FORENSIC CHAPTER I • OVERWIEW ON PHOTOGRAPHY and HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

What is Photography?

Is the Art and Science of Reproducing Image by means of Light through some Sensitized material with
the aid of a Camera and its Accessories and the Chemical process required in order to produced a
photograph.

Photography - to write with light, from the two Greek words, "Phos" which means light and "Grapho"
which writing or "Graphia" meaning to draw. Forensic derived from the Latin words "Forum" which
means a market place where people gather for public discussion. It is sometimes used interchangeably
with the word LEGAL.

Police Photography - It 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 - the art or science of photographically documenting a crime scene and evidence
for laboratory examination and analysis for purposes of court trial.

Photograph - a mechanical and chemical result of photography.

Picture- derived from the latin word "Pictura" meaning "a painting" or "pictus" which means "painted
one". It is a generic term referring to all kinds of formed image. It is a representation made by various
means such as painting, drawing, or photography.

Police Photography - is a versatile tool of invesetigation!

Important Personalities in Police Photography

1. Joseph Nicephore Niepce - was able to obtain camera images on paper sensitized with silver chloride
solution in 1816. He invented a photographic process which he called "heliography" meaning writing of
the sun.

2. Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre - invented "Daguerreotype", an early photograph produced on a

silver or silver covered copper plate. It formed an image directly on the silver surface of a metal plate. It
was a positive process. Thus, it yielded one of a kind images.

3. William Henry Fox Talbot- invented a a process called "calotype", a photographic process by which a
large number of prints could be produced from a paper negative. Calotype use paper with surface fibers
impregnated with light sensitive compounds.

4. John Frederick William Herchel- coned the term photography and applied the terms negative and
positive to photography. He made improvements in photographic processes, particularly in inventing the
"cyanotype" process and variations (such as the chrysotype) the precursors of the modern blueprint
5. Richard Leach Maddox- was as English photographer and physician who invented "Light wright
gelatin negative plate" for photography in 1871.

[Link] 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 either and alcohol and
other chemicals on sheet of glass.

[Link] Eastman-founded the Eastman Kodak company and invented mil film, helping bring
photography to the mainstream.

USES OF PHOTOGRAPHY

1. Personal Identification - is considered to be the first application of photography in police work.

Alphonse Bertillon was the first police who utilized photography in a police work as a supplementary
identification in his anthropometry stem (Bertillonage)

2. Communication- photograph is considered to be one of the most universal method of communication

considering that no other language can be known universally than photograph

3. Record Purposes- considered as the utmost use of photography is Police work. Photography is
considered as a versatile tool of investigation. Rogue's Gallery

4. Court Exhibits - almost all evidence presented in court before formally accepted requires that they
satisfy the basic requirements for admissibility which are relevancy and competency.

5. Crime Prevention - with the use of video camera and other advanced photographic equipments,
crimes are being detected more easily and even to the extent of preventing them from initially occurring.

6. Police Training - modern photography is now being used as instructional material not only in police
training but also in other activities in other agencies.

7. Reproduction and copying - with the use of photography, any number of reproductions of the
evidence can be made those giving unlimited opportunity for its examination and even allow other
experts or persons to examine the specimen without compromising the original. 8. Discovering and
proving - photography can extend human vision in discovering and proving things such as the use of
magnification.

9. Public Relations - Slides, computer presentations, and videotapes that pertain to safety programs,
juvenile delinquency, traffic education, and public cooperation and homeland security.

MAGNIFICATION IN PHOTOGRAPHY

1. Photomicrography - taking a magnified photograph of small objects through attaching a camera to the
ocular compound microscope so as to show a minute details of the physical evidence. It is just shooting
pictures using microscope.

2. Microphotography - is taking photographs on extremely small film (Micro film) to produce tiny images
that can only be seen when magnified. It is a production, by optical reduction, of very small photographs
from much larger subjects
3. Photomacrography - use synonymously with macrophotography. It is the taking of a magnified or
enlarged photograph on small objects without the use of microscope, by attaching an extended macro
lens or tube lens to the camera. It is the art of taking extreme close-up photographs of small subjects
such as insects, flowers or other small objects.

4. Telephotography process of taking photograph of a far object with the aid of telephotolens.

Importance and Objectives of Photography

• One of the main goals of crime scene investigation is to understand exactly what happened at the
scene. Photography helps to make this clear.

• Good pictures of the whole crime scene and of the individual pieces of evidence preserve the crime
scene in a sense so that investigators can go over it again and again in ways that they could not do with
the actual physical scene.

• Photographs allow investigators to look at exactly where each object was found and what was around
it. This allows them a much more complete understanding of the events that happened than they would
have if they only had the evidence separate from its context.

Objectives of the Photography in Crime Scene Investigation

1. To record the condition of the scene before alterations occur.

2. To record the location of the scene.

3. To record the position and condition of evidence.

4. To document the point of view of the persons involved and witnesses.

5. To document the spatial relationships of pertinent items.

6. To convey the look of the scene to investigators, attorneys, and jurors who will not have the
opportunity to view the scene firsthand.

