1

FORENSIC PHOTOGRAPHY (PRELIM) experiments with candles and described how

the image is formed by rays of light
DEFINITION OF TERMS travelling in straight lines.
A. Photography 3. Chemicals- Light sensitivity of silver
1. Literal Definition: The word photograph nitrate and silver chloride solution
is a derivation of two Greek words “phos” was discovered and investigated.
which means light and “graphia” meaning • Silver halide- is a chemical compound
write. Therefore, photography best and has been used in photographic
translates to “write with light.” film and paper for hundreds of years.
2. Modern Definition: It is an art or It is one of the compounds formed
science which deals with the reproduction of between silver and one of the
images through the action of light, upon halogens- silver bromide (AgBr), silver
sensitized materials, with the aid of a chloride (AgCl), silver iodide (AgI)
camera and its accessories, and the 4. Sensitized Material
chemical processes involved therein. • - Refers to the film and photographic
B. Police Photography paper that basically composed of
It is an art or science which deals the emulsion-containing silver halides
study of the principles of photography, the suspended in gelatin and coated on a
preparation of photographic evidence, and transparent or reflective support.
its application to police work. Photographic Film
C. Forensic Photography Photographic film is a
It is the art or science of documenting material that is used in
a crime scene and evidence for laboratory photographic cameras for recoding images.
examination and analysis for purposes of It is made of transparent plastic in a shape
court. of a strip or sheet and it has one side
covered with light-sensitive silver halide
BASIC ELEMENTS OF PHOTOGRAPHY crystals made into a gelatinous emulsion.
1. Light – the days of creation - And Photographic paper
God said, “Let there be light” and ● is a paper coated with a light-sensitive
there was light. God saw the light was chemical formula, like photographic
good, and he separated the light from film, used for making photographic
the darkness. God called the light prints.
“day” and the darkness called “night”.
And there was evening and there was TRUE PHOTOGRAPHY
morning. – The first day (Genesis The Daguerreotype and the Calotype
chapter 1, verses 1-3) were the first widely usable photographic
2. Equipment/ MECHANICAL- The processes to be introduced to the world. The
portable camera obscura (Latin for very makeup of the two methods would go
dark chamber) was used by the on to create some of the aesthetic building
artist or painters to get accurate blocks of present photography, as well as
perspective of natural scene and scale influence an era to continue the active
invention of ever newer and more practical
photographic methods, all while changing
the very face of art.
The Daguerreotype and the Calotype
were the first to succeed in what we know
today as standard photographic process.
These two seemingly similar yet wholly
different processes came about at roughly
the same time in history by two entirely
different individuals attempting to succeed
of their subjects. in the same outcome; to create a method by
which light focused into image could be
Alhazen (or Ibn al-Haytham) is said to permanently affixed to a media in a lasting
have actually invented the camera obscura, and easily viewable manner.
as well as the pinhole camera which is based
on the same idea. He carried out DAGUERREOTYPE
2

Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre- He made •1907 – Lumiere color was introduced,
a public demonstration in Paris a panchromatic film was used with
“Daguerreotype” in collaboration with blue, green and red filter. The
Joseph Nicephore Niepce. The Autochrome Lumière was an
“Daguerreotype” formed an image directly early color photography process
on the silver surface on a metal plate. It is patented in 1903 by
known as the first commercially successful the Lumière brothers in France.
photographic process. • 1914 – George Eastman, who founded
CALOTYPE the Eastman Kodak company which
William Henry Fox Talbot explained a created “Kodachrome”.
process he had invented (calotype) at the Kodachrome is the brand name for a
Royal Society of London. The “calotype” color reversal film introduced
(beautiful picture) used paper with its by Eastman Kodak in 1935.
surface fibers impregnated with light • 1947 – Edwin H. Land introduced
sensitive compounds. This manner of “Polaroid” the one step photography.
photography was already a negative-positive • 1988 – The arrival of true digital
process and had two phases: first, creation cameras.
of a paper negative and, second, its re- REKNOWN DIGITAL CAMERAS
copying into a paper positive. • FUJI DS-1P -The first true digital
camera that recorded images as a
1839: Birth Year of Photography computerized file which recorded to a
IN THE YEAR 1839, two remarkable 16MB internal memory that used a
processes that would revolutionize our battery to keep the data in memory.
perceptions of reality were announced The camera was never marketed in
separately in London and Paris; both the USA.
represented responses to the challenge of • KODAK DCS 100- The first
permanently capturing the fleeting images commercially available digital camera.
reflected into the camera obscura. It used a 1.3-megapixel sensor, had a
bulky external digital storage system
John William Draper took the and was priced at 13,000 dollars.
first daguerreotype of the moon in 1839 or • CASIO QV-10 -The world’s first
1840 from a rooftop in New York. consumer camera with a Liquid
Crystal Display (LCD) on the back.
IMPORTANT DATES IN THE FIELD OF • KODAK DC 25- The first camera to
PHOTOGRAPHY use compact flash as a storage
• 1848 – Abel Niepce de Saint-Victor medium.
introduced a process of negatives
using egg white as binding medium. Criminal Applications of Photography
• 1850 – Louis Desirie Blanquart- • 1854 – An Englishman, Maddox,
Evard introduced a printing paper developed a dry plate photography
coated with albumen to achieve a eclipsing Daguerre’s wet plate. This
glossy surface. made practical the photography of
• 1885 – During this time, the cameras inmates for prison records.
were crude, the lenses could not form • 1859 – In the United States, one of
a true image, the sensitive materials the earliest applied forensic sciences
required long exposures and could not was in photography. It was used to
reproduced colors. demonstrate evidence in a California
• It was 1856 when John Herschel case. Enlarged photographs of
coined the word “PHOTOGRAPHY.” signature was presented in a court
• 1861 – James Clark Maxwell case involving forgery.
researched on colors. • 1864 – Odelbercht first advocate the
• 1890 – full corrected lenses were use of photography for the
introduced. identification of criminals and the
• 1906 – A plate was placed on the documentation of evidence and crime
market that could reproduce all scenes. Early photographs of accused
colors. and arrested persons were beautifully
posed as example of the Victorian
3

photographers. Later, every major But Will West was not being coy about
police force in England and the a previous visit to Leavenworth. Will
United States has “Rogue’s gallery.” insisted to McClaughry that it was not
ROGUE’S GALLERY- originated in him: “That’s my picture, but I don’t know
the US in the mid-19th century as a where you got it, for I know I have never
term for the collected images of been here before.”
known criminals. When Mr. McClaughry turned over
• 1882 – Alphonse Bertillon who William West’s record card, he found it
initiated anthropometric was that of a man already in the
measurements for personal Penitentiary who had been admitted
identification was also involved in there two years previously, serving a life
various means of documentation by sentence for murder.
photography which developed into a Subsequently, the fingerprints of Will
fine science for Criminalistics when West and William West were impressed
he photographed crime scenes. and compared. To Mr. McClaughry’s
Anthropometric measurements surprise, the patterns bore no
included weight, height, body mass resemblance, both were totally different
index (BMI), body circumference
(arm, waist, hip and calf), waist to hip
ratio (WHR), elbow amplitude and
knee-heel length.

The Will and William West case: The

identical inmates that showed the
need for fingerprinting, 1903
The man above was called Will West, the
from each other.

• 1902 – Dr. R.A. Reis, a German

scientist trained in Chemistry and
Physics at Lausanne University in
Switzerland. He contributed heavily to
the use of photography in forensic
science and established the world’s
man below William West, and they were earliest crime laboratory that serviced
both sentenced to jail at Leavenworth the academic community and the
Penitentiary in Kansas over a century Swiss police. His interests included
years ago. photography of crime scenes, corpses,
The arrival of Will West in 1903 and evidence.
caused the records clerk, M.W. • 1910 – Victor Baltazar developed a
McClaughry, at the prison considerable method of photographic comparison
confusion, because he was convinced, of bullets and cartridge cases which
he’d processed him two years previously. acts as an early foundation of the field
When he was asked, Will West denied of ballistics.
his previous imprisonment there, but Mr. Criminology Education
McClaughry ran the Bertillon • 1902 – Dr. R.A. Reis, professor at the
instruments over him anyway. He knew University of Lausanne Switzerland
the reluctance of criminals to admit past set up one of the first academic
crimes. Sure enough, when Mr. curricular in forensic science. His
McClaughry referred to the formula forensic Photography Department
derived from West’s Bertillon grew into Lausanne Institute of Police
measurements, he located the file of one Science.
William West, whose measurements were • 1950 – August Vollmer, Chief of
practically identical and whose Police of Berkeley, California
photograph appeared to be that of the established the school of criminology
new prisoner. at the University of California,
Berkeley. Paul Kirk presided over the
4

