Forensic Photography: A Practitioner's Guide

Preface

The last 10 years has seen a massive surge of interest in forensics, due to the CSI effect both in television and film. [1] This is generally focused on pathologists, crime scene examiners or investigating personal. Unfortunately, the forensic photographer is often portrayed in these programmes as an extra, running around in the background, their input reduced to providing a few background flashes to the story line.

I hope that within the confines of this book, and I can fly the flag for the forensic photography within the evidential environment, and also share my passion for forensic photography as a very particular and important line of work.

I will point out at this point that I am not an academic, nor a teacher; I am a practitioner, so this book is based on the personal experiences of last 25 years of forensic photography and observations from an operational perspective. It is aimed, I hope, at readers who already have a general interest in forensic photography or are studying it. Those of you who wish to improve your techniques or are involved in imaging, and finally those of you that use forensic imaging to support your casework, such as Crime Scene Managers or Senior Investigating Officers.

I will go into depth where needed and lay out ground rules. But this book should not be seen as a replacement for Langford's basic or advanced photography.¹ Also, any opinions expressed are purely my own and not necessarily those representing the Metropolitan Police or others ...