MODULE I

INTRODUCTION TO PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography is an invaluable aid in modern day scientific crime detection and

investigation as well as crime prevention. The investigator could not just rely on his
memories and therefore need an artificial recorder for him to remember all things
and facts that he had investigated. Aside from the notes of the investigator, he needs
a camera because there are things, which require accurate descriptions of subjects or
objects being investigated, hence photographs will serve the purpose.
1839 was the birth year of photography, its first landmark in police history is
generally confined to police problem on personal identification. In those days, the
Bertillon system was used for personal identification. Under this system facial
features as well as bony structures of the criminal was measured and classified, and
the photograph of the criminal was used to supplement the classification. Later
fingerprints suppressed the Bertillon system of classification. Photographs were
attached to the finger print chart, not to supplement the identification system but to
have available photograph if needed for investigation purpose.

At the end of this module, the students should have:

1. Explain the origin of photography.

2. Rationalize the objectives of photography and its significance to criminal
investigation and law enforcement operations.
3. Summarize the historical development of photography.
4. Discuss fully the significance of photographic rays in the field of photography.
5. Discuss and demonstrate the properties of light and its significance to forensic
photography

There are four lessons in this module. Read each lesson carefully then answer
the exercises/activities to find out how much you have benefited from it. Work on
these exercises carefully and submit or send your output to your instructor or to the
ICJE office on or before the scheduled submission.

In case you encounter difficulty, discuss this with your instructorcalls, chat or
contact your instructor through the suggested media platforms for on-line meeting.

Good luck and happy reading!!!

Lesson 1

This lesson will introduce the students to the basic concepts of photography.
The chapter will also orient the students on the significance of photography and its
applications. Included in this lessonis the historical development photography and its
landmark to law enforcement work.

What is Photography?
Photography is derived from Greek words, photo which means light and graphos,
which means to draw
● in its technical aspect is defined as the art or science, which deals with the
reproduction of images through the action of light on, sensitized material.
● in its legal requirement is defined as the science which deals with the
reproduction of images through the action of light on sensitized materials, with
the aid of a camera and its accessories, and the process involved therein.

Photograph is the chemical, mechanical or electronic product of photography.

Photography is the method of using light to produce identical image of an object that
can be preserved permanently by employing:
⮚ CAMERA- to RAF ( regulate, absorb, and filter) light
⮚ FILM (SENSITIZED MATERIAL)- to record light

Sir John Herschel - made the word photography known to the world in a lecture
before the royal society of London on 1839.

Camera - is a device that records and stores images.

Police photography- is the science, which deals with the study of the principles of
photography, and the preparation of photographic evidence and its application to
police work.
Forensic Photography- is the field covering the legal application of photography in
criminal jurisprudence and criminal investigation. It is that branch of forensic science
dealing with:
1. Study of fundamental but pragmatic principles/concepts of photography
2. Application of photography in law enforcement
3. Preparation of photographic evidences needed by prosecutors and courts of
law.

APPLICATION OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN POLICE WORKS

Today the application of photography is not only limited on personal identification or

animate objects but includes inanimate objects and other articles, which may be the
subject of investigation. Thus photography also offers the following in police works;

1. Photographs give a clear description of persons or objects which are being

sought before it’s lost.
2. Photographs offers the ideal way of providing accurate pictorial records of
conditions of objects, wounds, or any article of evidence and will
graphically illustrate the nature of such to the court regardless of time.
3. Photographs of crime scene are sources of information not only of places
where crimes are frequently committed but of also sources of information
in the subsequent study of objects and their relations.
4. Photographs are useful in the interrogation of suspects and or witnesses,
which at times act as a surprise disincentive to confession or cooperation.
5. Photographs extend man’s visual limitation. To some extent photography
can graphically illustrate or demonstrate what cannot be seen by the naked
eye.
6. Photographs aid witnesses in their testimonies. No matter how thorough the
investigation of a criminal case, it is bound to fail in its subsequent
prosecution in the court due to witnesses’ inability to present the facts in
an understandable manner.

OBJECTIVES OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION

Photography provides visual images of the crime scene and has a distinct
advantage of illustrating physical objects in a way that closely approximates to human
eye, although photographs lack depth sensitivity afforded by the eye.

Photography is not a substitute for note taking nor sketches but rather is an
essential supplement to other modes of documentation of crime scene. Photography
also plays an important role in the efforts of reconstructing the events of the crime.
In conjunction with sketches, notes and accurate measurements, photographs capture
the physical aspects of evidences at the crime scene that are amenable to the
reconstruction by a qualified expert.

