Prof.

Cabiggat
Police Photography
 The science which deals with the study of the principles of photography and the preparation of
photographic evidence and its application to police work.
 Uses of Photography in
Police Work
Identification
Communication and micro film files
Evidence
Offender detection
Court exhibits
Reproduction or copying
Personnel Training
Crime and fire prevention hazard
Public relations
 Primary ways of using photography in police work
 as a means of identification
 as a method of discovering, recording, and preserving evidence
 as away to present, in the courtroom, an impression of the pertinent elements of a crime
 as a training and public relations medium for police programs.
 Forensic Photography
The process of photographing crime scene or any other objects for court presentation.
 Types of Photography
 Photomacrography
Photographing objects directly enlarged on the negative and magnified from one to nine times.
 Photomicrography
The art of photographing minutes objects when magnified by means of a microscope and enlarge from 10
times and up.
 Infra-red photography
The art or process of photographing or recording unseen objects by means of infra-red light.
 Ultra-violet photography
The art or process of photographing or recording unseen objects by means of ultra-violet lights or filters. It
involves two methods: ultra-violet lamp and ultra-violet filter.
 Microphotography
A very small photograph as encountered in microfilming or with the use of micro-film.
 X-ray photography
The process of photographing or recording the internal structure of the body.
 Astrophotography
It is a specialized type of photography that entails recording images of astronomical objects and large areas of
the night sky.
 Flash photography
Applied to the technique whereby exposures are made with illumination from one or more photographs.
 Mug shot photography
It is usually use for personal identification which is the first use of photography in police work.
 Thermo photography
A kind of photo where we use laser beam radiation using laser beam film.
 Aerial photography
A kind of photography applied for photo mapping.
 Underwater photography

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Photographing things underwater
 Night photography
Technique used to capture images at night.
 Panoramic photography
It involves using specialized equipment or software, that captures images with elongated fields of view. It is
sometimes known as wide format photography.
 Principles of Photography
A photograph is the mechanical and chemical result of photography.
To produce a photograph, light is needed aside from sensitized materials.
Lights reflected or radiated by a subject must reach the sensitized materials while all other lights must be
excluded.
The exclusion of all unwanted and unnecessary lights is achieved by placing the sensitized material inside a
camera.
The amount of light on the sensitized material after exposure is not immediately visible to the eyes.
To make the formed image visible, it must undergo the development process.
The visual effect that results from the chemical processing is depended on the quantity and quality of the
exposing light.
More light will yield an opaque or black shade on the sensitized material after development.
Too little light will produce a transparent or white shade.
The varying shade of gray will finally form the complete image.
EVOLUTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY
 Aristotle (347-322 BC).
 A famous Greek philosopher who invented the first pinhole camera that was known later as Camera
Obscura (Italian word for darkroom chamber) which is literally translated as Darkened Fox.
 CAMERA OBSCURA
 Alhazen (965-1039).
 He found out that light entering a small hole on the wall or shuttered window of a darkened room cast
an upside down picture of the scene outside onto the opposite wall.
 He was considered to be the one invented the camera.
 Jean Baptiste Forta
 He made used of the Camera Obscura and replaced the hole with a lens which made the image
brighter and sharper.
 He was the one who introduced the lens.
 LENS
 Johann Henrich Schulze
 A German scientist (Anatomist) who discovered the Silver Nitrate when he exposed it to light it turned
purple.
 He discovered that the evening action was not due to heat but light.
 He finally concluded that Silver Nitrate is sensitive to light and capable of producing images.
 Thomas Wedgewood (1802)
 He discovered that Silver Chloride is more sensitive than Silver Nitrate and thus, more capable of
recording and producing images.
 Joseph Nicephore Niepce
 By 1822, he claim some success, achieving what he called Points De Vue – smart images made by the
Camera Obscura with more than eight hours exposure.
 He took the world’s very first photograph called Heliography.
 Louise Jacques Mande Daguerre (1838-1839)

