A1:3 Technical Skills - Over view

Technical skills (Pass) ; You need to show that you understand why you choose to select and manipulate media, materials and techniques and processes to produce your work. You have to demonstrate some awareness of how these choices made relating to your selection and manipulation of media, materials and techniques and processes impact on your outcomes (Images). 

This is best evidenced in your plans, explaining why your choices of media, materials and techniques and processes is suited for your intended outcomes (Photos). Your reasons and whether this has worked out can then be reiterated in your Reflections. 

Another method might be to use Stand-alone pages...

These are pages within your work where you can evidence your knowledge about technical aspects of your work. The section here in this suggested layout high-lighted in blue, is the written content that directly addresses the assessment criteria.

You'd explain why in the context of your work you'd use your shutter speeds and how this impacted on your outcomes. 

These stand-alone pages can potentially be used and re-used where appropriate as you go through the course in future projects provided they're added to and improved each time as you modify them for the new project. *You can't simply copy them without contextualising them with the new project and demonstrating further more advanced knowledge. 

Technical skills include...

• Camera handling
• Using appropriate...
• White Balance
• File type
• File size
• Field of view
• Focal length
• Shutter speed
• ISO
• Background
• Rule of thirds
• Exposure
• Composition
• Aperture- Depth of Field (DoF)
• Lighting
• Drawing/Sketching/diagrams
• Posing and organising models
• Constructing narrative (Image + BG + symbol + involvement = Picture) 
• Post production - 
• Filing
• Saving
• Work-flow
• Photoshop
• Sharing/distributing images
• Mixed media and creative post production
• Printing, presenting, mounting and framing
• Studio Skills
• Lighting - Flash
• Lighting - continual light sources
• Reflectors
• Diffusers
• Modifiers
• Lighting subject
• Lighting background
• Multiple light set-up
• Point light
• Diffuse light

Technical skills

How do you record technical skills within your work? The higher grade Assessment criteria describes the following key indicators...

·         Accomplished selection and skilful application of media

Media relates to film, paper or digital methods of capturing images either at the taking stages or printing stages, as well as the preparation of the media in cases such liquid emulsion and other mixed and alternative media (Supports). At higher levels, the chosen approaches would enhance the final product and be coherent in terms of why they were chosen to reinforce aspects such as narrative. For instance, if your theme was to evoke a sense of decay an alternative approach might be preferable to using something such as shooting on digital media and printing on C-Type Fuji flex paper.

·         Accomplished selection and skilful application of materials

Materials relates to everything you use in the production of your work, from film and the chemicals you use to process it, to the make-up used for your models and the reflectors other studio materials required to create your images. Accomplished selection means, the choices you make are coherent and fit for purpose in the given situation. Skilful application relates to the evidence you provide, it needs to demonstrate skill and accuracy of execution in terms of the materials used.

 accomplished selection and skilful application of techniques

Technique, relates to how you do it... Your methods and which methods you choose to create your images and whether your approach shows skilful application. Examples of technique include – lighting, composition, viewpoint, lens choice, shutter speed, field of view, ambient light, studio light, diffuse light, tripods, hand held – every decision you make relating to the creation of the image is part of your technique. These choices need to make sense and need to be executed skilfully.

·         Accomplished selection and skilful application of processes

Process relates to a breakdown of the stages required to bring techniques together. Shooting with film is a technique, but it involves a multitude of processes. In order to produce excellent final outcomes, your processes require accomplished selection and application of the correct chemicals, timings, temperatures and combinations of all these and more. Skilful application of these processes results in high-quality outcomes.

·         Show thorough understanding of impact on outcomes

This relates to you understanding all the above feeds into your outcomes. As an example, this may be evidenced in your plans, you might explain your rationale for choosing to use any of the aspects above in relation to your intention. For instance; if you planned to produce images of new born babies dependent on who your audience/client and intention was, you could at the planning stage explain what media, materials, techniques and processes you’d use and why. This would offer and opportunity to Show thorough understanding of impact on outcomes. This understanding could then be further reinforced in your reflections reiterating the same points in conjunction with your images.

·         Ability to exploit them to meet intentions

This relates to the evidence within your work - both images and written content shows that you’ve been able to merge all the above to produce high-quality outcomes that meet your intentions. You said you’d do ‘A’ using ‘B,C,D and E’ to produce ‘F’ and the evidence in the form of your images and the supporting written content demonstrates this.

·         Technical competence sustained throughout development and execution

This relates to all of the above being evident throughout your work across all of the developmental stages from the start to the very end.