Criminalistics 1 – Forensic

Photography
By Hermie Terrence I. Reodava, Reg. Crim.
What do you think of these Photographs?

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How about these?
Introduction to Forensic Photography

Photography
Literal Definition: To write with light. From 2
Greek words: phos – light and graphia – write.
Modern Definition: It is an art or science which
deals with the reproduction of images through the
action of light, upon sensitized materials, with
the aid of a camera and its accessories, and the
chemical processes involved therein.

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Photography
Technical/Legal Definition: It is any means for
chemical, thermal, electrical or electronic
recording of the images of scenes, or objects
formed by some type of radiant energy, including
gamma rays, X-rays, ultra-violet rays, visible light
and infrared rays.

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Photography
Technical/Legal Definition: This definition is
broad enough to include not only the conventional
methods of photography but almost any new
process that may be developed.

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Police Photography – An art or science which
deals with the study of the principles of
photography, the reproduction of photographic
evidence, and its application to police work.

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Forensic Photography – The art or science of
photographically documenting a crime scene and
evidence for laboratory examination and analysis
for purposes of court trial.

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 Concept
1. Small object but of great importance in crime
committed may escape
2. Use to described and reconstruct the crime
scene
3. Use to remember small details in the crime
scene

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As a general rule, photographs in court
proceeding must be:
1. Normal
2. Sharp
3. Free of distortion

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 Historical Development
18th Century
silver salt turns black when once hot by a light
rays
used Camera Obscura (dark chamber)

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Joseph Nicéphore Niépce
able to obtain camera images on papers
sensitized with silver chloride solution in
1816
invented a photographic process which he
called “heliography” - writing of the sun
regarded his work as imperfect and failure
because fixation is only partial

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Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre
1829 made partnership with Niepce to use
silver plates of pewter
1835 discover that mercury fumes could
develop an invisible image on a silver plate is
sensitized with iodine fumes before exposure
developed the Daguerreotype (1839)

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Daguerreotype
first photographic process given to the world
made permanent by the use of hypo
precision of details and exquisite beauty of
these direct positive images on silver plates

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William Henry Fox Talbot
invented a process called calotype
Calotype - a photographic process by which a
large number of prints could be produced from
a paper negative; also: a positive print so
made. Calotype used paper with surface fibers
impregnated with light sensitive compounds.

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John Frederick William Herschel
coined the term photography and applied the
terms negative and positive to photography
invented the cyanotype process and variations
(such as the chrysotype)
discovered sodium thiosulfate to be a solvent
of silver halides in 1819

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informed Talbot and Daguerre of his discovery
that this "hyposulphite of soda" ("hypo")
could be used as a photographic fixer (1939)
– photographic fixer use to "fix" pictures and make
them permanent

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Frederick Scott Archer
invented the photographic collodion process
which preceded the modern gelatin emulsion
• Collodion is a wound-dressing material made of
nitrated cotton dissolved in ether and alcohol, and
other chemicals on sheets of glass.

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JM Petzal
1840 he designed the first lens specifically for
photographic use
it has maximum aperture of f/3.6

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Richard Leach Maddox
an English photographer and physician who
invented lightweight gelatin negative plates for
photography in 1871

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George Eastman
founded the Eastman Kodak Company and
invented roll film, helping to bring
photography to the mainstream

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Aims & Purposes of Photography in
Law Enforcement Work
2. Conduct comparative examination and analysis of
questioned photographs or pictures to the known
photographs.
3. Process color and black and white film, print, reduce
and enlarge picture.
4. Reproduce picture and other printed matters.
5. Compose portrait by means of portrait composition.
6. Provides photographic intrusion detection devices.
7. Maintain Rogues’ Gallery (a collection of pictures
of persons arrested as criminals.)

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Aims & Purposes of Photography in
Law Enforcement Work
1. Take photographs of the following:
 Crime scene
 Suspects
 Detainees
 Prisoners
 Aliens
 All apprehended persons
 All applicants for clearances
 All military and civilian personnel
 Unknown cadaver
 Possessor and applicant to possess firearms
 Other physical evidence

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 Elements of Photography
1. Light
2. Camera
3. Sensitized Materials
4. Chemical Process

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Light is a form of energy, and to understand

light we begin with the electromagnetic spectrum
which is basically a grouping of all
electromagnetic radiation arranged according to
the amount of energy contained in the radiation.

