ARTICLES

Antique Photography - Digital Photo Restoration

Facial Features Analysis - Face Biometrics - Handwriting Analysis

Miscellaneous Photo Articles

by Joelle Steele

The following are some of my previously published articles that provide information about antique photography, digital photo restoration, facial features comparison and analysis, handwriting analysis, and a few miscellaneous articles about photography. I update my articles regularly and I also add new articles periodically, so you might want to bookmark this page for future reference.

. . . ANTIQUE PHOTOGRAPHY . . .

A Brief History of Photography: Brief but comprehensive history, starting with the camera obscura up to the digital camera era.

Ambrotypes, Daguerreotypes and Tintypes-Which Is Which and How Can You Tell?: Some tips on how to tell these three non-paper photographs apart.

Antique Photographs & How They Were Made: The many photographic processes defined, from Daguerreotypes to 20th century film.

Collecting Antique Photographs: Anyone can collect old photos, even on a tight budget.

Preserving Antique Photos: How to handle, store, and display your old photographs.

The Origins of Hand-Tinting Photographs: How did they do it in the old days? The same way people still do it today!

. . . DIGITAL PHOTO RESTORATION . . .

Digital Plastic Surgery-Technology Preserves Faces From The Past: Joelle Steele talks about digital photo restoration.

Digitally Restoring Photographic Panoramas: These ultra-long photographs require some special steps in the restoration process.

How to Digitally Restore Your Antique Photographs: Scanning vs. digital cameras, the scanning process, editing or restoring (color, contrast, enlargement, tools, saving, and sepia tints).

Photo Forensics-Can You Tell If A Photo Is Retouched?: The answer is yes, usually, but not always.

Scanners and Scanning: A brief look at the ins and outs of scanners and the scanning process.

. . . FACIAL FEATURES ANALYSIS & COMPARISON . . .

Analyzing Facial Features: Comparing and analyzing facial features in photographs to identify people. (Part 5 of Identifying People in Photographs.)

Are These Photographs of Abraham Lincoln?: They look alike to the untrained eye, but are they the same person? Learning to examine facial features can help you determine who's who. This article examines known photographs of Abraham Lincoln and compares them to images purported to be of Lincoln.

Are These Photographs of Adolf Hitler?: When Hitler died in the bunker, death photos were taken, but are they really photos of Hitler or are they those of a paid impersonator? Facial features analysis has the answer.

Are These Photographs of Billy the Kid?: Facial features analysis and comparison tells the truth. The only known authentic photo of Billy the Kid is of poor quality and is therefore a poor choice for use in authenticating the identity of Billy in other photographs.

Are These Photographs of Frank and Jesse James?: Several collectors believe they have photographs of the outlaw James brothers. This article compares and analyzes their images to see if they have the real deal.

Are These Photographs of John Dillinger?: Some believe Dillinger was not shot and killed in front of the Biograph Theater and that it was a man named Jimmy Lawrence who died. This article examines photos of Dillinger and compares them to the death photos of Dillinger.

Are These Photographs of Sam Bass?: This article compares photos purported to be Sam Bass with descriptions of him by eyewitnesses and those who knew him.

Dating and Placing a Photograph: How to determine dates and places in photographs. (Part 4 of Identifying People in Photographs.)

Dysmorphology-Diagnosing Genetic Disease Based On Asymmetric and Abnormal Facial Features: Certain facial features and combinations of traits can signal rare genetic diseases.

Ears Don't Lie: Ear biometrics and ear analysis have been used for many years by facial features analysts to identify people in photographs.

Facial Features Comparison of Identical Twins: Identical and conjoined twins are never truly identical. If you can tell the difference between them, you're on your way to comparing and identifying faces of people in photographs.

Grand Duchess Anastasia and Anna Anderson: DNA Proves What Facial Features Experts Already Knew: Sometimes a lie is more compelling than the truth, and photographic evidence was ignored for many years until DNA evidence confirmed it.

How to Check a Photo ID: This article explains what to look for when you examine a photo ID, and how to use facial features to verify identity.

Is Biometrics-Based Software A Viable Means of Identifying People in Old Photographs?: Most people don't know what biometrics are and how they work, and while all that high-tech stuff sounds great, it may not be the best choice for analyzing faces in old photographs.

Is It Worth $1 Million or $100-Facial Features Determine The Value of Historic Photos: Provenance is fine, but the real value of an old photographic portrait lies in establishing the identity of the person in the photo.

Is This A Photo Of My Real Father?: Facial features analysis may not be the best way to answer this tricky and commonly-asked question.

Measuring Facial Features: How to measure facial features traits, convert them to percentages, and compare the numbers. (Part 6 of Identifying People in Photographs.)

Myth of Provenance in Collecting Antique Photos of People: Provenance won't help you identify a person in a photo, but facial features analysis will.

Powers of Observation in Identifying Faces: We need to train our eyes to reduce the errors made in identifying faces of people in photographs.

Preparing to Analyze a Photo: Preparing to analyze a photo. (Part 1 of Identifying People in Photographs.)

Selecting A Facial Features Expert: There are a lot of people who get hired to do this specialty job, but beware, not all of them are experts. Here's an example of how their analyses and findings vary.

Types of Non-Paper Photos: Identifying the type of non-paper photo you are going to compare and analyze. (Part 2 of Identifying People in Photographs.)

Types of Paper Photos: Identifying the type of paper photo you are going to compare and analyze. (Part 3 of Identifying People in Photographs.)

Who's Who In Your Family Photos?: When family resemblance is strong, it pays to examine faces one feature at a time in order to identify your relatives.

. . . HANDWRITING ANALYSIS . . .

Analysis and Comparison of Handwriting Samples to Authenticate a Signature or Document: An overview of how forensic handwriting analysts work to compare and analyze a known handwriting sample with handwriting alleged to have been written by the same person.

. . . MISCELLANEOUS PHOTO ARTICLES . . .

Create, Select, and Edit Photos for Use in Advertising: Tips on how to shoot photos, select the right ones, edit them, and use them in ads and Web pages.

How to Photograph Your Art: The use of digital and film cameras, lighting, backgrounds, scanning, photo editing, archiving digital files, and more.

How to Select and Prepare Photos and Other Images for Publication: What the eye sees and the brain interprets, selecting images, best and other options in electronic format.

Kirlian Photography-A Brief Look at Electro-Photography: A short history and explanation of the process.

Photographic Phenomena-Explaining the Unexplained in Photographs: Answers to questions about orbs, mists, vortices, trails, and other "stuff" that appears in some photographs.

Photographing Your Portfolio - One Picture is Worth A Thousand Words: Some basic tips on how to create and photograph your presentation portfolio or online portfolio to best illustrate your projects or products.

Any images in the articles on this Web site are used in accordance with the public domain and fair use codes of the United States Copyright Laws for the purpose of educating and informing the readers of this Web site on subjects about or related to photography, antique photography, digital photo restoration, and the identification of people in photographs. See Terms of Use for more copyright information.