major of Criminalistics within the • Desire Charles Emanuel Van

school. Monckhoven- He was Belgian
• 1954 – In the Philippines, the school chemist and photographer who
which pioneered criminology became one of the foremost
education is the Plaridel Educational photographic scientists of the 19th
Institution now the Philippine College century. In 1878, he perfected the
of Criminology. preparation of silver bromide gelatin
Other Important Personalities in the emulsion in the presence of ammonia.
Field of Photography In 1879, he improved the manufacture
• Daniel Barbaro- He was an Italian of dry plates and sold emulsion to dry
who encouraged the use of the plate factories.
camera obscura for artistic endeavors. • EMULSION- Photographic emulsions
• Angelo Sala- a self-educated chemist, are light-sensitive coatings on film
he discovered that when paper made up of grains of micron-sized
contained powdered silver nitrate it silver halide or bromide crystals
would react with sunlight, causing it suspended in a gelatin. When you
to darken. These pioneering expose the photosensitive crystals to
experiments with silver salts were a light, they undergo a chemical change
crucial step towards the later that allows images to appear on
invention of photography. He bases.
published his findings in a pamphlet • Hermann Wilhelm Vogel- He was a
in 1614. German photo chemist and
• Anna Atkins- (1799- 1871) an English photographer, who discovered dye
Botanist, she is considered to be the sensitization, which is of great
first female photographer. importance to photography.
• Christiaan Huygens- He was a • DYE SENSITIZATION- the
prominent Dutch mathematician and producing of panchromatic or
scientist. He is known particularly as orthochromatic film by treating it with
an astronomer, physicist, probabilist an emulsion containing dyes that
and horologist. He worked out on the absorb light of all or certain colors.
wave theory of light in 1678 and • Louis Arthur Ducos Du Hauron- He
published it on his treatise on light in was a French pioneer of color
1690. Wave theory speculates that a photography. He worked on
light source emits light waves that developing practical processes for
spread in all directions. color photography on the three-color
• Johann Zahn- He was the 17th principle, using both additive and
century German author of “Oculus subtractive methods.
Artificialis Teledioptricus Sive • Dr. Rodolphe Archibald Reiss- He
Telescopium”. His work contains was a publicist, a chemist, a professor
many descriptions and diagrams, at the University of Lausanne and a
illustrations and sketches of both the famous forensic scientist. He
camera obscura and magic lantern, published two major forensic science
along with various other lanterns, books “Photographie Judiciaire”
slides, projection types, peepshow (Forensic Photography) and “Manuel
boxes, microscopes, telescopes, de police scientifique I Vols et
reflectors and lenses. Homicides” (Handbook of Forensic
• Isaac Newton- He was an English Science I: Theft and Homicides)
physicist and mathematician • Oskar Barnack- He was a German
described in his own day as a “natural optical engineer, precision mechanic,
philosopher” who is widely recognized industrial engineer and the “father of
as one of the most influential the 35 mm photography.”
scientists of all time and a key figure • Joseph Nicéphore Niépce- He was a
in the scientific revolution. He French inventor, usually credited with
formulated the Theory of Color. He the invention of photography. Niépce
demonstrated that clear white light developed heliography, Heliography is
was composed of seven visible a photographic process that was
colors. invented by Nicéphore Niepce. In
5