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Visible light is a part of this electromagnetic

spectrum that creates the sensation of light when
it falls on the human eye.

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

The properties of all electromagnetic radiation

can be described by three inter-related terms.
These are wavelength, frequency and energy.
Since light is a part of this spectrum, it too can
be described by these terms. Hence, it is
important to understand these terms as a first
step towards understanding light.

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Wavelength
Simplistically, we can think of light traveling
as a wave. A typical wave form (e.g., ripples on
the surface of water) has crests (or peaks) and
troughs (or valleys). The distance between two
consecutive peaks (or troughs) is called the
wavelength, and is denoted by the Greek letter λ
(lambda).

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Light passing through a prism converting to different colors of light.

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

The wavelengths of visible light are measured in

nanometers (nm) where 1 nm = 1 billionth of a
meter (10-9 meters). The wavelength of visible
light is between 400-700nm. The combined
effect of the complete range of radiation between
400-700nm appears as white light to the human
eye.

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Rainbow Colors:
– Violet - 400 to 440nm
– Blue - 440 to 490nm
– Green - 490 to 540nm
– Yellow - 540 to 590nm
– Orange - 600 to 650nm
– Red - 650 to 700nm

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

4 PHOTOGRAPHIC RAYS OF MODERN

PHOTOGRAPHY
 X-rays – 1 to 30 nm
 UV rays – 30 to 400 nm
 Visible light – 400 to 700 nm
 Infrared rays – 700 to 1,000+ nm.

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 Light: Its Characteristics &
Sources
Red

Green Blue

PRIMARY COLORS OF LIGHT

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Yellow
Magenta

Cyan

SECONDARY COLORS OF LIGHT

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

NOTE:
1. White is the presence of all colors
2. Black is the absence of all colors or the
absence of light.

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Bending of Light
When traveling in open space, light
travels in a straight line (186,000
miles/second). However, when light comes
in contact with an object, it may be bended
in the following manner:

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Reflection of Light
1. Specular or Regular Reflection - If the
reflecting surface is very smooth, the
reflection of light that occurs is called
specular or regular reflection.

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Specular or Regular Reflection

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

2. Diffuse or Irregular Reflection – When

light strikes a rough or granular surface, it
bounces off in all directions due to the
microscopic irregularities of the interface.

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Diffuse or Irregular Reflection

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Refraction
It is the change in direction of a wave due to
a change in its speed. This is most commonly
observed when a wave passes from one medium
to another.

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

The straw seems to be broken, due to refraction of light

as it emerges into the air.
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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Diffraction
It is described as the apparent bending of
waves around small obstacles and the spreading
out of waves past small openings.
It is also described as the bending of light
when it hits a sharp edge of an opaque object.

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 Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Kinds of Objects
1. Transparent objects – allows sufficient visible
light to pass through them that the object on the
other side may be clearly seen.
2. Translucent objects – allows light to pass,
however diffuse it sufficiently that objects on the
other side may not be clearly distinguished. In some
cases the objects on the other side may be
recognizable but sharp detail and outline are
obscured.

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Examples of Diffraction
1. The closely spaced tracks on a CD or DVD
act as a diffraction grating to form the
familiar rainbow pattern we see when
looking at a disk;
2. The hologram (a picture that changes when
looked at from different angles) on a credit
card;

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

3. Opaque objects – so greatly diffuse the light

that recognizing the object on the other side
is very difficult if not impossible.

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Sources of Light
1. Natural Light Source
2. Artificial Light Source

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Natural Light Source (Sunlight)

1. Bright sunlight – a lighting condition where
objects in open space cast a deep and
uniform or distinct shadow.
2. Hazy Sunlight – objects in open space cast a
transparent shadow.
3. Dull Sunlight – objects in open space cast no
shadow.

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Artificial Light Source

Light sources of this category are man-made
and is divided into the continuous radiation and
the short duration.

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Natural Light Source (Sunlight)

Dull Sunlight
1. Cloudy bright – objects in open space
cast no shadow but objects at far distance
are clearly visible.
2. Cloudy dull – objects in open space cast
not shadow and visibility of distant objects
are already limited.

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Light: Its Characteristics & Sources

Forensic Light Sources

1. UV Lamp
2. LASER – Light Amplification through
Simulated Emission of Radiation
3. Alternative Light Sources
4. Forensic Light Sources

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