7. To be used as a tool for crime scene reconstruction efforts.

8. To assist in portraying an accurate picture of the crime scene during courtroom testimony.

9. To refresh the memory of those involved in the investigation.

Basic Importance of Crime Scene Photography

1. Refresh Memory

2. Preserve time and event

3. Save money and effort

Four primary ways to use photography in police work

1. As a means of identification

2. As a method of discovering, recording, and preserving image

3. As a way to present, in the courtroom

4. As a training and public relations medium for police programs

FORENSIC PHOTOGRAPHY DIVISION

- The PNP Crime Laboratory has its own Forensic Photography Division whose personnel perform the
following functions/capabilities:

1. Photograph suspects and crime victims for personal identification;

2. Photograph evidence submitted to the laboratory before examination;

3. Conduct crime scene photography;

4. Conduct crime scene sketching;

5. Conduct comparative examination and analysis of questioned photographs against known

photographs;

6. Conduct lectures to different police/military training institutions, government agencies and

public/private schools upon request;

7. Reproduce photographs and other printed materials;

8. Sketch facial features of suspects based on actual description by the witness or victims for
identification;

9. Attend court duties.

Principles of Photography

A photograph is a mechanical result of phography. To produce a photograph, light (electromagnetic

radiation) is needed. Light radiated or reflected by the subject must reach sensitized material (film) in
controlled amount. The exclusion of all other lights to be recorded on the sensitized material inside the
light tight box (camera) is controlled by the lens.

The five Elements considered in Photography

1. Light/Electromagnetic Radiation - the source of it may either be natural or artificial light

2. Camera - a light tight box which may be or different type, size and use

3. Sensitized Material - material which are sensitive to light such as the films and photographic paper.
4. Chemical process - a process in photography which involves use of chemicals to develop and fix latent
prints on the film and to develop and fix image onto the photographic paper. The process involves time,
temperature, concentration of solution and degree of agitation.

5. Subject or Object - this refers to animate and inanimate things, person or material which shall be the
subject or object in photography

Basic Photography Principle

1. Light - the essence of photography is all about light and this is the ingredient for image
documentations. Photography is the act of creating images on an imaging sensor by capturing the
reflected light off an object or scene.

2. Exposure. Exposure is the total amount of light that hits the sensor of a camera. It is controlled by the
amount of light entering the camera and the duration or how long the light hits the sensor. Exposure is
ultimately responsible for the formation of the image. Essentially, light and its effect on exposure creates
the picture.

3. Light Metering. Inside most cameras is a device called the light meter. The light meter is responsible
for reading the amount of light entering the camera and determining or making suggestions for what
settings should be used for that exposure situation.

4. Shutter Speed- The shutter controls the duration of the exposure. The shutter is usually built inside
the camera; however, some cameras have a mechanical shutter contained in the lens or can be an
electronic shutter.

5. Aperture- The opening in the lens that controls the light entering the camera is called the aperture,
The aperture is controlled by an iris which is composed of several blades that increase and decrease the
diameter of the opening to control the light. Apertures are in the camera's lens and control the amount
of light transmitted by the lens that will enter the camera used to expose on the imaging sensor.

6. Exposure Compensation or Exposure Value (EV) - Exposure compensation on cameras adjusts the
camera's automatic exposure setting as metered by the camera.

7. Bracketing Exposure - Bracketing is a method of taking multiple images of a scene or object using
different exposures ranging from overexposed to normal to underexposed.

8. Exposure Mode - The exposure modes are commonly found located on a dial on top of the camera or
can be changed in the camera's menus.

9. IOS International Organization of Standardization). IOS (International Organization of

Standardization) - is the sensitivity rating of the camera's sensor. You may recognize the abbreviation
from film, as it was used to rate the sensitivity of film. The higher the number the more sensitive to light
the film was, and therefore it was more desirable to use in low-light situations.

10. White Balance - White balance (also called cołor balance) is a very important setting on a digital
camera. It allows the photographer to adjust the camera for different sources of light. White balance is
essential because each source of light has its own color temperature.
Important Personalities

Aristotle - Discovered that by passing sunlight through a pinhole, it could create a reversed image of the
Sun on the ground.

Ali Al-Hazem ibn Al-Haytham - He invented the first pinhole camera, also known as the camera obscura.

Leonardo Da Vinci (1490) - Wrote the earliest surviving description of a camera obscura

Giovani Battista Della Porta The first to be able to manipulate the image using a camera obscura fitted
with Convex lenses and miror

Johann Zahn - A German monk who invented a camera obscura that was just 9 inches high and 24
inches long. Inside the box was a mirror placed at a 45-degree angle to the lens. The mirror reflected the
image to the top of the box, where he had placed a sheet of frosted glass.