Objectives of crime scene photography

1. Record the condition of the scene before alteration occurs

2. Record the location and position of evidences, items collected
3. Document the point of view of principals and potential witnesses
4. Document spatial relationships of pertinent items

FUNCTIONS OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN INVESTIGATIVE WORKS:

1. Identification Files
a. Criminal
b. Missing Person
c. Lost and Stolen Properties
d. Civilian or Personnel Identification file
e. Anonymous letters
f. Bad Checks
2. Communication and Microfilms
a. Transmission of photos (wire or radio photo)
b. Investigative report files
c. Accident Files
d. Photographic supplements to report
3. Evidence
A. Recording and Preserving
1. Crime scenes
2. Vehicular or traffic accidents
3. Homicide, suicides, and murder
4. Robbery cases
5. Fires and arson
6. Object of evidence
7. Evidential traces
8. Latent Fingerprints

B. Discovering and proving

1. Contrast and Control light, film and paper, filter)
2. Magnification (photomicrography, photomicrography)
3. Invisible Radiation (infra-red, ultra-violet, X-ray)
4. Action of offenders (recording)
a. surveillance
b. burglary traps
c. confessions
 d. re-enactment of a crime
5. Court Exhibits
a. Demonstration enlargements
b. Individual photos
c. Projection slides
d. Motion Pictures
6. Crime Prevention
a. Security clearance
7. Public Relations
8. Police and Personnel Training
a. Prepared training films (police tactics, investigation techniques)
b. Traffic studies
c. Documentaries (riots and mob control, disasters, prison disorders)
9. Reproduction and Copying
a. photographs
b. official records

HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY

History of development of photographic processes, starting with the recognition that

certain chemicals changed tone as a result of exposure to light. Not until the 1820s,
however, was the objective achieved of permanently fixing an image made by
exposure to light. Since that time, scientists have continued to refine and improve the
chemical and optical aspects of the photographic medium.

ARISTOTLE- a famous Greek Philosopher who invented the first pinhole camera that
was known later as Camera Obscura, literally translated as “darkened box”

ISAAC NEWTON English philosopher, mathematician and physicist who discovered and
proved that the strongest light is white light: he defended his theory by allowing a
white light to pass through a prism thus refracting and diffracting the light into its
component parts, the ROYGBIV colors.

SIR WILLIAM ABNEY- discovered the use of Hydroquinone as a developing agent in

1880, England.

NADAR- he took the first aerial photographs of Paris from a free ballon in 1858

EDWIN H. SUTHERLAND- 1947 USA, he introduced the Polaroids 1-step photography.

History of Camera
● Mo Ti - 5th century BC Chinese philosopher who noted that a pin hole can form
an inverted and focused image when light passes through the hole and into a
dark area. He is the first recorded person to have exploited this phenomenon
to trace the inverted image to create a picture.

● Aristotle - in 4th century BC, described observing a partial solar eclipse in 330
BC by seeing the image of the sun projected through the small spaces between
the leaves of the tree.

● Ibn Al-Haytham (Alhazen) - an Egyptian scientist who wrote about observing a

solar eclipse through a pin hole and he described how a sharper image could be
produced by making the opening of the pin hole smaller.

● Roger Bacon - English philosopher and Franciscan friar who in his study of
optics, included a discussion of the physiology of eyesight, the anatomy of the
eyes and brain and considered light, distance, position, size, direct vision,
reflected vision and refraction, mirrors and lenses.

● Johannes Kepler - a German mathematician and astronomer who applied the

actual name of camera obscura and later added a lens and made the apparatus
transportable in the form of a tent.

● Robert Boyle - a British scientist who, with his assistant Robert Hooke
developed a portable camera in the 1660.

● Johann Zahn - in 1685, built the first camera obscura that was small enough
for practical use as a portable drawing aid because the only way to preserve
the images produced by the camera was to manually trace them.

● Joseph NicephoreNiepce - was a french inventor who is noted for producing

the first known photographs in 1825 by using a sliding wooden box camera
made by Charles and Vincent Chevalier in Paris.

● 1920 - the electronic video camera tube was invented, starting a line of
development that eventually resulted in digital cameras which largely
supplanted film cameras after the turn of the 21st century.

● William Henry Fox Talbot - a British inventor and pioneer of photography. He

was the inventor of calotype process, the precursor to most photographic
processes of the 19th and 20th century.

● Lumiere Brothers - introduced the autochrome, the first commercially

successful color process.
 ● Kodachrome - the first modern integral tripack color film, was introduced by
Kodak in 1935. It captured the three basic color components in a multi layer
emulsion.

Camera obscura- obscura means dark or darkened chamber room, is an optical device
that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. It is used in drawing and for
entertainment and was one of the inventions that led to photography. The camera
obscura is the forerunner to the photographic camera.

PIONEER PROCESSES

Joseph NicéphoreNiépce -1816 near Chalon-sur-Saone, France, He produced

Heliographic Drawings- contact-print image of engravings or other line copy on glass,
paper or metal coated. The earliest surviving photograph is a direct positive image
on a pewter plate, fixed in Bitumen of Judea from 1826 or 1827

Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre, Niépce's associate experimented through the 1830s
and in 1839 made the historic announcement of his daguerreotype process.

DAGUERREOTYPE- an image formed on a copperplate that has been silver plated,

polished to a mirror like surface, and then exposed to iodine vapors to create a
photosensitive layer of silver iodide.

