DEFINITION OF TERM IN POLICE PHOTOGRAPHY

1. Angle of incidence - the angle of incidence as used here conforms to that used in optics
to describe reflection and refraction of light rays.The angle is measured with respect to
the normal to the surface, rather than to the surface itself. The normal is an imaginary
line perpendicular (90°) to the plane of the surface. Thus, a straight-on impact (along the
normal) is said to have an angle of incidence of zero.

2. Aperture - Adjustable opening, also referred to as f-stop, that controls the amount of
light that is focused on the film.

3. Artificial light - Any light other than daylight.

4. ASA - American Standard Association, formerly a standardized rating number for film
based on its sensitivity to light.

5. Backlighting - Light shining on the subject from the direction opposite the camera;
distinguished from frontlighting and sidelighting.

6. Bounce lighting - A light source reflected off of another surface and then onto the
subject.Flash or tungsten light bounced off the ceiling or walls in order to give the effect
of natural or available light.

7. Bulb - A shutter speed setting used to hold the shutter open for extended periods with
the use of a shutter release cord or continuous pressure on the shutter release button.

8. Cable release - A flexible, enclosed wire used to release the shutter mechanism.

9. Camera - A photographic apparatus used to expose sensitized film or plates to reflected

light images formed by a lens. Also, an electronic device to change film or live action into
video signals.

10. Camera angle - The photographer’s point of view of a subject or scene as viewed
through the lens or viewfinder.

11. Close-up - A photograph taken close to the subject or evidence, often requiring an
auxiliary lens. Macro and micro are degrees of close-up.

12. Color conversion filters - Fairly strong color filters used for exposing film in light of a type
markedly different from that for which the film was made.

13. Contrast - The difference in intensities of light falling on various parts of a subject. The
density range of a negative, print, or slide; the brightness range of a subject or the scene
lighting.
14. Contrast filter - A colored filter used to make a colored subject stand out either lighter or
darker (for black-and-white film).

15. Correction filter - Filters used to alter colors to suit the color response of the film.

16. Dense - Dark negative or positive film on paper that is overexposed, overdeveloped, or
both.

17. Depth of field - The zone between the foreground and background that appears in
sharpest focus for a particular lens, distance, and aperture.

18. Developer - A solution used to turn the latent image into a visible image on exposed
films or photographic papers.

19. Electronic flash - Lighting unit utilizing the flash of light produced by discharging a
current between two electrodes in a gas-filled tube.

20. Electronic viewfinder (EVF) - A small TV monitor attached to a video camera for viewing
of recorded images.

21. Emulsion - a suspension of a salt of silver in gelatin or collodion used to coat film.

22. Existing light - That light present at any one time in a given area no matter what the
source.

23. Exposure index - Methods of rating film speed developed by the American Standards
Association (ASA), now known as the American National Standards Institute, Inc.
(ANSI).

24. Exposure setting - The lens opening and shutter speed selected to expose the film.

25. Extension tube - Increases the distance between the lens and the sensitive film in the
camera and changes the lens capability.

26. Eyepiece - The optic found on a camera, microscope, telescope, and so on, used to look
through the instrument.

27. Fade-in/Fade-out - Gradually changing video from dark to picture or picture to dark.

28. Fast film - Film that has an emulsion that is very sensitive to light. Such films have high
ASA ratings.

29. Fast lens - lens with a large aperture, requiring less light.
30. Field of vision - The area a person is able to see through the viewfinder, scope, or lens.

31. Fill-in - Secondary illumination to keep shadow areas from photographing too dark; also
known as the fill light.

32. Film - A sheet or strip of celluloid coated with light-sensitive emulsion for exposure in a
camera.

33. Film plane - That portion of the camera body that holds the sensitized film in place
during the exposure process. It is also that position of the camera where the image is
focused.

34. Film speed - A means of representing numerically the response of a photographic

emulsion to light.

35. Finder - A viewer through which the picture to be taken may be seen and centered.

36. Fish-eye lens - Wide-angle lens with angle of view that may reach 180°. Depth of field is
practically infinite.

37. Flash - A general term for any auxiliary, sudden, brilliant light. A unit holding flashbulbs is
referred to as a flash.

38. Flash sensor - Electronic unit actuated by light flash.

39. Flood - Light source providing a wide, diffused beam of light.

40. Fluorescence - Property possessed by various substances that glow when exposed to
light of a short wavelength. The phenomenon in which some substances absorb light
and re-emit part of it as light of a longer wavelength. Fluorescence ceases when incident
or exciting illumination ceases.

41. Focal length - The distance in millimeters (mm) from the center of the lens to the point
where the image comes into critical view.

42. Focal plane shutter - A shutter that operates immediately in front of the focal plane.
Usually contains a fixed or variable-sized slit in a curtain of cloth or metal that travels
across the film to make the exposure.

43. Focus - Point at which converging rays of light from a lens meet.

44. Focusing - The adjustment of the lens-to-film distance to produce a sharp image of the
subject.
45. Format - Size, shape, and general makeup of negatives, slides, photographic prints,
camera viewing areas, or video equipment.

46. Frame - An individual picture on a roll of film or one full onscreen image of displayed
computerized information.

47. Frame buffer - A separate area of memory where an image or frame is stored in a
computer.

48. Frame counter - A dial on the camera indicating the number of exposures or frames
used.

49. f-stop (f-number) - Focal setting for the diaphragm controlling the size of the aperture;
the higher the f-stop, the smaller the aperture opening.

50. Fully automatic - Term indicates that camera aperture and speed settings can be
combined to give complete automatic exposure for a picture.

