges list. We try to ensure this event is run annually.

Visit the 'All Things Judging and Lecturing' area for more details (click here) or contact the SPF Judges Liaison Officer.

Archive Donations

The SPF has archives of past competitions and photographs donated by Clubs and individual photographers over the years. Many of these were last on display when the SPF celebrated its Centenary. The SPF is very happy to receive donations. You can donate prints, transparencies or digital files, as well as any "historic records" such as catalogues or club syllabuses, newspaper articles about SPF member Clubs or Photographers for our SPF archive. If you have anything you think we may be interested in, Contact the SPF General Secretary in the first instance.

From time to time, we will highlight some of our Archive material in the 'History' area of this website (click here) to visit this area.

SPF Recorded Lecture Service

The SPF has archives of past competitions which contain presentations on a variety of subjects (mainly the Annual Portfolios Shows in recent years) . These are available to book from the Recorded Lecture Secretary, George Taylor for a nominal fee. 

Shows are available on, CD or DVD (or via WeTransfer if practical) and are largely as self executing P2exe files although more recent years are also available as MP4s. Shows available to book include past Scottish International Salons, PAGB Inter-Federation Competitions and SPF Annual Portfolio Shows.

Please use the booking form below, or contact George Taylor for details (Coming Soon)

SPF Medals

SPF Medals are available to purchase for your Club’s competitions, for end of year Annual Competitions or for Inter-Club events.

Silver and Bronze Medals are available for Club or Inter-Club use.

Gold Medals* are available for National or International events only (not for Club or Inter-Club Competitions) 

*Gold Medals must also be engraved before presenting. You are free to present Silver and Bronze Medals without engraving if you wish.

If you would like to order SPF Medals for your Club please download and complete the below Order Form (This superseeds all previous versions) following the below guidance. 

  • Please complete the below Order Form for the number and type of medals you require, noting the Gold medals restrictions.
  • P&P must be added to ALL Medal Orders at a rate of £4.50 for up to 8 medals i.e.  if you require 3 medals include P&P of £4.50; If you require 11 medals include P&P of £9.00  and so on.
  • Please send the completed Order Form together with your cheque made payable to ‘SPF’ to SPF Admin Assistant Joe Prior at the address supplied on the Order Form, not to the SPF Custodian, Tom Doherty.

If however you require any assistance or clarification as regards your SPF Medals Order then Joe can be contacted by email (click here)

Current Portfolio CD Shows

The Current SPF Portfolios shows are available to book as P2exe or MP4 self executing shows, supplied on DVD or via WeTransfer. Shows will be dispatched from 1st Nov annually.

A copy must be requested at time of entering the Portfolios competitions, or by completing a 'Request to View' booking form. Details can be found on the Portfolios page of this website (click here) Just scroll down to 'SPF Portfolios Shows' area for details of the current year.

PAGB Awards Workshops

The SPF runs PAGB Awards Workshops for those interested in gaining PAGB distinctions – BPAGB, CPAGB, DPAGB, EPAGB, MPAGB. We normally run up to 2 or 3 workshops a year. These workshops are free and are open to all SPF club members. They are also open to observers but must be pre-booked. See the PAGB Awards area of this website to find out more about PAGB Awards and our Awards Workshops (click here)