1830s, the British scientist William Henry Fox Talbot. His earliest successes in 1835
and included contact printings made in his miniature cameras (the so-called
“mouse-trap” cameras). Talbot called his process photogenic drawing
Talbot's investigations included the discovery of the “latent” image, the invisible
product of a short exposure, which could be chemically “developed”. His
refinements, which were summarized in the patents of his improved “calotype”
process (registered on February 8, 1841), laid the basis for the progress of modern
photography: the creation in the camera of a negative from which, once developed
and fixed, any number of positive prints could be made.

Sir John Herschel (British astronomer), introduced sodium thiosulphate, commonly

known as “hypo. Sir John Herschel devised his own photographic formula making a
historic negative on glass of his telescope. He recommended “hypo” as a fixing agent,
and his discovery of the “cyanotype” process. He coined the word photography, then
suggested Negative and Positive in the following years, and pointed that images can
be made permanent by dissolving away unexposed siver compounds with a solution of
hyposulfide soda.

Frenchman, Hippolyte Bayard discovered his own methods for making direct positives
on paper in 1839.
THE GLASS NEGATIVE AND REFINED PAPER PROCESSES

1851 Frederick Scott Archer introduced collodion on glass negative making possible
negatives as sharply detailed as a daguerreotype and capable of producing any
number of prints.

1847 Claude Felix Abel Niépce de Saint-Victor had proposed glass negatives with
albumen as the suspension agent for the sensitive chemicals.

French photographer Gustave Le Gray devised the process of waxing the negative
paper before sensitization, His processes, which included alternative chemical
formulae were published in 1852 and helped to extend the use of paper for negatives.

Frenchman, Louis-DésiréBlanquartEvrard published and patented his variant of

Talbot's process, which involved impregnating rather than coating the negative paper
and thereby achieving greater tonal range and detail. In July 1851 he opened an
establishment at Lille which provided the facilities to print the work of a circle of
photographers

INDUSTRIALIZATION AND POPULARIZATION

1850s Among the first popular applications of Scott Archer's glass negative was the
ambrotype, an underexposed collodion negative which, when backed with black,
appeared as positive.

1854 André AdolpheDisdéri applied for a patent for the carte-de-visite, a small
format (about 85 by 55 mm/3.3 by 2 in) portrait on paper, mounted on card and
intended as a visiting card.

1850-1860 Scottish scientist Sir David Brewster, developed stereoscopic photography

involved making pairs of negatives and prints to replicate the process of human vision.

THE DRY PLATE

Through the 1850s and 1860s there had been numerous experiments with dry
alternatives to the wet collodion. Alternative suspension agents included:
● George Shadbolt's use of honey
● Henry Pollock's of glycerine
● John Dillwyn Llewelyn'soxymel process, involving a mix of honey and vinegar.
● In France J. M. Taupenot and in Britain Dr Richard Hill Norris manufactured dry
versions of collodion, but they were slower than the wet.

In 1871 Dr Richard Leach Maddox proposed the gelatin emulsion dry plate
1871 the chemist and manufacturer Sir Joseph Wilson Swan discovered the effect of
heat in increasing the sensitivity of his emulsions

ROLL FILM AND THE AMATEUR MARKET

The credit for this crucial stage goes to the American George Eastman. In 1883 he
introduced a hybrid negative type with dry gelatin emulsion on a paper base. Eastman
made this negative paper into a roll film permitting multiple exposures.

1888 John Carbuttmarketed the first negative film to use celluloid, transparent and
flexible, as the support for his gelatin emulsion.

Eastman gathered the strands of these various innovations and in 1889 marketed roll
film on celluloid. He had introduced the first Kodak camera.

PHOTOMECHANICAL REPRODUCTION

Niépce had experimented successfully in 1822 with the light-sensitive characteristics

of certain chemicals to make facsimiles of engravings on to etching plates. He called
the results héliogravures.

HippolyteFizeau, through etching and electrotyping from the original

daguerreotypes, and were the earliest successful photo-etchings.

Viennese engraver Karl Kli invented in October 1879 a high-quality photo-engraving

process which he called photogravure.

Talbot studied Fizeau's etching methods and developed his own process which he
patented in 1852. He called it photoglyphic engraving.

COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY

The London daguerreotypist William Edward Kilburn enlisted the most talented
artisans to give naturalistic tints to his plates.

In 1855 the British physicist James Clerk Maxwell defined the theoretical basis of
colour photography. He understood the principle of the three primary colours
providing the basis for an additive tri-chromatic process.

1862, French inventor Louis Ducos du Hauron went on in the later 1860s to patent
and publish details of several additive and subtractive colour processes.

American Frederick E. Ives and the Frenchman Charles Cros made useful additions
to the theory and practical evolution of colour photography.
Hermann Wilhelm Vogel explored the chemistry of the subject to enhance the
pan-chromatic sensitivity of emulsions.

1904 French brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière announced the development of a
dyed starch grain color process. In 1907 they marketed their discoveries under the
trademark of Autochrome plates.