51. Gain select - Increase sensitivity to light. Used when sufficient illumination is not
available for video recording.

52. Gamma - A process that improves the video image by correcting for the lack of picture
clarity.

53. Glare - Intense light reflected off highly reflective surfaces such as water, glass, and very
light-toned objects.

54. Grain - Individual silver particles or groups of particles in the emulsion which, when
enlarged, become noticeable and sometimes objectionable.

55. Guide number - An indication of the power of a flash unit, enabling the correct aperture
to be selected at a given distance between flash and subject. The number divided by the
distance gives the f-stop that should be used. A film speed is specified with the guide
number and recalculation is needed for different speeds.

56. Haze filter - Lens filter that reduces the effect of atmospheric haze. Red reduces most,
green the least. A blue filter induces haze.

57. Illumination - A specific amount of light present in any given area. Expressed in lux or
foot-candles; the lower the lux of equipment, the less light required for a good picture.

58. Image - The photographic representation of an object or scene formed by optical or

chemical action.
59. Infrared photography - Recording of images produced by infrared radiation.

60. Iris - The opening of a camera lens that controls the amount of light let in.

61. Lens cap - A cover used to protect a lens from dust and damage when not in use.

62. Macro lens - Lens designed to work at close distance, permitting image magnification.

63. Macro photography - Photography usually involving close-up capabilities,whether with

lens or bellows, with a magnification from life size (110) up to 50 times (501).

64. Magenta - A reddish-blue (minus green) color.

65. Micro photography - The term used in Europe for the making of large photographs of
small objects, usually through a microscope. In the United Kingdom and the United
States this is called photomicrography, and microphotography is used to refer to the
technique of making microscopically small photographs by the process of optical
reduction.

66. Monochrome - Single colored; for instance, black-and-white photographs and sepia- or
other-toned images in one color. Similar light rays of one color wavelength (i.e., a single,
pure color).

67. Negative - Photographic image in which the amount of silver present is more or less
based on the reflectivity from the original object. Black is white, white is black. The
developed film that contains a reversed-tone image of the original scene.

68. Objective - The first lens, lens system, or mirror through which light passes or from
which it is reflected in an optical system.

69. Optical microscope - An instrument used to obtain an enlarged image of a small object,
utilizing visible light; in general, it consists of a light source, a condenser, an objective
lens, and an ocular or eyepiece that can be replaced by a recording device. Also known
as a light microscope.

70. Parallax - Difference between the image seen in a viewfinder and that recorded by the
taking lens. Most pronounced at close distance with twin-lens reflex and rangefinder
cameras. Single-lens reflex and studio cameras are free from parallax error.

71. Photography - To write or draw with light. Recording with light is closer to the modern
meaning of the word.
72. Rangefinder - A viewer system found on cameras without a through-the-lens viewing
capacity (SLR cameras).

73. Reflection - The bouncing back of rays of light striking a surface.

74. Reflex camera - A camera in which the image can be seen right side up and full size on
the ground-glass focusing screen.

75. Refraction - The bending of a light ray when passing obliquely from one medium to a
medium of different density.

76. Rogues’ gallery - A file of photographs of arrested individuals; usually includes fullface
and profile photographs (mug shots) along with detailed physical description, age and
place of birth, Social Security number, fingerprint classification, nicknames and aliases,
modus operandi, etc. (also called mug shot file).

77. Scale - The enlargement or reduction of an object or texture.

78. Self-timer - A timing device permitting the photographer to delay shutter.

79. Shutter - Mechanical device that regulates the time light can act upon the film.

80. Shutter speed - The action of the shutter that controls the duration of an exposure.The
faster the speed, the shorter the exposure.

81. Silhouette - A photograph that shows only the mass of a subject in black against a white
or colored background.

82. Single-lens reflex - Camera system utilizing a hinged mirror between the lens and the
film that swings out of the light path when the shutter is open, allowing the taking and
viewing functions of a lens to be combined.

83. Slide - A positive film mounted in a slide mount or a positive print on glass for projection
upon a screen.

84. Slow film - Film having an emulsion with low sensitivity to light. Typically such films have
an ASA rating of 32 or less.

85. Slow lens - A lens with a relatively small maximum apertura, such as f-8.

86. Speed - The sensitivity of a photographic emulsion to light. ISO, ASA, or DIN numbers
indicate their relative speed characteristics. The higher the number, the faster the film
reacts to light.
87. Standard lens - Lens whose focal length is approximately equal to the diagonal of the
film format with which it is used. It is also referred to as the prime or normal lens.

88. Surveillance photography - A secretive, continuous, and sometimes periodic visual

documentation of activities involving persons, places, or objects of importance to an
investigation.

89. Time exposure - The camera shutter is opened and closed manually, not automatically.

90. Transmitted light - Light that is passed through a transparent or translucent medium.

91. Tripod - A three-legged stand used to support a camera or lens and camera.

92. Tungsten light - Incandescent light, from a bulb having filaments usually of lower
wattage, 15 to 500 W.

93. Twin-lens reflex (TLR) - Camera having two lenses of the same focal length; one is used
for viewing and focusing, the other for exposing the film. The lenses are mounted above
each other.

94. Ultraviolet filter - A filter that transmits ultraviolet light as used for photography by the
reflected ultraviolet light method.

95. Ultraviolet light - Light rays beyond the visible spectrum of light at its violet end with
wavelengths longer than x-rays, but shorter than visible light.

96. Underexposure - Results of insufficient light exposing the film. A condition in which too
little light reaches the film producing a thin negative, a dark slide, or a muddy-looking
print.

97. Viewfinder - A viewing instrument attached to a camera that is used to obtain proper
composition.

98. Washed out - A negative or print lacking detail and contrast.

99. White balance - A procedure used to tune a video camera’s color by setting it to perfectly
reproduce a white object.

100. Zooming - Moving a variable focus lens during an exposure.