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Imagery Technician

Non-Commissioned Member | Full Time, Part Time

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    • Overview

    Imagery Technicians (Image Techs) in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) are visual media specialists. They operate a wide range of imaging equipment and products, providing still and video coverage to support CAF training, operations, public affairs, investigations, and internal communications. Their main tasks include operating cameras, producing images and videos, performing quality control, and maintaining imaging equipment.

    The primary responsibilities of the Image Tech are to:

    • Produce still and video imagery;
    • Use infrared, Image Intensified, and thermal imagery equipment;
    • Create various products utilizing imagery applications;
    • Download image data from sensors to ground facilities;
    • Catalogue, describe, store, and retrieve imagery;
    • Analyze, annotate, and enhance images;
    • Perform colour management on imagery systems;
    • Produce imagery products for public affairs, intelligence, and investigations;
    • Maintain an imagery database; and
    • Test and evaluate new imaging equipment.

    Work environment

    Image Techs work with other military members throughout the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Special Forces to document important events and to help share the CAF story. They may work at bases in Canada, in ships, and on board aircraft during exercises or operations, at home and abroad.

    If you join the Regular Force, you will be assigned to a base after completing your training. There exists some flexibility in posting locations, however relocation preferences cannot always be accommodated.

    If you join the Primary Reserve Force, you will generally serve part-time at a Reserve unit near your home, with opportunities for temporary full-time employment if you desire. Part-time service usually consists of one evening per week and 1-2 weekends per month.

    Career Overview

    Transcript

    TITLE:

    IMAGERY TECHNICIAN

    MASTER CORPORAL FELICIA OGUNNIYA: I’m Master Corporal Felicia Ogunniya from Ajax, Ontario, an Imagery Technician posted to Canadian Special Operations Forces Command in Ottawa.

    If you have a passion for video, photography and journalism and a yearning to be the one telling the story, then a career as an Imagery Technician in the Canadian Armed Forces may be a perfect fit for you.

    Imagery Technicians – or Image Techs for short – are part of the Public Affairs team, working alongside Public Affairs Officers to tell the Canadian Armed Forces story.

    MASTER CORPORAL FELICIA OGUNNIYA: Wherever the Canadian Armed Forces is going – on ship, on helos, in land vehicles – we’re right there alongside with them, documenting the story and relating it right back to the Canadian public. You’re in the thick of it with everyone, you’re right up in the front lines taking imagery – right where the action is happening is right where we are. 

    Of growing importance these days is social media.

    MASTER CORPORAL FELICIA OGUNNIYA: Shooting imagery near-real time is an exciting place to be taking photography, because you’re taking photos and a second later they’re out in the universe and everyone is sharing them and liking them. And you’re showing things that are happening in real news, real time. So to me, that’s an exciting part and an exciting world to be in.

    When the military is out doing their job, it's often in remote places that are not easily accessible to the public or the mainstream media. There are a lot of misconceptions about what the military actually does and Image Techs help show the rest of Canada some of the great work the Canadian Armed Forces are doing that otherwise would go unnoticed.

    MASTER CORPORAL FELICIA OGUNNIYA: It’s important to me to tell these stories to the Canadian public, because I work alongside with these men and women every day, highly motivated, highly experienced, highly trained, and great people – and I love being able to take photos of them doing their job and serving their country. And having their family see those photos is a highlight for me, when they print out a photo and they send it to their grandma and they put it on a fridge – to me, that’s the personal motivation I get out of doing this job.

    MASTER CORPORAL FELICIA OGUNNIYA: The coolest part of being an Imagery Technician is you get to go where the Canadian Armed Forces is. So if you ever see a photo of someone on the side of a mountain, or in the middle of the ocean, or in the middle of a trench, that’s where we are. We are right there alongside them. So even though you may not be that trade, you get to experience almost every trade. Creatively, it’s an amazing job to be in – you can spend every day just coming up with brand-new ideas and pitching them and seeing if they like them. There’s a lot of initiative on your own side to come up with cool products, cool photos, cool video – anything that could be dynamic toward the Canadian public or show us in a good light. Usually it’s very well received.

