ONE-TO-ONE PHOTOGRAPHY

Choose the appropriate lens and camera settings for what you are photographing.  You may need to change to a macro lens for these photographs (depending on what you are photographing).  Make sure you are taking one-to-one photographs in a TIFF or RAW format.  You will likely be transitioning to your manual camera settings for these photographs.

If you are capturing a latent print on a thin flat item like a piece of paper, you can use a high resolution scanner to capture the image instead of a camera.  The latent print will still need a scale, the image will need to be saved as a TIFF file, and the scan will need to be at a resolution of 1000 ppi or higher to be of comparison quality.

For one-to-one photographs, you will want to use a tripod. The tripod will give the camera stability.  Hand holding the camera can lead to blurry images, which you want to avoid when the minute details are important.  Set the tripod up so that the camera lens is perpendicular to the item you want to photograph.  

Before taking photographs, you will want to check that your camera is truly perpendicular using a bubble level.  Set the bubble level on the camera and adjust as necessary until the camera is perfectly perpendicular to the item being photographed.

Before you take your photographs, you will want to have your light source ready to go.  For some circumstances you may be using a flashlight or external flash, and for some circumstances you may be using a forensic light source.

All one-to-one photographs should include a scale.  If directionality is important, you can add a compass as well.  The scale should be placed next to the item being photographed on the same plane as that item.

Fill the entire frame of the photograph with the item you are wanting to capture.  The scale and compass should be visible at the edge of the photograph.  Take multiple photographs of the item, moving the light source around to capture as much detail as possible.  For more guidance on photographing specific types of evidence, try these resources:

Shoe Impressions

Tire Impressions

Trajectory

Bloodstains

Latent Prints

Injuries

Fluorescent Reagents

Move the tripod and camera as necessary to capture all of the details.  Some items like latent prints won’t require the camera to be moved since the whole item can be captured in one frame.  Some items, like tire impressions, will require you to move the tripod several times to capture the entire item.  Each time you move the tripod and camera, revisit the steps above to make sure it is reset properly for the next set of photographs.

Before moving on to lifting or casting, check the photographs you have taken to ensure you captured what was needed.  If you did not, go back and photograph again while you have the chance to.