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 He invented the principle that Silver plate photograph and using the Daguerro type that produces one
of a kind picture on metal which was presented by French Scientific Academy.
 He invented the Daguerro type in Paris.
 DAGUERROTYPE
 Mathew B. Brady
 When the American Civil War broke out, he was able to preserve the scene with the use of a camera.
 William Henry Fox Talbot (1839)
 He is the Father of Modern Photography.
 He invented the Calotype which produces a negative picture on paper, the light on the image was
recorded as dark and dark as light.
 CALOTYPE
 An image of a latticed window in Lacock Abbey in 1835 by Talbot is a print from the oldest
photographic negative in existence.
 John F.W. Herschel
 He coined the word Photography.
 Frederick Scott Archer (1850)
 He pioneered the wet collodian process which took place of the Collotype known as colodian type
process.
 Ambrotype
 Ferrotype
 Daniel Barbaro
 He introduced the use of the lens in the camera.
 Sir Isaac Newton (1666)
 An 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 (sunlight) to pass through a prism thus refracting and
diffracting the light onto its component parts.
 Maddaox (1884)
 He successfully introduced the plate with gelatin. The roll film came and new brands of cameras with
different lens and mechanism were placed in the market.
 Andre Adulphe Eugene Disperi
 He popularized the small cheap portrait wherein anyone could afford a picture of himself or herself.
 Nadar
 He took the first Aerial photographs of Paris from a free balloon in 1858.
 Sir William Abney
 He discovered the use of Hydroquinone as a developing agent in 1880 in England.
 George Eastman
 Introduced the use of roll film made of celluloid materials for use by a portable camera.
 Wilhelm Roentgen (1895)
 He discovered X-ray photography which later become the basis of Radiograph used by the doctors in
measuring the heartbeat and to see the other structure of the body.
 D.O. Hill and Robert Adamson
 Used photographic portraits in printing.
 Aloh Roemer (Denmark)
 He measured the speed of light in 1676.
 James Clark Maxwell.
 A British scientist who discovered the wavelength structure of light after 20 years of research.
 Colour photographs could be formed using red, green and blue filters.

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 Abel Niepce de Saint-Victor
 He introduced a process of negatives on glass using albumen as a binding medium.
 Louis Desirie Blanquart-Evard
 He introduced a printing paper coated with albumen to achieve a glossy surface.
 Odelbercht(1864)
 He first advocated the use of photography for the identification of criminals and the documentation of
evidence and crime scenes.
 Alphonse Bertillon (1882)
 He initiated anthropometric measurements for personal identification was also involved in various
means of documentation by photography which developed into a fine science of Criminalistics when
he photographed crime scenes and formulated a techniques of contact photography to demonstrate
erasures on documents.
 Dr. R.A. Reis (1902),
 A German scientist who contributed heavily to the use of photography in forensic science and
established the world’s earliest crime laboratory that serviced the academic community and the Swiss
police.
 Victor Baltazard (1910)
 He developed a method of photographic comparison of bullets and cartridge cases which act as an
early foundation of the field of ballistics.
 Edwin H. Land (1947)
 He introduced Polaroid – one-step photography.
 Gabriel Lippmann (1908)
 He won the Nobel Laureate in Physics for his method of reproducing colors photographically based on
the phenomenon of interference, also known as Lippman plate.
 D.A. Woodward (1857)
 First constructed an enlarger.
 Wothly
 He made a few improvements to Woodward's solar camera, and exhibited portraits almost at life size.
Wothly's solar camera was a monstrosity! The condenser had a diameter of 1 metre. The heat of the
condensed rays of sun was such that one had to have water troughs built in.
 Draper (1840)
 First ever reference to an enlarging process can be attributed to Draper. In 1840 he wrote: "Exposures
are made with a very small camera on very small plates. They are subsequently enlarged to the
required size in a larger camera on a rigid stand.
 Griffin and Sons
 They made the simple daylight enlarger.
 Steven Sasson(1975)
 An American Electrical Engineer who invented the digital camera.
 IMPORTANT DATES
 16th century
 Italian scholars used the camera as a drawing apparatus. Instead of using a darkroom, they used box
with a lens and placed a mirror.
 17th century
 Camera Obscura was built-in with convex lens.
 1800
 Thomas Wedgewood and Humphey Davy produced photograms.
 PHOTOGRAM
 1839

