Photography
Everything you wanted to know
but were afraid to ask…..
Photography

There is no better way to bring the scene
and evidence to the judge or jury

The department NEEDS to have somebody
trained in advanced photographic
techniques

A well documented case will provide
answer to all possible questions
Without proper documentation allegations
of incompetence or cover-up can easily
occur
 Proper documentation greatly reduces the
likelihood of those allegations

Uses of Photographs

Record facts

Describe the scene better than words
Uses of Photographs

Prove/disprove victim, suspect, witness
statements

Record things you may have failed to
notice
 Allows
prep
you to address issues raised in trial
Uses of Photographs

Refresh your memory for report writing
and trial prep

Presentation of the scene to the
judge/jury
Photography


Somebody needs to be trained in basic
crime scene photography
t
A well documented scene will answer
questions by those reviewing the case
Law Enforcement Photos

Identification files
 Mugshots
 Missing
Persons
 Lost property
Law Enforcement Photos

Evidence
 Crime
scene photos
 Items of evidence
 Latent fingerprints
 Footwear & Tire Impressions
 Trace Evidence – Hairs & Fibers
 Aerial views of a scene
Law Enforcement Photos

Offender Actions
 Surveillance
 Interrogations
 Drunk
drivers
 Patrol car video
 Body cam video
Law Enforcement Photos

Court exhibits/presentation
 Scene
photos
 Photo line-ups
 Charted enlargements
Law Enforcement Photos

Crime Prevention/Public Presentations
 Citizen
Police Academies
 Social media
 Security clearances
Law Enforcement Photos

Law Enforcement Training
 Unique
scenes
 Investigative techniques
 Traffic studies
 After action review of incidents
 Police
video
 Public video
Photographing a crime scene
A series of photos giving a complete view
 “compose” the photo before taking

 Shadows
from overhead wires appearing as
tire marks
Unique situations
no control over weather/lighting
 Scene is photographed as found - not
staged

Picture Composition
Preview your picture
A little different image
Photographing a Crime Scene

Photographed in the condition you found
it
 If
initial responding officers have
moved/changed something DO NOT put it
back in place

No STAGED photos will be admissible in
court
Rule of three
Overall perspective
general overview
 Intermediate perspective
mid range view
 Close up perspective
specific items are the focal point

Identification features
Business sign
 Street sign/ house number
 License plate/ VIN number
 Their face

Views of witnesses
Photos from where they say they were
 Bank tellers
 Witnesses

Lettering or numbering technique
Keeps individual items distinct
 Lettering or numbering….personal
preference
 I prefer letters so the items numbered on
the MEL are not confused

Lettering or numbering technique
Keep the letters/numbers facing in the
same direction and try to make them read
from left to right
 Take pictures from corners for overall
orientation
 Overlap photos to create a panorama type
presentation

Unit of measure
Required in some photos so the negatives
can be printed at a 1:1 scale for
comparison
 THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE UNIT OF
MEASURE IS A RULER!!!
 NOT a quarter, business card, pen etc.
 The ruler MUST be on the same plane as
the impression

Theory versus practice
Photos of injuries

Must include face in at least one photo

Unit of measure for lacerations/abrasions

The injured area must be cleaned up of
dried blood
Whose arm is it?
Aerial Photos
For jury presentation/orientation
 GIS Mapping Photos
 Google Earth
 Drone Photos

Basic camera operation

Aperture/ Lens opening

Shutter speed

Focus
Those three things control…
Exposure
 Depth of field
 Focus
 Flash synchronization
 Motion blur

ASA or ISO

Refers to the films, or
the camera’s (digital),
sensitivity to light

Can be adjusted with
a digital camera but
changes the “gain” of
the sensor
ASA or ISO

The higher the ISO
the more sensitive the
film or the camera is
to light

100 is the least
sensitive to light –
requires a lot of light
ASA or ISO

400 speed is more
sensitive to light

Higher ASA for night
time or arson scenes

Digital – can set to
auto and let the
camera pick the best
setting
ASA or ISO

Can be useful to do it
manually if flash is
not allowed

Can also be used in
conjunction with
shutter speed…

Shutter speed can
only go to 1/60th and
be hand held
ASA or ISO

If you need a slower shutter speed the
ASA can be adjusted up to compensate

On a digital camera this allows the camera
to record a fainter light signal but it also
picks up fainter “noise”

Noise is any signal not attributed to light
from your subject
But I have an auto focus, super,
duper custom deluxe camera that
does all that

Then why don’t all of our pictures come
out perfect?