In 1942 Kodak launched their colour negative film Kodacolor, completing a range of
available film products which remains essentially the same to this day.
35-MM FORMAT, AUTOMATION, AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Germany 1924, the firm of Ernst Leitz launched the first “Leica” 35-mm camera,
designed by Oscar Barnack.

BRIEF HISTORY OF POLICE PHOTOGRAPHY

1859 Luco vs. US photograph was used to prove that a document of a title was in fact
a forgery

1875 the first recorded use of accident photography which was admitted as evidence
regarding an injured horse and a buggy.

1841French Police used daguerreotypes for personal identification of known

criminals

1879Redden vs Gates, one of the first cases to hold that a relevant photograph of an
injured person on auto accidents was admissible in evidence.

1907 Denver, Colorado, all intoxicated persons were photographed at the police
station.

1910 Massachusetts, automobile speeders were being trapped with photographic

speed recorders.

1911 People vs. Jennings, use of fingerprint photographs for identification purposes
was approved, although 1882 was the year in which fingerprints were officially used in
US

1903 Will West case of Leavenworth the value of fingerprints prove it worth in
personal identification and showing the fallibility of the three systems, the name ,
Bertillon System and photographs
1902 Commonwealth vs Best, one of the early uses of firearms identification is
recorded, photographs of a bullet taken from a murdered man was put in evidence
along with a photograph of a test bullet.

1930 Photoflash bulbs were used and readily accepted by the public.

1934 State vs Thorp ultraviolet photography was approved in a decision handed

down, picture showed footprints in a linoleum floor and brought out distinctive marks
of the soles of the shoes worn by a defendant.

1938 Eastman Kodak Company introduced the Super six 20 which featured a fully
automatic exposure control.

1943 Green vsCounty of Denver Historic event in police photography in the passing
upon the admissibility of colored photography

1935 Eastman Kodak Co. introduced a color transparency also known as the
Kodachrome

1941 color process known as Kodacolor made it possible to make color slides, color
prints, or black and white prints from a color negative.

1963 PolaroidCompany introduced their Polacolor film making it possible to take

finished color pictures in less than a minute.

1965 introduction of the fully automatic electronic flash

1967 The beginning of the use of video tapes as legal evidence

Lesson 2

NATURE OF LIGHT

Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation similar to radiant heat, radio waves, and
X rays. Light consists of electromagnetic field in a particular range of frequencies that
can be detected by the human eye. Different colors sensations are produced by light
vibrating at different frequencies, ranging from about 4 × 1014 (red light) to about 7.5
× 1014 vibrations per second (violet light). The white light which is also known as the
visible spectrum or those radiation visible to human eye has a wavelength of
400-700mu. Wavelength maybe measured in terms of mill microns (mu.) or
nanometers (nm.)

The visible spectrum of light is usually defined by its wavelength, ranging from the
smallest visible wavelength for violet, about 40 millionths of a centimeter (16
millionths of an inch), to 75 millionths of a centimeter (about 30 millionths of an inch)
for red. A small part of the electromagnetic spectrum where visible light is found that
affects the human sense of sight.
Higher frequencies, corresponds to shorter wavelengths such as ultraviolet radiation,
and X-rays with a higher frequency.
Lower frequencies, corresponds to longer wavelengths such as the infrared radiation,
and more lower frequencies such as radio waves. The higher the temperature, the
greater the frequency of vibration and the bluer the light produced.

Light is emitted from a source in straight lines and spreads out over a larger and
larger area as it travels; the light per unit area diminishes as the square of the
distance. When light strikes an object, it is either absorbed or reflected; light
reflected from a rough surface is scattered in all directions. Some frequencies are
reflected more strongly than others, and this gives objects their characteristic colors.
White surfaces scatter light of all wavelengths equally, and black surfaces absorb
nearly all light. Image-forming reflection, on the other hand, requires a highly
polished surface such as that of a mirror.

VELOCITY

Velocity denotes to the speed of light as it travels in a vacuum, in space or other

mediums. It was first measured in a laboratory experiment by the French physicist
Armand Hippolyte Louis Fizeau. The speed of light is 299,792,458 m/sec (186,282.397
mi/sec) in a vacuum. Accurate knowledge of the speed and the wavelength of light
also permit accurate measurement of length. The velocity of light in air varies slightly
with wavelength, averaging about 3 per cent less than in vacuum; the speed in water
is about 25 per cent less, and in glass, 33 per cent less.

Frequency, denotes the number of times that any regularly recurring phenomenon
occurs in one second. The number of complete waves per unit of time; used in
measuring the speed of light; unit of measuring the speed of light maybe mu. per
second (mu/sec).

Wave Motion, mechanism by which energy is conveyed from one place to another in
waves without the transfer of matter.

Oscillation, the repeated motion back and forth past a central neutral position, or
position of equilibrium. A single motion from one extreme position to the other and
back, passing through the neutral position twice, is called a cycle. The number of
cycles per second, or hertz (Hz), is known as the frequency of the oscillation.