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 The birth year of modern photography, the year when the Science of Photography became a public
knowledge.
 1850
 The year when photography was already well-developed. It was used as an art concerned with
landscape, portraiture and architectural presentation.
 1835
 The year when colored films, sensitized materials and different brands of cameras came in different
types and model sold in the market.
 1859
 In the United States, one of the earliest applied Forensic Science was in photography. It was used to
demonstrate evidence in a California case. Enlarged photographs of a signature were presented in a
court case involving forgery.
 1890
 Full corrected lens were introduced.
 1906
 A plate was placed on the market that could reproduce all colors in equivalent shades of gray.
 1907
 Lummiere color process was introduced. A panchromatic film was used but with blue, green and red
filter.
 1935
 Color process came out together with electronic flash.
 1960
 LASER was invented making possible Holograms – tri-dimensional pictures.
 1970
 Colored photography has matured as an artistic medium.
 1981
 Sony unveiled the firs consumer camera to use a charge-couple device for imaging, eliminating the
need for film. The Sony Mavica saved images to disk, the images were displayed on television, and the
camera was not fully digital.
 1988
 Arrival of true digital cameras.
 1990
 Kodak unveiled the DCS 100, the first commercially available digital cameras.
 LENS
 A system of one or more pieces of glass bounded by spherical surfaces the center of which is at a
common axis termed as lens axis.
 Two Main Types of Lens According to Shape
 Convergent or Positive or Convex Lens.
 Negative or Concave or Biconcave Lens
 Convergent or Positive or Convex Lens
 It is always thicker at the center and thinner at the side.
 Light passing through it are bended toward each other on the other side of the lens meeting at a
certain point.
 It produces a real image on the opposite side of the lens or where light is coming from.
 Negative or Concave or Biconcave Lens
 It is always thinner at the center and thicker at the sides.
 Light passing through it are bended away from each other as if coming from a point.
 It produces a virtual image on the same side of the lens or where light is coming from.

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 Three Basic Categories of Lens
 Normal lens
 Wide angle lens
 Telephoto lens
 Normal lens
 One with a focal length equal to the diagonal measure of the image area.
 The normal lens is usually standard equipment on a camera, and is intermediate between wide angle
and telephoto lens.
 The picture angle is 45° up to 75° which corresponds to the viewing angle of the human eye.
 Wide angle lens
 It has a shorter focal length than the normal lens and as a result, it covers a picture angle 60° wider
than normal lens.
 It enables photographing a widely extended scene from a close proximity or within a confined area.
 In police work, the wide angle lens should be used under restricted conditions when the photographer
is able to cover the desired picture area with a longer focal length.
 Telephoto lens or long focus lens
 It has a longer focal length and provides a close-up image of a distant subject.
 In contrast to the wide angle lens, the telephoto covers a smaller field of view and a shallower depth of
field.
 Production of a flat composition, far objects appear enlarged while near object do not appear
proportionally large.

Main Groups of Camera Lens
 Simple Miniscus Lens.
 Rapid Rectilinear Lens.
 Anastigmatic lens.
 Achromatic lens.
 Process lens.
 Fixed Focus lens.
 Simple Miniscus Lens
 This is usually found in simple or box camera comprises a single piece of glass with one side convex and
other side concave.
 It is uncorrected lens and therefore suffers from inherent defects of lenses.
 Rapid Rectilinear Lens
 It is a combination of two achromatic lens with almost the same focal length.
 This is corrected from some kind of lens defect but not an astigmatism defect.
 Anastigmatic lens
 A lens which is free from astigmatism or other types of lens defect.
 Achromatic lens
 A lens which is partly corrected from achromatic aberration.
 Achromatic- refracting light w/o dispersing it into its consistent colors:giving images free from
extraneous colors.(black,white, and gray =no hue)
 Process lens
 A saucer-corrected lens for astigmatism.
 It has a better color correction and has the ability to produce the best definition of image in the
photographs.
 Fixed Focus lens
 A lens used in all fixed focus camera.

