Chapter 9 - Special Photography Situations

Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of the concerns of the photographer at a major accident scene. It covers the normal surveillance photography techniques required to capture recognizable images of a suspect from a distance in both daytime and nighttime situations. It explains how all the photographic variables are selected for surveillance photography from a distance. It covers the issues encountered with underwater photography and the solutions to these problems. Working at an accident scene is potentially very dangerous to all concerned. Before photographs can be safely taken at major accident scenes, several priorities have to be dealt with. Law enforcement officers have many responsibilities such as the following: protect the accident scene, manage the traffic flow, and document the scene as part of their responsibility to work the accident and complete an accident report. The same aspects of the scene need to be documented whether or not the photographer has been trained in accident reconstruction. The main two differences in capturing recognizable images of a suspect from a distance in both daytime and nighttime situations are the longer focal length (telephoto) lenses that are used to recognize a suspect at a greater distance, and faster ISO films that are used to properly expose the suspect under dim lighting conditions.