some cases – it is still used today SOURCES OF LIGHT

(mainly for photo engraving). It was • Natural Light- These is coming from
the process of Heliography that nature like the sun, moon, stars, other
created the first and earliest known heavenly bodies, lightning, fire, etc.
permanent photograph, taken from a 1. Bright sunlight- a lighting
nature scene. condition where objects in open
space cast a deep and uniform or
PHOTOGRAPHIC RAYS – ITS distinct shadow.
NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS 2. Hazy sunlight- Objects in open
Light space cast a transparent shadow.
Light- is defined as an electromagnetic 3. Dull sunlight- Objects in open
energy with the speed of 186,000 miles per space cast no shadow.
second. Light wavelength is the distance a. Cloudy bright– objects in
measured between two (2) successive crest open space cast no shadow
or through of wave and it is expressed in but objects at far distance
either nanometer or angstrom. are clearly visible.
TYPES OF LIGHT b. Cloudy dull - objects in
Lights can be classified into visible and open space cast no shadow
invisible light. and visibility of distant
1. Visible Light- is the type of light that objects are already limited.
produces different sensation when it • Artificial Light Source- Light source
reaches the human eye. It is the type of this category are man-made and is
of light which is capable of exciting divided into the continuous radiation
the retina of the human eye. and the short duration.
2. Invisible Light- lights in which their a. Continuous radiation is those
wavelength is either too short or too that can give illumination continuously.
long to excite the retina of the human Examples of these common light source are
eye, i.e., x-ray, ultra-violet and infra- the fluorescent lamp, incandescent lamp,
red light. gas lamp, etc.
Photographic Rays- are the different types b. short duration (flash unit) a flash
of light that are used in photography, unit gives a brief flash through a very
including visible light, ultraviolet rays, popular electronic flash. Through these flash
infrared rays and x-rays. unit, it allows the photographer to control
a. X-Ray- light with the wavelength the direction, quality, and intensity of light
between 01-30 nm. It was incidentally to achieve the desired result.
discovered by Conrad Wilhelm
Roentgen. White Light
b. Ultra-Violet Ray- radiation having a When all the wavelengths between
wavelength of 30-400 nm designed to 400-700nm are presented to the eye in
photograph fingerprints in multi nearly equal quantity, we get the sensation
colored background, documents that or perception of colorless or white light. If a
are altered, decipherment of erase narrow beam of white light is allowed to
writing and developing invisible pass through a prism it will bend the light of
writing. It is commercially known as shorter wavelengths more than those with
“black light” longer wavelengths thus spreading them out
c. Visible Light- it refers to the type of in visible spectrum. These are the colors of
radiation having a wavelength of 400- rainbow – the red, orange, yellow, green,
700 nm designed for ordinary blue, indigo, violet.
photographing purposes. It we divide the wavelength of visible
d. Infra-red- considered as the light (400-700nm) equally into three (from
photographic rays with the longest 400nm to 500 nm, from 500 nm – 600 nm,
wavelength ranging from 700-1000+ from 600 nm – 700nm) we will produce blue,
nm. It is designed to take photograph green and red colors. These are known as
of over-written documents, obliterated the three primary colors of the light.
writing, and charred documents or for Production of Colors
black out photography. It is • Absorption-The color of most
sometimes referred to as heat rays. ordinary object is due to the fact that
6