Wavelength, distance between corresponding points on two consecutive waves. For

example, the wavelength of ocean waves is the distance between one crest and the
next, or one trough and the next. Wavelength is a fundamental concept when
considering any kind of wave motion, and can vary from very long, for example long
radio waves to very short,for example gamma rays.

THEORIES OF LIGHT

1. The WAVE Theory (Huygens)

= It is the theory that was transcribed from the motion of the water that if we
observe a piece of log floating in the ocean and with the force of the air would
naturally will make the log move up and down.

2. Corpuscular theory (Newton)

= this later opposed the wave theory stating that light has its effect by the motion of
very small particles such as electrons.

3. Modified Wave theory (Maxwell and hertz)

= Based on electromagnetics.
All these theories are still considered to be of little lacking that law enforcement
need not to be very focus on this but rather go along with the accepted conclusion
that light is a form of energy, which is electromagnetic in form.

Types of Light
Lights can largely be classified into visible and invisible light.

a. Visible Light
Is the type of light that produces different sensation when reach the human eye. It is
the type of light, which is capable of exciting the retina of the human eye.

b. Invisible Light
lights in which their wavelength are either too short or too long to excite the retina of
the human eye i.e. X-ray, Ultrat-violet and Infra-red lights.
Photographic Rays
a. X-ray
=Light with the wavelength between .01 to 30 millimicrons. It is produced by passing
an electric current through a special type of vacuum tube. It was incidentally
discovered by Conrad Welhelm Roentgen. This type of light works in the principle of
shadow photography.

b. Ultra-violet ray (Before the violet)

= Radiation having a wavelength of 30 to 400 nanometers designed to photograph
fingerprints in multi colored background, documents that are altered, decipherment
of erase writing and developing invisible writing. It is commercially known as “black
Light”.

c. Visible Light
= It refers to the type of radiation having a wavelength of 400 to 700 millimicrons
designed for ordinary photographing purposes.

d. Infra-red (Beyond the Red)

= Considered as the photographic rays with the longest wavelength ranging from 700
to 1000 millimicrons. It is designed to take photograph of over-written documents,
obliterated writing, and charred documents or for black out photography. It is
sometimes referred to as heat rays).

INVISIBLE RADIATION THAT ARE CONVENIENTLY USED AND ESSENTIAL IN POLICE

PHOTOGRAPHY

1. Ultra violet rays- used in photographing questioned documents suspected of

being falsified or forged, can be used to detect overwritten, erased, or hidden
writings in a document.
2. Infra-red rays- used in photographing unseen objects, or objects located in
dimly lighted or dark areas; for recording charred or burnt patterns,
overwriting, and internal injuries.
3. X-rays- invisible radiation that can be used to photograph internal objects
4. Gamma rays- used in recording or photographing objects hidden by opaque
mediums.

Light Source

A. Natural Light- are those light which come to existence without the intervention of
man e.i. Sunlight, moonlight and starlight
1. Bright Sunlight
object in an open space casts a deep and uniform shadow and the object appears
glossy.
- there are two sources when the sun is shining bright
Direct Sunlight
 Reflected

2. Hazy Sunlight
object in an open space casts a transparent or bluish shadow. This is due to thin
clouds that cover the sun.
- When the sunlight is obscured by the clouds. Light is decreased, in effect,
the light coming from the sky becomes stronger that the shadows appear
more bluish than the bright sunlight, In black and white photographs, the
shadows of objects in an open space are barely visible as films are more
sensitive to the blue light than the other color light.

3. Dull Sunlight
object in an open space cast no shadow due to thick clouds covering the sun.No direct
sunlight reaches the objects in an open space. Objects at far distance appear bluish
or completely dark

Daylight may still be classified as: open space bright sunlight, under shade bright
sunlight, hazy sunlight, cloudy sunlight and cloudy dull sunlight.
These conditions and their colors affect the appearance of the object being
photograph. Factors such as atmospheric vapor, atmospheric dust and quality of the
reflected light coming and not coming from the source should likewise be considered.

B. Artificial Light - otherwise known as man-made light e.g. fluorescent bulb,

incandescent bulb and photoflood lamp.

1. Continuous radiation
Carbon Arc- consists of a pair of carbon rods connected in series with a resistance
across direct current.

Photoflood lamp- is likewise known as Reflectorized light or Spot light. It is a light

with a reflector at the back which focus the light to the object the common wattages
of this lamp is 500 watts.
- bright light used in photography: a very bright incandescent lamp used in
photography and filming. These can be placed to shine from below giving mysterious
and strange effects of frights to observers of the picture. The lamps can be placed up
very high producing deep shadows underneath protruding surfaces, if subject is a
person standing, he will appear gloomy and somber.

