The Certification Committee

The Certification Committee develops certification programs for areas of expertise. The first area of expertise that has come on line is Certification in Total Body Mapping. The program is a written exam, practical and interview process. It is different in the fact that each certification category is for only one type of photographic process. The Certification Program is flexible in that new categories can be formulated as the need arises. For more information on the Total Body Mapping Certification, click on the Total Body button.

Jeb Zirato
Chair, Certification Committee
jzirato@biocom.arizona.edu

The Registered Biological Photographer Program (RBP)

The Board of Registry of the BioCommunications Association managed the certification process for the Registered Biological Photographer Program (RBP). It was started as way to evaluate candidates in the field of biological photography. At the 2004 Annual Meeting of the BCA, the RBP program was closed to new candidates. There are 419 individuals who have completed the examination process and were certified as Registered Biological Photographers. The examination consisted of three sections, a written, a practical and an oral exam. The written test encompassed optics, photochemistry, photomicrography, photomacrography, theory of light and color, medical terminology, studio techniques and motion media. Emerging technologies such as digital photography, video, and image editing were added to the examination.

Upon completing the written exam, a portfolio of 30 assignments ranging from photomicrography to photography in the operating room, to portraiture and image editing was submitted to a committee of the Board for grading. Finally, each candidate was required to prepare an oral presentation on an area of their expertise and examined by a panel of the Board on any topic associated with biological photography. After completing the exam process, the candidate was certified by the Board of Registry as a Registered Biological Photographer.

The change in many work environments altered the way many people worked from an all inclusive approach to skill specific tasks. The Board of Registry was reorganized in 2004 as the Certification Committee of the Board of Governors to be able to better address the need for certification.