A Novel Camera Stand
| Author | S. A. Berry |
| Published date | 01 January 1951 |
| Date | 01 January 1951 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X5102400110 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
ANovel Camera Stand
By
CHIEF
CONSTABLE
S. A. BERRY
Dumfries
and
Galloway Constabulary
OFF ICE RS engaged on photographic duties in the smaller forces
where a heavy expenditure on photographic equipment is neither
justified by the amount ofwork to be done nor is likelyto be authorised
by the Police Authority, must, of necessity, rely on their native ingenuity
to provide many of the convenient 'gadgets' which save time and
enable them to carry out the more difficult operations sometimes
called for in the application of photography to police work. Many pieces
of equipment found in the studios of such forces, which have been
put
together from relatively inexpensive, or even scrap, materials, reveal a
marked degree of inventive ability on the part of the officers responsible
whose sole reward is tile availability of something which simplifies
their day-to-day tasks, improves the results they can produce, or widens
the scope of their activities.
In
the writer's force, which serves a large
but
mainly rural area,
there exists an admirably equipped photographic studio capable of
meeting all the demands made upon it, and although the need for the
exercise of more advanced and complicated photographic methods
does not arise with the same frequency as is the case in larger forces,
nevertheless there have been many occasions when the lack of an
expensive piece of manufactured equipment has constituted a difficulty
that has had to be solved by a not too costly improvisation if the
department was to fulfil its function.
So far, difficulties like this have been overcome with afair degree' of
success, although it has to be admitted that the closure of nearby R.A.F.
Stations, etc., has been a fortunate circumstance so far as concerned the
supply of, say, aircraft landing lights to be converted to studio flood-
lights, inspection lamps, and so on. Again, we have also been indebted
in the past to a few public-spirited photographic enthusiasts for advice
and help in many ways in the matter of keeping this branch of the force
right up to date.
The
purpose of this article is to describe the most recent home-made
addition to the studio equipment, namely, a particularly versatile camera
stand, which photographic departments in other forces similarly placed
may find of interest.
The
time-saving possibilities of the prismatic lens in fingerprint work
were appreciated many years ago when a serviceable lens of this type
was acquired and fitted to an ordinary field camera capable of being
locked in the " double-extension" position. By resting the camera
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