NCJ Number
217973
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 55 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2007 Pages: 66-68,70,72
Date Published
March 2007
Length
6 pages
Annotation
In discussing the distinctive features and factors of underwater crime-scene photography, this article addresses personnel training, the underwater environment, adapting to underwater conditions, and processing the underwater scene.
Abstract
Regarding personnel training, the photographer should usually be required to be a certified diver. Training must address the hazards, risks, and restrictions involved in safe and effective underwater photography. In addition to training in how an in-water scene affects the human body, the underwater photographer must also be trained in how the underwater environment affects photography. Topics that should be covered include specifications for underwater photographic equipment, how photographic images are affected by the way water refracts light rays, how colors are influenced by the characteristics of underwater lighting, and the photographic equipment needed to produce photographic images with the colors produced by unimpeded natural light. How to deal with the underwater conditions of silt, sediment, algae, and pollution when photographing underwater scenes should also be covered. Advice on adapting photography to underwater conditions includes staying shallow if possible, using a strobe (electronic flash), staying close to the subject, and maintaining proper buoyancy. Advice on processing the underwater scene pertains to multiple methods of evidence documentation (still photography, videography, sketching/mapping, and the written report), documentation of the surface scene as well as the submerged scene, and the documentation and processing of specific evidence items. Photo illustrations