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 Basically, it has a short focal length and greater depth of field.
 Special Types of Lens
 Macro lens.
 Zoom lens.
 Macro lens
 The word macro was derived from a Greek word which means to “enlarge”.
 In photographic terms, a macro lens is designed with extended focusing capabilities to shoot few
inches from a subject.
 Zoom lens
 Allows quick adjustment to give a wide or narrow field of vision.
 It can be moved back and forth while other elements stay in place which gives the same effect as if the
camera itself was moving towards or away from the subject.
 Forms of Optical Aberration
 Spherical aberration
 The focusing at different points of rays passing through different parts of spherical lens.
 It occurs because light hitting the outer part of the lens is bent more sharply and comes to a focus
sooner than passing through the middle.
 The image is blurred.
 Chromatic aberration
 The failure of different colored light rays to focus after passing through a lens, focusing of light of
different colors at different points resulting in a blurred image.
 In chromatic aberration, colored fringes surround the image because light of different colors is brought
to different focal points by a lens.
 Astigmatism
 The ability of the lens to bring horizontal and vertical lines in the subject to the same plane of focus in
the image.
 It occurs at the edge of image, the image appears elliptical or cone-shaped because of an irregularity in
the curvature of the lens.
 Coma
 It occurs when light falling obliquely (not direct,neitgher perpendicular nor parallel,having a slante
position) on the lens and passing through different circular zones is brought to a focus at different
distances from the film plane.
 A spot of light appears to have tail rather like a comet.
 Curvature of Field
 A curved, concave or saucer shaped image of an object which has a flat surface.
 The image distance is different for different points of the object due to their different distance from
the axis.
 Distortion
 Inability to produce the same enlargement in the image formed by the edges of the lens as in that part
formed by the center of the lens.
 Flare or optical flare
 A result of double reflection from inner lens surfaces.
 It exhibits self as a misty, hazy or cloudy semi-circular path of light.
 Mechanical flare
 Bright spot on the film caused by stray light from worn shiny parts of the lens such as the stops,
shutter, lens mount or from inside the camera itself.
 Light loss

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 Most corrected lenses are coated with a substance which will reduce one type of flare and which will
also increase the optics inability to transmit light, thus reducing light loss.
 Stray light
 It can be reduced or eliminated by using the proper lens shade placed on the front of the lens or shield.
 FILTERS
 These are discs of glass or negative which when placed in front of the camera lens stop one or another
color of light from passing through in striking the film.
 Usually they are used only for black and white photography and even then should not be used for most
police photography.
 These are usually made of glass or gelatin materials placed in front of or before the lens.
 These are used to change the composition of available light before allowing it to strike the film.
 A transparent colored medium employed to regulate either the color or the intensity of the light used
to expose the film.
 Uses of Filters in Photography
 Clear filters
 It is also known as window glass filters or optical flats, are completely transparent, and ideally perform
no filtering of incoming light at all.
 The only use of a clear filter is to protect the front of the lens.
 UV Filter
 This is used to reduce haziness created by ultraviolet light.
 Mostly transparent to visible light, and can be left o the lens for nearly all shots.
 Often used for lens protection, much like clear filters.
 Color Correction
 A major use is to compensate for the effects of lighting not balanced for the film stock’s rated color
temperature.
 The use of these filters has been greatly reduced by the widespread adoption of digital photography,
since color balance problems are now often addressed with software after the image is captured, or
with camera settings as the image is captured.
 Color conversion filters
• These are with odd reference number which is yellowish or orange, for lowering the color
temperature of the light.
• Filters with even numbers are bluish and raise the color temperature.
• These set filters change a particular light source by the amount required for a particular film
type.
 Color compensating filters
• These are best bought as gelatins of various tints and strengths. These allow you to “fine tune”
adjustments towards warmer or colder results due to batch variations, working conditions, non-
standard light sources.
 Color subtraction filters
 These work by absorbing certain colors of light, letting the remaining colors through.
 They can be used to demonstrate the primary colors that make up an image.
 They are perhaps most frequently used in the printing industry for color separations, and again, use
has diminished as digital solutions have become more advanced and abundant.
 Contrast enhancement
 Filters are commonly used in black and white photography to manipulate contrast.
 For example a yellow filter will enhance the contrast between clouds and sky by darkening the latter.
 Polarizer
 CIRCULAR POLARIZER

