What does photography as a discipline cover, and how do exposure, composition and editing become creative choices?
Photography and lens-based media: controlling exposure, composition and lighting, and developing images through darkroom, digital editing and photomontage.
An Edexcel A-Level Art and Design guide to photography and lens-based media. Explains how the exposure triangle (aperture, shutter speed, ISO), composition and lighting are creative controls, the genres of photography, and how images are developed through darkroom, digital editing and photomontage.
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What this dot point is asking
Photography and lens-based media is the discipline of making images with a camera and developing them. This dot point covers the creative controls (exposure, composition, lighting), the genres of photography, and how images are developed through darkroom processes, digital editing and photomontage. The key idea is that camera settings are creative choices, not just technical ones, and that selection and editing are where much of the AO2 and AO3 evidence lives.
The answer
The exposure triangle
These are creative controls, not just technical ones: each affects the look and feeling of the image.
Aperture, shutter and ISO as creative choices
- Use a shallow depth of field to draw attention to one overlooked detail.
- Use a slow shutter to turn movement into expressive blur.
Composition and lighting
Photography shares the composition principles of the formal elements: the rule of thirds, framing, viewpoint, leading lines and negative space all apply through the viewfinder. Lighting is equally creative: the direction (front, side, back), hardness (hard shadows from a point source, soft from a diffuse one) and source (natural window light, studio flash) transform a subject. Side and back lighting reveal texture and form; soft light flatters; hard light dramatises.
Genres and development
Photography spans genres: portrait, landscape, still life, documentary, photojournalism, fashion and experimental imagery. Images are then developed: through darkroom processes (for film), digital editing (cropping, tonal and colour adjustment, dodging and burning) and photomontage (combining images, as Hannah Hoch and the Dadaists did). Shooting many images and recording them on a contact sheet is primary recording (AO3); selecting the strongest and editing them is experimentation (AO2). Selection is a skill in its own right.
Examples in context
A model photography development would show a contact sheet of recorded shots, selected and edited images with annotated decisions about settings and composition, and a resolved personal outcome.
Try this
Q1. For a photography project on a theme of your choice, describe how you would use exposure, composition and lighting as creative choices, and explain how a contact sheet and editing evidence development. [14 marks]
- What the marker wants. Deliberate use of aperture, shutter and ISO for effect, considered composition and lighting, a contact sheet as primary recording (AO3), and selection plus annotated editing as experimentation (AO2), leading to a resolved outcome.
Q2. What does aperture control besides brightness, and how can it be used creatively? [4 marks]
- Cue. Aperture controls depth of field; a wide aperture blurs the background to isolate a subject, a narrow aperture keeps a whole scene sharp.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Edexcel 9AD0 portfolio task14 marksFor a photography project on 'the overlooked', describe how you would use exposure, composition and editing as creative choices, and explain how a contact sheet and editing evidence development (AO2 and AO3).Show worked answer →
The task rewards understanding of photographic controls as creative decisions and the role of selection.
Use the controls expressively. A wide aperture (low f-number) throws a background out of focus to isolate an overlooked object; a slow shutter blurs movement; composition (rule of thirds, framing) directs attention.
Show recording and development. A contact sheet of many shots is primary recording (AO3); selecting and refining the strongest, then editing them (cropping, tonal adjustment, montage), is experimentation (AO2).
Strong work treats the camera settings as deliberate choices that serve meaning, and shows a clear journey from shooting many images to refining a few.
Edexcel 9AD0 critical-analysis prompt10 marksExplain how aperture controls depth of field, and how a photographer might use this creatively.Show worked answer →
A question testing a core photographic control.
Aperture is the size of the lens opening, measured in f-numbers. A wide aperture (small f-number such as f/2.8) gives a shallow depth of field, so only a narrow plane is in focus and the rest blurs. A narrow aperture (large f-number such as f/16) gives a deep depth of field, keeping more of the scene sharp.
Creatively, a shallow depth of field isolates a subject against a soft background (portraits, a single overlooked detail); a deep depth of field keeps a whole landscape or scene crisp.
A strong answer defines aperture, explains the focus effect, and gives a clear creative use.
Related dot points
- Experimenting with media and techniques: testing wet and dry media, mixed media and processes purposefully, and combining them to serve intentions.
An Edexcel A-Level Art and Design guide to experimenting with media and techniques. Explains the range of wet and dry media, mixed media and processes, how to experiment purposefully rather than randomly, how to combine media to serve intentions, and how this evidences AO2 across the disciplines.
- Fine art disciplines: drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, mixed media and lens-based work, and the skills and processes each requires.
An Edexcel A-Level Art and Design guide to the fine art disciplines within Art, Craft and Design. Explains the breadth of fine art (drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, mixed media and lens-based work), the painting techniques and processes involved, and how fine art practice maps to the four assessment objectives.
- Composition and visual language: how shape, texture, pattern, scale and space are arranged using principles such as the rule of thirds, balance, focal point, rhythm and negative space.
An Edexcel A-Level Art and Design guide to composition and visual language. Explains the remaining formal elements (shape, form, texture, pattern, space) and the principles of composition: the rule of thirds, balance, focal point, leading lines, rhythm, scale and negative space, and how artists arrange them to direct the viewer.
- Recording from primary and secondary sources: gathering first-hand (primary) material and selecting secondary sources, and combining them to build a personal visual resource.
An Edexcel A-Level Art and Design guide to recording from primary and secondary sources. Explains the difference between first-hand (primary) and secondary sources, why primary recording is valued, how to gather your own photographs, drawings and objects, and how to select and combine secondary sources responsibly.
- AO3: record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions as work progresses, reflecting critically, including through drawing.
An Edexcel A-Level Art and Design guide to AO3, recording ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, including through drawing. Explains what recording means beyond drawing, why first-hand observation matters, how critical reflection is evidenced, and how AO3 underpins the rest of the portfolio.
Sources & how we know this
- Pearson Edexcel A-Level Art and Design (9AD0) specification — Pearson Edexcel (2015)