It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. The camera, either those who shoot film or the modern marvel of digital photography captures and documents the world around us. To be sure, the ease of manipulating photographs has muddied the picture. Digital photography has allowed freedoms that are unconstrained by media. Budgets put constraints on the number of photographs a forensic photographer could take, but with digital media those constraints have been removed. Storage and handling of a vast body of criminal forensic photographs have eased the burden of those charged with preservation, cataloging and reproduction of the digital photograph.
Forensic photography or crime-scene photography is used to document details that otherwise would not be available in analysis of a crime scene.

Locard’s Exchange Principle

Locard’s exchange principle is the tenet that a criminal or perpetrator of a crime will bring something into the crime scene and leave with something from the crime scene. It is the basis that justifies crime scene investigation and documentation. Both the leaving and taking from a crime scene has evidentiary value. Locard advocated that “every contact leaves a trace.” Fragmentary or trace evidence is any type of material left at or taken from a crime scene. Processing of the crime scene collects fragmentary or trace evidence.

Photo & Video Evidence

If a picture is worth a thousand words, video is an Encyclopedia Britannica, volumes of descriptive wording.
The camera records the scene and documents the recovery of evidence. All forensic photography must consider:
• Subject
• Scale
• Reference
It is desirable that all photography or videography is neutral and accurate in representation. The forensic photographer documents the crime scene and evidence within the scene. As evidence is collected it is documented by photography as to its nature and relation to the crime scene. Photos refresh the memory of those who were present at the scene but also allow crime scene analysis and interpretation for the investigator who may not have been present. It allows judges and jury to understand the crime scene and the perspective of any recovered evidence. Photographs are subject to scale and a reference object. For smaller items a ruler laid alongside the evidence with provide both scale and reference.

Private Investigation Photography Methods

If the crime scene is in a home, the photographer will start at the street, then a shot of the front of the house, the ideal would be to include street numbers in the photo to establish the location. It is important to capture the photo with proper lighting with no ‘hot’ spots or washed and faded detail from over exposure. The digital photo must be captured in a lossless format, either TIFF or RAW, with RAW format being proprietary and TIFF more of a universal standard. The camera must be shot from a grounded platform, either a tripod or copy stand. The shutter should be remotely tripped. This is for shutter speeds slower than 1/60 of a second. A photo log is maintained. The log records the date, time of photograph, the subject matter and addition notes if necessary. The logs must be maintained within a case file or incident report as they are part of the examination record and discoverable material at trial.

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The digital photo and videography have revolutionized crime scene documentation, with the same camera being capable of capturing both video and still photography. A picture maybe worth 1,000 words, but sometimes the picture tells it all. Advanced Private Investigator & Security of Miami, FL can handle all your private investigation and security needs. Contact us to learn more today!