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 These are specifically designed for use with auto-focus SLR cameras.
 They will also work on manuals systems without problems.
 LINEAR POLARIZER FILTER
 These are used with most video and manual focus photo cameras.
 They are not recommended for auto focus SLR cameras.
 Types of Filters
 Blue filters
 These can be used effectively when photographing blood in black and white.
 When used outdoors, it will make the sky or any blue objects appear white in the photograph.
 Green filters
Used in place of the blue filter for photographing blood often they work better than the blue filter.
 GREEN FILTERS
 Yellow Filter
 It can be used to photograph white cars; the details of the car will stand out.
 Yellow filters also cut through haze to certain extent and can be used with good results to photograph
an accident on a hazy day.
 Ultraviolet Filter
 It is not a filter for ultraviolet photography rather it is a filter which screen out the violet end of the
spectrum.
 When placed in front of a lens, it will not only improve most of the police photographer’s work but it
will also prevent his lens from being scratched.
 Special 18A Deep Purple Filter
 It is the correct filter for ultraviolet photography.
 These are often used in photography; its short wavelength gives better definition of the fine details.
 Polarizing filter
 It is used to cut down light transmission. They do no otherwise affect the color or tonal quality of the
scene.
 It polarizes reflected light from a non-metallic surface such as water and reduced reflection in the
photograph.
 It is the only filter than can increase the blue saturation in the sky in a color photograph.
 Filter Classification
 contrast
 correction
 haze
 sky
 polarizing filter
 LIGHT BALANCING FILTER
 A filter used to change the color quantity of the exposing light in order to secure proper color balance
for artificial light films.
 Color compensating filter
 This is used to change the over-all color balance of photographic result obtained with color films and to
compensate for deficiencies in the quality of the exposing energy.
 Neutral density filter
This filter is used when the light is too bright to allow the use of the desired f-number or shutter speed
with a particular film.
 NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTER
 NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTER
 Polarizing filter

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 This is used to reduce or minimize reflections on subjects like water, glass, and highly polished
surfaces.
 SENSITIZED MATERIALS
 Definition of Terms
Film
 It is a cellulose tape or plate where silver salts are suspended capable of recording light.
 Its primary function is to record the image that is focused upon it by the lens of the camera.
 Latent image
 Photographic paper
 A type of light sensitized material that produces a positive result or photographs after development
which is the final result of photography.
 A material suspended with emulsion.
 Film Speed
 It is determined by the ASA number of the film that ranges from ASA 25, 50, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800,
1000 or 2000.
 This implies that the higher the ASA number, the more sensitive the film is when exposed to light.
 Lower ASA film are very good or commonly used in document photography purpose which is
commonly used in a dim or well lighted room, records images in split second and could record moving
objects.
 Exposure index
 It refers to the film rating or the number of the exposed film.
 Graininess
 It is the granular appearance of the enlarged image.
 Silver halide crystals
 It carry minute specks of metallic silver – so called sensitivity specks with amount in mass to about 1/1,
000, 000, 000 part of the silver halide crystal.
 It is a compound of silver with fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine crystal.
 Electric charge on the specks attract silver ions from the neighboring silver halides, and as the silver
ions accumulate, they become metallic silver, causing the speck to grow halides (e.g. bromide) ions at
the same time migrate to the surface of the silver halide crystal and are absorbed by the gelatin
emulsion.
 Panchromatic film
 It is sensitive to all colors especially blue and violet. It is suitable for general use in the preparation of
black and white photographs.
 Blue sensitive film
 A film especially treated that makes it more sensitive to blue rays of light.
 Orthochromatic or Kodalith Film
 Sensitive to all colors except red. Good for fingerprint photography or document (high contrast).
 Minicopy film
 Polaroid Film
 A special type of sensitized material that produces a photograph immediately after exposure.
 Color film
 Color Film
 Color negatives – for prints, ends in the word “COLOR”.
 Color transparency – for slides, ends in the word “CHROME”.
 Color Negatives
 Color infra red film
 A special type of film which is sensitive to infra-red radiation.

