This 3-Day General Police Photography course will be of interest to police officers, investigators, technicians, and others who are tasked with photographic documentation related to law enforcement with the use of a digital single-lens-reflex camera. This course permits the photographer to gain an understanding of photographic techniques beyond the use of the automatic setting on the camera. The General Police Photography course begins with presentations on the camera, its controls, and its settings as they relate to taking high-quality photographs that are properly focused and exposed. Stress is placed on techniques that will yield the best results for presentation in a court or other proceeding. Developing procedures to be used to increase productivity by the photographer will be discussed. These lectures will be followed immediately by exercises designed to reinforce their most important aspects. A presentation on the use of electronic flash will explain the various flash modes commonly used by forensic photographers. This too will be followed by a hands-on exercise. More advanced lectures and exercises include applying photographic techniques to the documentation of crime scenes including low-light photography and photography of 3-dimensional evidence. There will also be a lecture and exercise on fingerprint photography.
Requirements
Students should bring the DSLR camera equipment (including cameras, lenses, and external electronic flashes) with which they normally work to the course. Please bring the owner’s manuals for cameras and flashes if available. Extra batteries and battery chargers are highly recommended. Tripods, flashlights, and lenses capable of close-focusing are also required.
Course Topics
Basic Photography (2 hours)
Digital Photography (2 hours)
Basic Photography Exercises and Review (4 hours)
Electronic Flash Techniques (1 hour)
Electronic Flash Exercise and Review (2 hours)
Composition for the Crime Scene (1.5 hours)
Painting-with-Light (1.5 hours)
Painting-with-Light Exercise (2 hours) – After Dark
Crime Scene Photography Exercise and Review (Review Painting-with-Light Photos) (4 hours)
Fingerprint Photography (1.5 hours)
Fingerprint Photography Exercise and Review (2 hours)