    On completion of their military and occupational training, Imagery Technicians are posted to an Army, Navy or Air Force base in Canada where they will become part of the Public Affairs team involved in a variety of communications activities. 

    This includes still imagery, video and graphic design, and creating products that support the Forces’ strategic narrative.

    MASTER CORPORAL FELICIA OGUNNIYA: Your first couple of years as an Imagery Technician, you’re doing your trade qualifications, you’re doing your career courses and you’re really gaining a lot of new experiences within garrison, within the base. You’re not just a one-trick pony, you have a lot of different roles that you play. You can dabble in graphic design, in video editing, photography, special effects – any area that you would like to experience more in, that opportunity is available for you. There’s specialized training and courses, and a multitude of opportunities to learn new things. It’s a great time to pick up a lot of new skills, and take initiative and be motivated and make good networks, and learning as much as you can.

    Image Techs will have frequent opportunities to travel in support of operations, exercises and taskings. 

    MASTER CORPORAL FELICIA OGUNNIYA: I’ve gotten to travel to a lot of cool places and shoot a lot of amazing things. And probably a highlight of my career: we went to Vimy Ridge, we went to Passchendaele, and we got to see a whole lot of different areas of history, and I was there along to document it along with everyone with fresh eyes, so that was an amazing experience.

    MASTER CORPORAL FELICIA OGUNNIYA: Every day I come to work, there’s something new on the table, something I’ve probably never done before. And you kind of just pick up your camera and say “OK, this is something new, but I’m going to go for it, I’m going to be ready to shoot whatever comes my way.” So it’s a great experience, every single day. If you love a challenge, you’re creative, you want to learn more about photography, video, graphic design, whatever it may be, and you’re an artsy person – then join the Canadian Armed Forces, because all the resources are there for them to develop those skills for you.

    Related Civilian Occupations

    • Journalism Photographer
    • Video Camera Operator
    • Video Editor
    • Audio and Video Recording Technician

    Training

    The first stage of training is the Basic Military Qualification course, or Basic Training, held at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. This training provides the basic core skills and knowledge common to all trades. A goal of this course is to ensure that all recruits maintain the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) physical fitness standard; as a result, the training is physically demanding.

    Learn more about Basic Training here.

    Following Basic Military Qualification training, Image Tech basic occupational training takes approximately seven months at the Canadian Forces Training Development Centre in Borden, Ontario. This training covers:

    • The use of video and still cameras and lighting equipment;
    • Operating digital acquisition and processing equipment;
    • Basic graphic design;
    • Basic public affairs concepts;
    • Equipment maintenance; and
    • Image management.

    Image Techs have an opportunity to develop specialized skills through additional courses and on the-job training in areas such as:

    • Photojournalism;
    • Advanced video production;
    • Multi-media production techniques;
    • Continual public affairs training;
    • Underwater photography;
    • Aerial photography; and
    • High-speed photography and videography techniques.

    Entry plans

    The minimum required education to apply for this position is the completion of the provincial requirements for Grade 12 or Secondary V in Quebec.

    Ideal candidates will have a college diploma. The CAF will verify if your education already meets the job requirements and there may be an opportunity bypass basic occupational training and commence on-the-job training right after basic recruit training.

    Education from other countries may also be accepted.

    Part time options

    You can work part-time with the Primary Reserve at various locations throughout Canada, predominantly in support of the Air Force, and to some extent, the Navy, Army and Special Forces. You can serve while attending school or working a civilian job, and you will be paid for all training. You will not be required to relocate, but you can volunteer for training exercises and operations within Canada or abroad.

    Imagery Technicians may serve with the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army or the Royal Canadian Air Force. They are employed documenting events in the life and times of the CAF, with still or video imagery. When employed on a part-time or casual full-time basis, they usually serve at military locations within Canada.

    Find a Recruiting Centre

    Reserve Force members receive the similar training as Regular Force members, starting with Basic Military Qualification training at their home unit. Additional specialized training for Image Techs lasts approximately four months at the Canadian Forces Training Development Centre in Borden, Ontario.

    Reserve members work up to 12 days per month and can serve full-time for short periods as needed. They earn 92.8% of Regular Force pay rates, receive a benefits package, and may qualify for a pension plan.