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 It is also sensitive to violet and blue green.
 It is useful in penetrating haze because of its longer wavelength.
 In investigative photography, it is useful in laboratory analysis of questionable documents.
 In the discovery of old or faded tattoos or areas where small objects are hidden under the skin, and in
the construction of camera traps.
 X-ray film
 A material which is sensitive to the X-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
 Layers of a Color Film
 Halo
 Characteristics of Black and White Films
 Emulsion speed
 The different indicators of emulsion speed are as follows:
 ASA (American Standard Association) rating – expressed in arithmetical value.
 DIN (Deutche Industri Normen) rating – expressed in logarithmic value.
 ISO (International Standard Organization) rating – expressed in the combined arithmetical and
logarithmic values.
 Spectral sensitivity
 The different classifications of films as according to its spectral sensitivity are:
 Blue sensitive film – sensitive to ultraviolet rays and blue light only.
 Orthochromatic film – sensitive to ultraviolet rays and blue light only.
 Panchromatic film – sensitive to ultraviolet radiation to blue, green and red light or all colors.
 Infra-red film – sensitive to ultraviolet rays to blue, green, red light and infra-red rays.
 Granularity or graininess
 This refers to the size of the metallic silver grains that are formed after development of an exposed
film.
 The sizes of the metallic silver grains are dependent on the emulsion speed of the film and the type of
developing solution that is used in processing.
 The rule is: The lower the emulsion speed rating of the film, the finer is the grain and conversely, the
higher the emulsion speed rating of the film, the bigger are the grains.
 Likewise, a film developer will produce a finer grain than a paper developer when used for film
processing.
 Photographic papers
 Modern photographic papers are basically composed of a light sensitive coating (emulsion) on a paper
base or support.
 The emulsion suspended on a gelatin is generally made of silver halide salts.
 To withstand the rigors of soaking in chemical solution and water during processing and washing, as
well as the variety of degree in humidity and temperature, the base is made of wood pulp.
 Wood pulp
 Emulsion speed
 chloride paper – has a slow speed and is suited for contact printing
 bromide paper – has a fast speed and is recommended for projection printing or enlarging
 chloro-bromide paper – a multi-speed and could be used in both contact printing and enlarging
 Contact printing
 Projection printing
 Exposure and development latitude
 Exposure latitude=the range of exposures within which a film or plate will produce a negative or
positive of satisfacory quality.

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 – generally, photographic papers do not have wide exposure latitude so exposure must be
critical at all times.
 Development latitude – papers that do not change appreciable in contrast and image tone with
reasonable variations in development has good latitude. For best quality, the developing time
should be as near as those prescribed by the manufacturer.
 Contrast grade or range
 In black and white printing, it is often necessary to adjust the paper contrast so they can yield a natural
scene result from negatives with density range that are either too low or too high.
 Some papers are available in several contrast range or grade while others have built-in contrast control
effected by the use of a filter on the enlarging lens or one the enlarger light source.
 Physical characteristics
 Surfaces of photographic papers vary in surface texture or degrees gloss or sheen. They are the
glossy and smooth, semi matte or silk, and the matte or the rough surface.
 Base weight or thickness. Under this category, we have the light weight, single weight, medium
weight, and the double weight.
 Color maybe “cold” or white with a very slight blue cast, and the “warm” or “cream” where the
white light has a slight yellow brown line.

Aggalao, J.L B. Page 12