Flourescent Lamp- are tube lamps in which the walls are coated with fluorescent
powders with both ends is mounted with a holder that serves as the reflector. This is
commonly used by everybody more than it is used in photographing.
an electric lamp containing a low pressure vapor, usually mercury, in a glass tube.
When an electric current is passed, ultraviolet radiation is produced and is converted
into visible light by an internal coating on the tube.
Incandescent bulb - are bulb with a wire filament connecting two wires which sustain
the electrical charge that produces the light. Everybody likewise commonly uses this
although it is more expensive in terms of electrical consumptions.
- lamp with a heated filament: an electric lamp that produces light from an
electrically heated filament. It consists of a conducting filament enclosed by a glass
bulb heated by the electric current until emits light.

Infra-red Lamp
Ultra-violet Lamp

2. Short Duration Radiation Type

1. Chemical Flash lamps- light is produced by the rapid burning of metal

wire, foil or primer powders. To produce a rapid and complete burning,
the bulb is charged with oxygen, the lamp flashes once.
a. F-lamp- such as SM or SF, has effective flash duration of about
1/200 of a second.
b. S-Lamp slow peak and their brilliance are about 30 milliseconds
after the current is applied
c. M-Lamp used in all shutter speeds provided the synchronizer
level is on
d. FP-Lamp- intended for focal plane shutter.

2. Electronic flash lamps- consisting of a slender glass tube filled with a

gas xenon, a high voltage electric discharge is passed through coiled
tube, causing the glass to glow.

Flashbulb - bulb producing bright light for photography: a small glass bulb filled with
shredded metallic foil that produces a brief intense flash of light for taking
photographs. Also called photoflash
are chemical lamps, as it generate lights by the rapid combination of metal in oxygen.
The bulb can be used only once as the bulb is busted when fired electrically. There
are thin filaments inside the bulb with two electrical contacts. When the current
flows through the filament, it becomes incandescent and ignites the explosive primer
that ignites the aluminum foil that burns, giving flash of tense light.

Electronic Flash = produces light by an instantaneous electrical in charges between

two electrodes in a gas filled glass bulbs. The electrical energy for the discharge is
kept in capacitor or condenser. It usually ranges from 1/300 second and 1/5000
second, and because of this, subject in fast motion can be arrested or stopped in the
photographs.

LIGHTING
Lighting is critical in photography. The direction from which the light comes
determines where shadows fall. Sometimes these shadows completely obscure details
in the picture. On the other hand, shadows may reveal details which would otherwise
be invisible. Here are basic rules that will help you to understand lighting and judge
how each scene should be lit:

Directional lighting:
The most important consideration is the angle from which the light comes. Light may
be directed from the front, the side or the back. Other lighting arrangements are
variations and combinations of these.

Back lighting:
This has little value in crime scene photography. A light directly behind the subject
creates a silhouette. The subject may be entirely concealed by its own shadow.
Furthermore, any light shining directly into the lens can cause "FLARE". This may
make the whole picture foggy, streaked or spotty in appearance.
Avoid back lit situations when you can. If you are forced to shoot toward a light, try
to keep it from shining into the lens. Place the lens in the shadow of the subject or
shade it with a notebook or any other hand held object. Shade the lens as well as
possible without actually blocking the camera's view.

Side Lighting:
This may be very good or very bad, depending on the situation. Side lighting puts
shadows on the unlit side of the subject. These shadows are often essential to bring
out the fine texture that is found in a cloth sample, a footprint or a tool mark. Try to
use side lighting in all such situations.
On the other hand, when you shoot into a subject, the shadows obscure important
interior details. When subjects such as automobiles, handbags and closets are side lit,
even large objects inside them may not appear on the negative. You usually want to
avoid side lighting in these situations.
When you need side lighting, you can obtain it by detaching the flash from your
camera and moving it one side of the subject. If your flash is not removable, you can
often dispense with it entirely and place another light source such as a table lamp or
an automobile headlight where it will shine light from one side.

Front Lighting:
This is essentially shadowless. It, therefore, gives the best representation of most
crime scenes. When you do not have a specific need for shadows in a scene, you will
normally be wise to light it from the front. In daylight, be sure that the sun is behind
you or at least over your shoulder-- Right or Left, it does not matter.
Lesson 3

INTENSITY OF LIGHT

One important aspect of light is its intensity as it reaches the subject, and how it
is reflected by the subject. This is very important for the police officer to understand,
because the intensity of light on a subject varies considerably when the distance
between the light source and the subject of the film is changed. The relationship of
intensities is governed by the inverse square law which is shown graphically in figure.
 If an object, such as a card, is placed one foot from a light source, the light
striking the card will be of particular intensity. If it is then moved two feet away from
the light, the intensity of light falling on the card will be one fourth as great. As the
card is moved farther away, the intensity of the light reaching the card further
decreases as the square of the distance from the source increases. This property of
light is very important to the police photographer especially when shooting vehicle
accidents outdoors at night flash or flood. The officer’s failure to correct the exposure
as the subject moves farther from the light source, will result in badly underexposed
negatives due to the inverse square law. The function is also important in the
darkroom. if, for example, you have made a satisfactory 5x7 enlargement from the
same negative, there should be an approximate increase of four times in the
exposure. If the importance of this inverse square law is not recognized in the
darkroom, disappointment and poor quality prints will result

MEDIUMS OF LIGHT:

1. Transparent objects- mediums that merely slow down the speed of light but
allow it to pass freely in other respects, transmits 90% or more of the incident light.

