Forensic Photographer Lighting Techniques & Digital Processing Flashcards
7 cards from real CFP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Forensic Photographer Lighting Techniques & Digital Processing flashcards as text
Infrared photography is particularly useful in forensic work for which application?
Answer: Visualizing gunshot residue and writing obliterated by ink on documents
Infrared penetrates some inks and reveals GSR patterns on dark fabrics because materials reflect and absorb IR differently than visible light.
When copying flat evidence such as a document with two light sources, how should the lights be arranged?
Answer: Two lights at equal 45-degree angles on opposite sides of the document
Matched 45-degree lights on both sides provide even, glare-free illumination across the entire flat surface.
During levels adjustment of a fingerprint image, the examiner clips both the shadow and highlight sliders inward past the data. What is the risk?
Answer: Ridge detail in the clipped tonal ranges is permanently discarded in the working image
Clipping discards tonal data, and any ridge detail residing in those ranges is lost from the enhanced working image.
Why is a gray card or calibrated color chart photographed at the start of a set of injury photographs?
Answer: To provide a reference for accurate white balance and color correction of skin and bruising
A neutral reference lets the examiner correct color casts so bruise coloration is rendered accurately for medical interpretation.
A photographer documenting a tool mark uses diffused axial lighting instead of oblique light. When is this the correct choice?
Answer: When the mark is on a highly reflective curved metal surface prone to hotspots
Diffused or axial lighting evenly illuminates shiny curved surfaces, avoiding the specular hotspots that oblique light would create.
In flash photography of a scene, what does adjusting flash output via manual power fractions (1/1, 1/2, 1/4) control?
Answer: The quantity of light emitted per burst
Manual power fractions control how much light the flash emits, letting the photographer balance exposure precisely at fixed distances.
Which practice preserves the evidentiary value of a digitally enhanced image intended for court?
Answer: Working only on a copy while the unaltered original is archived and retrievable
The original must remain pristine and archived; all enhancement is performed on working copies so the source can always be produced.