Can you tell when a photo was taken?

[RandyLewisKemp]

I have a question that would tap into your photography expertise. Is there any way with digital or other camera technology to prove when a picture was taken? Suppose I took a picture of a snow storm on July 1, 2008. Could I prove the picture of the snow storm was taken on that date, by any camera technology, or scientific methods? Do digital cameras, for example, have the capacity to create a date and timestamp record on the picture?
Randy

 

[deanimator]

Yes.

EXIF data is the name for this.

It can be modified.

 

[Meysha]

Yep, extra info like dates and who it was created by and what camera etc can all be stored in a photo.

However like deanimator says, it can be changed.

If you want to see it. Right click on the file, go to properties, and then summary. If nothing's listed there click on the Advance button in the bottom right. ta da... all the info you never knew existed.

 

[Garbz]

The Nikon D2X, D2H, and with a firmware update the D200 have the capability to authenticate the originality of the image with a digital signature. This would prevent meddling with the EXIF data if you needed a truly reliable answer to the problem. As others said the data can be modified otherwise.