2. Translucent objects- mediums that allows light to pass through it in such a way
that the outline of the source of light not clearly visible, transmit 50% or less of the
incident light.

3. Opaque materials- mediums that divert or absorb light, but do not allow light
to pass through; they absorb most the light while reflecting some of it.

Characteristics of Light
The RAT Law: When incident light hits a medium, 3 things may happen. The light
maybe reflected, absorbed & transmitted.

1. Reflection, phenomenon of light and other wave motions in which the light or
other wave motion is returned after impinging on a surface, or the boundary
between two media.

It is a condition that occurs whenever an object changes direction of light wave

and does not allow light to pass through it.

There are two laws of reflection:

1. The incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal (an imaginary line
perpendicular to the reflecting surface at the point of incidence) all lie in the
same plane.

2. The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection.

2. Refraction, bending of waves that occur when a wave front passes obliquely
from one medium to another. The phenomenon is most familiar with light
waves. When light passes from a less dense medium (ex. air) to a denser one
(ex. glass), it is refracted towards the normal. This occurs because the light
waves are slowed down by the denser medium, causing them to change
direction. On passing from a denser medium into a less dense one, the light is
refracted away from the normal.
 3. Diffraction- used to describe the
interaction between waves and solid
objects in which a wave of any type
spreads out after passing the edge of a solid
object or after passing through a narrow
aperture, instead of continuing to travel in a
straight line.

4. Transmission, When light passes through an object, the light is transmitted.

A medium such as lens or clear window pane, through which the objects are clearly
visible, is transparent. Frosted glass which transmits light scatters it to objects can
not be seen clearly is termed translucent.

5. Absorption, when light falls upon an object and is neither transmitted nor
reflected, it is absorbed. Sometimes only part of it is absorbed. A white card looks
white because it reflects back to our eyes; most of the white light falls on it, whereas
dark cloth appears dark because it absorbs rarely all the light striking it.

Spectrum, rainbow-like series of colors, in the order violet, blue, green, yellow,
orange, and red, produced by splitting a composite light, such as white light, into its
component colors. Indigo was formerly recognized as a distinct spectral color. The
rainbow is a natural spectrum, produced by meteorological phenomena. A similar
effect can be produced by passing sunlight through a glass prism. The first correct
explanation of the phenomenon was advanced in 1666 by the English mathematician
and physicist Sir Isaac Newton.

Color, physical phenomenon of light or vision associated with the various

wavelengths in the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The methods
used for color specification today belong to a technique known as Colorimetry and
consist of accurate scientific measurements based on the wavelengths of three
primary colors.

Colors of Light in the Visible Spectrum

The color of the visible light is basically composed of colors with acronym
ROYGBIV, which stands for red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. When all
wavelengths of the visible spectrum are radiated by a light source in equal amounts,
the mixture is seen as white light. In place where no radiations from any light source
can be seen, the absence of light is called black. Whenever any wavelength of light is
present in greater abundance than others, the resulting light is colored.
PRIMARY COLORS- also called additive primary colors
a. Red 700mu
b. Blue 450mu
c. Green 550mu
COMPLEMENTARY COLORS- also called subtractive primary colors
a. Magenta 400mu
b. Cyan 500mu
c. Yellow 590mu
NEUTRAL COLORS
a. Gray
b. White
c. Black
Colors of light found in the visible spectrum: Approximate Wavelength
1. Primary colors of light (in mu.)
a. Red (longest wavelength) – 700
b. Blue – 450
c. Green – 550

2. Complementary colors of light

a. Magenta (shortest wavelength) -400
b. Cyan -500
c. Yellow -590

Color Mixing Principles

1. Color addition
R+B+G=W
R+B=M
M+Y=W
R+G=Y
M+C=W
B+G=C
Y+C=W
2. Color subtraction
W-R=C
W-C=R
M-R=B
C-G=B
W-B=Y
W-Y=B
M-B=R
Y-G=R
W-G=M
W-M=G
C-B=G
Y-R=G
The principles of color mixing can be easily
understood and memorized using the color wheel.

Lesson 4

Capturing the Scene

Photography, or “writing or drawing with light”, is defined as the process or art

of producing images of objects on sensitized surfaces by the chemical action of light
or of other forms of radiant energy, such as X-rays, gamma rays or cosmic rays. Fixing
an image permanently has been possible since the 1820s in a variety of ways from the
daguerreotype, to silver plates, to film and now digitally. Some may consider
photography more of an art than a science, but well taken crime scene photographs
can aid scientists, investigators and members of the court in their search for the
truth. This makes photography a critical first responder skill. Larger agencies may
have specially trained and certified crime scene photographers with high-end cameras
and lighting to document crime scenes and evidence, but more often the first
responder needs to do what they can with equipment assigned to them. That said,
many of today’s digital point-and-shoot cameras have a variety of settings that, with
some basic operator training, allow for proper documentation.