they absorb the same amount of light obscured while the infrared photography
at each wavelength. can be used in total darkness.
• Scattering-The color of the blue sky 2. LASER – Light Amplification through
is due to the scattering of light by the Simulated Emission of Radiation- This was
atmosphere. especially significant in locating dried
• Interference-Color can also be biological stains such as semen, urine and
produced by interference of light saliva, as well as stains that has been
waves in thin film like soap bubbles or washed. It is quite expensive. It is also
a film of oil floating in water. The light known as coherent light.
reflected from the top surface of such 3. Alternative Light Source- The ALS was
film. developed in mid-80’s as a far more
• Fluorescence-This happens when inexpensive alternative to forensic LASER.
molecules of the fluorescent material The ALS is matched to the LASER frequency
absorb energy at one wavelength and available at crime scene.
radiate it at another wavelength. 4. Forensic Light Source- This kind of
• Dispersion-Color may arise from light source of FLS will enable a criminalist
differences in the refractive or to search latent fingerprints of rough
bending power of a transparent surfaces.
medium of light of different
wavelength. The rainbow is a good CAMERA
example of this phenomenon. Camera- It is a light tight box, with a lens to
Bending of Light form an image with a shutter and diaphragm
1. Reflection- It is a deflection or to control the entry of the images a means of
bouncing back of light when it hits a holding a film to record the image and a
surface. viewer or viewfinder to show the
a. Regular Reflection- photographer what the image is.
happens when light hits a flat, smooth HISTORY OF THE CAMERA
and shiny object. The first cameras were nothing like the
b. Irregular or diffused modern ones. But each proved a principle
reflection- occurs when light hits a and took photography one step closer to
rough or uneven but glossy object. what it is today: an artful manner of
2. Refraction- It is the bending of light recording the world. Every stage on the
when passing from one medium to camera’s timeline is a valuable lesson about
another. curiosity, determination, and unique ways of
3. Diffraction- the bending of light when seeing the world.
it hits a sharp edge of an opaque object. 1. CAMERA OBSCURA: Camera
Mediums of Light obscura (translated as ‘the dark room’)
Objects that influence the intensity of represents the first step in seeing the world
light as they may reflect absorb or as a series of images. It is a dark room or
transmit. Mediums of light maybe box having a small hole (aka pinhole
classified as: camera) or lens on one side that lets the
1. Transparent Objects- Allows light get through and projects an image on
sufficient visible light to pass through the opposite wall. It was used around the
them that the object on other side may be middle of the 16th century as a way of
clearly seen. indirectly looking at eclipses or studying
2. Translucent Objects- allows light to astronomical phenomena, as an aid in
pass, however diffuse it sufficiently that drawing and painting, and for
objects on the other side may not be entertainment. Camera obscura represents
clearly distinguished. one of the first attempts at understanding
3. Opaque Objects- it is so greatly and making use of light’s reflection and
diffuse the light that recognizing the refraction properties. However, the image
object on other side is very difficult or projected by a camera obscura was
impossible. ephemeral. It wasn’t recorded in any way
other than the operator drawing on the wall
Forensic Light Source the contours of the projection. Nevertheless,
1. Ultra Violet Lamp- The UV photography it brought many benefits to painting,
also used on the things that is hidden or architecture, map drawing, and even
7

philosophy. Camera obscura is still used scopes, but the commercially available
today for teaching purposes. 35mm film camera made them famous.
2. Heliography- Camera obscura wasn’t 6. Polaroid Camera: Instant
really a camera until 1816 when Joseph Gratification- In 1948, Edwin
Nicéphore Niépce used it to create the first- Land invented the instant camera and
ever photograph. What Niépce did was find founded the Polaroid Corporation which
a way to record the image projected by the controlled the instant photography
camera obscura. He used a light-sensitive market. Polaroids would complete this
material called “Bitumen of Judea” or process on their own. These instant Polaroid
“Asphalt of Syria,” a semi-solid oil, and cameras were popular throughout the
mixed it with pewter. The result was a 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s.
permanent image that would survive after 7. Digital Camera: The Digital
the camera obscura was closed. He named Revolution- By 1975, the first digital
his method heliography, which translates as camera working prototype was created by
“sun drawing.” a Kodak engineer named Steven Sasson.
3. Daguerreotype & Calotype- In 1839, However, this original digital camera was
Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre announced a inconvenient with a resolution
new photographic process named after of .01 megapixels and a 23-second exposure
him: daguerreotype. Unlike heliography, the time. Japanese companies
daguerreotype produces a much better like Nikon and Canon soon revolutionized
image quality, requires less exposure time, the digital camera industry with
and is portable. Although much appreciated Digital Single-Lens Reflex Cameras (DSLRs).
and popular, the daguerreotype wasn’t for Along with Fuji and Sony, these digital
the masses— just a few daguerreotypists SLR brands are still leaders in the digital
could afford the camera and necessary camera industry.
materials. Furthermore, there was no way to
get multiple photos from a negative. Also in BASIC PARTS OF THE CAMERA
1839, Henry Fox Talbot presented 1. Viewfinder- enables a photographer to
something called “a film.” Instead of using see the subject.
daguerreotype plates, he used writing paper 2. Focusing Mechanism
soaked in table salt and covered in silver 3. Shutter- is a device that enables light
nitrate. The photographs were blurrier than to enter through the lens for small
the ones made by a daguerreotype and the period of time to enhance the
method, called calotype, didn’t catch the exposure of photographic film.
public’s attention. Nevertheless, it was the 4. Lens- this is considered to be the most
first mention of a photographic film and the important part of the camera.
first step toward using paper instead of 5. Body- helps in limiting the amount of
plates. light that exposes the sensitive film
4. Roll Film Cameras- In 1888, Eastman that is why it is being called light tight
manufactured and started selling a camera box.
named Kodak. It used a roll film and allowed
for 100 exposures. Then, the photographer CLASSIFICATION OF CAMERA
would send the box camera to the Kodak  Overall design and functions
factory for developing. A Kodak camera cost a. System camera- Its rigid body
$25. It was affordable, much easier to use design accepts wide variety of lenses,
than previous cameras, and accessible to viewers, film backs, and accessories and can
anyone. Kodak’s slogan was “You press the be attached or integrated to adapt to
button; we do the rest.” scientific, technical, architectural,
5. 35 mm Film Camera- We owe the astronomical, underwater and many other
35mm film to a German inventor and kinds of photography.
photographer called Oskar Barnack — and b. Digital cameras- This type of
to Leica. Instead of sending the entire camera digitalize the image which can be
camera to be developed, now you would be put into a computer and enhanced through a
sending only the film. Leica is a German software package such as Adobe Photoshop.
company founded in 1869. They were doing Types of Camera
cameras, optical lenses, binoculars, and rifle • Viewfinder Camera- the image in
the viewfinder is completely separate
8

