ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the emergence of digital image processing in the forensic science domain and explores the reasons why film is no longer the default recording method for identification photography. There are solid reasons for the meteoric rise of digital imaging and the subsequent demise of film. Edward Raymond German offers a personal memory of the speed at which digital science was overtaking and altering the forensic world. Erik Christian Berg was one of the first forensic specialists to recognize, develop, and exploit digital technology in optimization of images. David Witzke has more than 25 years of experience and excellence in the areas of Automated Fingerprint Identification System and forensic digital imaging. The forensic identification practitioner/photographer can be characterized as an expert in forensic signal recognition—the first, and perhaps the only one to detect and triage all and any physical evidence, at crime scenes or on exhibits, that may help to explain and solve a criminal case.