Controlling the Light

Photographers use several means to tell the camera how to capture the image
including aperture, shutter speed, depth of field and white balance. Aperture refers
to the size of the opening that lets light into the camera and shutter speed is how
long that opening, or shutter, remains open. Depth of field is the amount of area in
front of (foreground) and behind (background) an object that remains in focus. Lastly,
white balance allows the camera to record the proper temperature of light, resulting
in an accurate representation of the color tones of objects in the photograph.

Brightening the Darkness

Experienced photographers often use a technique called “painting with light”

to expose image details in dark or near-dark conditions. In this technique, the shutter
is held open for seconds or minutes and the photographer walks through the scene
adding light from sources such as a flashlight or detached camera flash.

Crime scene at night & after using the painting with light technique

However the photographer chooses to capture the image, the main reason for
crime scene photography is to thoroughly document the entire scene, the evidence,
and any areas of special significance to the investigation.
Why and when is crime scene photography used?

Photography should be used as part of the documentation for all physical crime
scenes, including traffic collisions, burglaries, homicides, or any number of crimes
against people or property. Photographs, however, can be misleading and confusing to
the viewer. Therefore, crime scene photographers must ensure their work is both
ethical and honest while capturing as much accurate information and detail as
possible. Documenting all elements of a crime scene is a major stepping stone when
trying to piece together what happened, how it happened and who did it.

Crime scenes are typically full of activity and often unpredictable, with first
responders assisting victims and investigators beginning their work. Even in the most
ideal situation, capturing photographic evidence can be challenging. An experienced
photographer will know to take photos at all stages of the investigation and that it is
better to have too many than not enough images.

The following steps are taken to ensure proper photographic documentation:

1. Secure the scene: In all forensic investigations, the first step is to secure the
crime scene.

2. Evaluate conditions: Next, the photographer should evaluate the available

light and weather conditions and adjust camera settings appropriately. Crime scenes
can be indoors, outside or both; they can be vehicles, include multiple rooms, or any
combination of locations, therefore no single camera setting will work for all crime
scenes.

3. Shoot the scene: The photographer should take photographs before anything
is disturbed, progressively working through the scene from outside to close-up
pictures. Many shots should be taken, from the entire scene, to medium shots to show
the relationship of evidence to the overall scene.
 Just like a television program will show the viewer the outside of a building to
establish where the characters are going, the crime scene photographer should
capture the whole scene first using wide-angle shots covering the entire scene from
the approach and through every area. Close-up images of evidence can be taken out
of context, so establishing the scene first with wide and medium shots is critical.

In addition, photographs should be taken looking up from the scene to capture

evidence or environmental factors that may be above the scene.

4. Photograph the victims: The next series of shots should include victims (if
present) to show locations, injuries and condition.

5. Photograph the evidence: Then each piece of evidence should be

photographed to illustrate where it was found. This establishes the relationships of
the evidence to the victim, the victim to the room and so on. These photographs
should be taken from straight above or straight on at right angles, eliminating
potential distance distortions. Each piece of evidence should be photographed with a
scale to indicate size and without a scale.
 (Courtesy of Daniel Nichols, NFSTC)

6. Evidence markers: Photographs should be taken before evidence markers are

placed, then again after. These initial shots are important to prove that no one has
tampered with the crime scene.

7. Re-shoot for new evidence: If investigators mark new evidence, the whole
series of shots should be repeated, including all evidence shots. These photos should
include the entire piece of evidence and a scale to indicate size.

(Courtesy of Becky Carter, CEP, NFSTC)

Special imaging techniques and lighting should be used to capture things like
fingerprints, indentations, shoe and tire track impressions, vehicle identification
numbers (VIN) and very small pieces of evidence. Techniques may include:

• Alternate light sources (ALS) – such as lasers, blue or green lights and colored
filters that help detect processed latent fingerprints or other hidden evidence and
illuminate for photographing Green light used to illuminate a latent fingerprint.
 (Courtesy of Scott Campbell)

• Oblique angle lighting - using a flashlight, camera flash or ALS at a very low
angle to cast shadows that allow an imprint or impression to be photographed
 Oblique light used to add contrast to a footprint. (Courtesy of Scott Campbell)

• Macro lenses - can take very close-up images (1:1 or 1:2) of small items such
as tool marks or trace evidence

Cartridge case details captured with macro lens. (Courtesy of Scott Campbell)
 Photographs should accurately document the lighting conditions at the scene.
After those photos are taken, if necessary, a photographer will add artificial light, like
a flash, to compensate for a camera’s limitations in capturing the visible range of
light under certain conditions.

8. Shoot fast: Sometimes environmental factors such as rain, snow or traffic

can make conditions difficult for photography. The photographer must work quickly to
capture as much visual documentation as possible from a deteriorating scene.

9. Photograph the victim later: If a victim must be moved or requires

treatment, the photographer can go back to document the victim’s injuries. Various
techniques using special lighting and colored filters can highlight injuries (bruising,
scarring) and healing status.