INTRODUCTION
Your responsibility when assigned to photograph crash and accident scenes,
burglary sites, fire damage, etc., is to produce high quality photographs to
help the investigators determine the cause of the accident or crime. The
images you record on film right after an accident will be very valuable; not
in terms of money but by recording and preserving evidence that over time
would be lost. Aircraft and vehicle accidents sites may have to be cleaned
up quickly so runways or roads can be returned to normal service.
Fire-
damaged structures need to be repaired or razed, and burglary sites have to
be repaired and security reestablished.
Doing your job correctly will
enable the investigators to do their job more effectively.
PART A - AIRCRAFT/VEHICLE ACCIDENTS
1.
Aircraft Accidents.
a. Importance of Photography.
Photography plays a major role in
aircraft accident investigations. Your pictures may help determine steps to
be taken to prevent similar occurrences. Keep in mind that few accidents
happen from a single cause.
In most, a sequence of events occurs, the
elimination of any one of which could have prevented the accident.
Your
approach to this type of assignment should be a methodical accumulation of
visual information from aerial views of the site to close-ups of the
smallest details.
b. What's Needed for Good Coverage.
There
are
four
essential
characteristics of good aircraft accident coverage.
(1) Promptness.
You must get to the scene as soon as possible,
before the evidence is disturbed.
(2) Thoroughness. Photograph all evidence in minute detail. Operate
on the idea that there is no limit to the amount of photography justified to
prevent the reoccurrence of an accident or the loss of a life.
(3) Conduct a planned photographic survey.
(4) Accuracy/clarity.
Pictures
that
show
half-truths
are
unacceptable. Your pictures must be sharp in detail, well exposed, and not
distort the subject.
c. Use Black and White and Color Films.
As the alert photographer,
when you arrive on the scene, you should be prepared to photograph the job
with both black and white (B & W) and color films. Both films can be used
to document the overall and general area of the accident. Color film should
be used to
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