from the image acquired through the imperfection is responsible for image
lens. The viewfinder usually has its distortion.
own simple lens which shows an There are six (6) types of optical
approximation of the image that will aberrations:
be captured. 1. Spherical Aberrations- When light
• Single Lens Reflex Camera (SLR) passing through near the central part of a
Camera- is a camera that typically converging lens are bended more sharply
uses a mirror and prism system that than those rays falling in the edge, thus the
permits the photographer to view rays coming from the edges are focused on a
through the lens and see exactly what plane nearer the lens than those coming
will be captured. from the central part.
• Twin Lens Reflex Camera- are "two- 2. Coma- This is another form of spherical
eyed" cameras and has a separate aberration but is concerned with the light
viewing and taking lens, one over rays entering the lens obliquely. The defect
the other. is noticeable only on the outer edges and not
• View Camera- A view camera is a on the central part of lens. It the lens has a
style of camera that dates back to the coma, circular objects reproduced at the
1850’s and most commonly shoots to corners of the negative are comet – like
4″x5″ film slides. A view camera has a form.
very distinctive 2-part design that is 3. Curvature of field- This is a kind of
joined in the middle by a flexible defect where the image formed by a lens
bellows. The front section of the comes to a sharper focus in the curved
camera holds a lens mount and a surface than a flat surface.
mechanical shutter, while the rear 4. Distortion is incapable of rendering
section of the camera holds a piece of straight lines correctly; either horizontal or
“ground glass”. vertical lines on an object. This is caused by
Camera Lens- a lens is a transparent the placement of the diaphragm. If the
medium which either converge or diverge diaphragm is placed in front of the lens
light rays passes through it to form an straight lines near the edges of the objects
image. tends to bulged outside. This is known as
CAMERA LENSES CAN BE USED TO barrel distortion. If the diaphragm is placed
CONTROL THE: behind of the lens, straight lines near the
1. Amount of light that reaches the film edges tends to bend inward. This is known
2. Magnification of the image as pincushion distortion.
3. Lastly, area of the image to be 5. Chromatic Aberration- This defect is the
recorded on the film inability of the lens to bring photographic
rays of different wave lengths to the same
Typology of Lenses focus.
1. Convex Lens- it is the convergent or 6. Astigmatism- occurs when the lens fails
the positive lens. A convex lens is to focus image lines running in different
thicker in the middle than at the directions in the same plane. It is caused by
edges. When parallel rays of light the irregular shape of your camera.
pass through this type of lens, they Types of Lenses According to their
are bent inward and meet at a point Degree of Correction
called the focus. 1. Aspherical Lens – a lens used for
correction of spherical aberration
2. Concave Lens- it is the divergent or 2. Rapid Rectilinear Lens – a lens used
the negative lens. Concave Lens for correction of distortion
spreads the light depends on the 3. Achromatic lens – a lens used for
amount of curved on the faces of the correction of chromatic aberration
lens. It is thicker at the edges than 4. Anastigmat Lens – a lens used for
they are at the center. correction of astigmatism
5. Apochromat Lens – also a correction
Inherent Defects of Lenses or lens for astigmatism but with higher
Aberrations degree of correction to color.
No lens is perfect in every respect.
Aberration also defined as an optical
9
10