What happens when it gets wet or the
battery dies

Or, being a good city employee, it just
doesn’t feel like working
Single Lens Reflex
Mirrorless
Focus

Manual focus may be necessary in some
cases
 Small
object on a light background
 Low light situations
 Off center compositions

Auto focus
 Make
sure you are focusing on the object you
want highlighted in the picture
 Single servo mode – stationary objects
 Continuous servo made – continual focus
Metering in the camera

Matrix metering
 Reads

multiple areas of the scene
Center weighted metering
 Concentrated

more to the center of the frame
Spot metering
 Makes
the exposure based on a small area in
the center of the view finder
CENTER
WEIGHTED
SPOT
Use of spot metering to get correct
exposure
Aperture
The size of the lens
opening
 Controls the intensity
of light entering the
camera and the depth
of field
 Referred to as f
stops

Aperture
The larger the f
number – the smaller
the size of the
opening
 The smaller the f
number the larger the
opening

Aperture
The smaller the f numbers (larger opening) –
the less the depth of field
 The larger the f number (smaller opening) – the
greater the depth of field


Confused yet…think of your eye
Depth of field

The range where
items will appear
sharply focused

Items in front and
behind this area will
be out of focus
Depth of field
Depth of field
Shutter speed

Controls light by the amount of time it
remains open

Each shutter setting is half, or double, that
of the next one

The numbers shows the denominator of
the fraction of a second the shutter
remains open (1/125, 1/60)
Shutter
Digital cameras have
“shutter lag”
 The shutter is
electronic not
mechanical
 There is a slight delay
in the image being
recorded
 Results in poorly
composed pictures &
motion blur

Settings for exposure

Programmed automatic
 Point

and shoot (designed for supervisors)
Shutter priority
 You
set the shutter speed and the camera
picks the appropriate aperture

Aperture priority
 You
set the aperture and the camera picks
the shutter speed
 Depth of field is usually the issue here
Settings for exposure

Manual exposure


Bracketing


You pick both aperture & shutter speed
The camera takes another picture above and below
the exposure selected
Exposure compensation


Used when the camera is set to automatic or priority
mode
You can add or subtract light values that will lighten
or darken an image
Fill flash
Proper exposure
Photos and diagrams
A diagram provides the third dimension
(depth)
 Measurements (distances) are determined
from the diagram
 Photos provide a 2 dimensional
perspective (width, length)

Video versus still photos
Video supplements photos - it does not
replace them
 some items (tire impressions) will show up
better on video than on still pictures
 recommended to eliminate the audio
portion - others may not be aware you are
recording

Digital versus 35mm

Digital - provides instant result but image
quality must be addressed when
developing a system

Image integrity must also be considered

Digital has improved dramatically and has
become affordable
Size does matter
Magnification must be
considered – the chip
size is smaller than a
piece of 35mm film
 Wide angle is not as
wide as a 35mm lens
 Storage of the images
must be considered

CD-R, CD-RW, DVD,
DVD-R, DVD-RW, Hard
drive, Server space
This Why You Shouldn’t Use Your
Phone Camera
File format – JPEG, RAW – must consider
how the images will be stored and
accessed
 Other formats take up more space (size)
but are more durable
 Resolution of the input device (camera)
and the output device (printer) are critical
for picture quality

Image Management
A work flow for digital images MUST be in
place
 Should include multiple duplicates and
storage in different physical locations
 Who will have access?
 How will they be disseminated?

Video Recordings

Video supplements but does not replace
photography

Highly recommended to eliminate audio
from scene video
 Video
can be narrated in court
Metadata
Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF)
 Can include GPS data
 You can manually add Copyright data

Introducing Photos in Court
The object in the photo(s) must not be
irrelevant
 The Judge will decide if the photo is
admitted into evidence
 He/she will weigh whether the photo is:

 Probative
– will help the judge/jury
determine the truth
 Prejudicial – the graphic nature of the photo
serves no probative purpose & is being
introduced for the shock value
Introducing Photos in Court
Photo must be free from distortion and
not misrepresent the scene
 The person introducing need not be the
person who took the photo
 For it to be introduced it must be a “fair
and accurate” representation of the scene
 You do not need to qualify as an expert in
photography to introduce photos

Extended Range Low Light
Photography
Available light photography
 Painting with light photography
 Both allow extended range photos

 Outdoor
scenes
 Accidents
 Low light and flash alone is not enough
 You may not use it much but, when you need
it, you really need it
Flash only
Available Light – extended exposure
Extended exposure and using flash to
“paint”
Crime Scene Diagramming
Rough Sketch
Not to scale
 Field notes - no concern for appearance
 Retained after finished drawing is
complete - in case measurements are
questioned
 Done at scene - info collected is used to
construct the finished diagram

Finished Diagram
Drawn to scale
 Concern about appearance
 Must include: name of person drawing
case #
location
date of offense
scale used
direction of North
 DO NOT put the offense on the drawing

Drawing Programs

With some practice…
they make life simple

Professional looking
court exhibit
Measuring Devices
Non-reflective
 Offset markings
 Crosshairs
 Cop-proof

Disto Measuring Device

Accurate (that helps)

Easy to use

One of many brands

Simplifies life
Total Station Measuring Device
Name the sheep
contest!!!