Often times, wind turbine blades are subjected to static and dynamic testing to identify the performance levels that can be achieved for a particular configuration. These tests are a necessary part of the validation process. Typically, a variety of different static and dynamic measurements are made using a variety of different transducers. Typically, only a handful of strain gages are deployed to capture strain information. Recent advances in digital image correlation (DIC) and dynamic photogrammetry (DP) have allowed new opportunities for blade inspection, structural health monitoring, and full-field vibration testing. The primary benefit to using DIC is that the measurement approach is not limited to identifying the displacement or strain at only a few discrete measurement locations, but instead makes full-field surface measurements possible. These techniques are currently being explored on several wind turbine blade applications and can provide a wealth of additional information that was previously unobtainable. This paper, which is the first part of a two part paper, presents the static strain measurements and calibration of the system overall. The strain distribution along the length of the structure is compared to the finite element model. The data analysis is used to assure that the model is calibrated for the dynamic testing results; dynamic testing results are presented in the second part of this paper.