Crime Scene Photography

by Edward M. Robinson

Crime Scene Photography, Second Edition, offers an introduction to the basic concepts of forensic picture-taking. The forensic photographer, or more specifically the crime scene photographer, must know how to create an acceptable image that is capable of withstanding challenges in court. The photographic theory and principles have to be well grounded in the physics of optics, the how-to recommendations have to work, and the end result must be admissible in court. Based on the author's years of experience in the field at both the Arlington County and Baltimore County Police Departments, this book blends the practical functions of crime scene processing with theories of photography to guide the student in acquiring the skills, knowledge, and ability to render reliable evidence. This text has been carefully constructed for ease of use and effectiveness in training and was class-tested by the author at George Washington University. Beginning August 2008, this book will be required reading by the IAI Crime Scene Certification Board for all levels of certification (through August 2011).

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, Crime, Textbooks

720 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2007

Reviews

[Taylor Papera · Rating 2 out of 5]

To directly quote my co-worker, “Informational. But drier than a Popeye’s biscuit.” (Gonzalez, V., 2025, Goodreads review). I would also like to add that even though this text was written in the 2014-2016 timeframe (ish), this author sometimes writes like he still operates his camera in the Caveman era. I’m unsure how successful I was in retaining the information in this dry @$$ book, but thank God for IAI test prep courses.

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Informational, but drier than a Popeye’s biscuit.

[☠︎︎༒︎✞︎ ѕℓιм ☠︎︎༒︎✞︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good information that was in this book, I had to read this book for my crime scene photography class, very useful if you want to learn about forensic, photography, and getting a better understanding of the field of forensic science and crime scene investigation etc.

[Angela]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/10383374

I am going for certification as a Crime Scene Analyst through the International Association for Identification -- and this is one of the three books I need to read and study!

started updates on the wrong edition --

Feb 29 - Enjoying the text thus far, but wish the narrative and the pictures that go with it were on the same page

March 13 - Exposure is just confusing...need to remember to use smaller apertures on scenes, and to not get stuck in rut. No easy, "always" rule for proper exposure.

Finally finished the "extra"chapters that I didn't need for certification (which I got by the way). Lots of court cases in the last chapter..but the book is great overall.

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a basic Crime Scene Photography book that gives you information on many different techniques and situations. I had to use this as a text book for a Forensic Photography course in college and I look back at it every once and a while to keep my brain refreshed. While this is a fairly informative book, I feel that it does not completely go into a lot of detail. Most of the basics are explained and it should be enough for a beginner to understand and start with. There is the lighting, exposure settings, use of flash, lots of pictures for examples, and some very important rules included. When you are done with this one then you can proceed to more advanced crime scene photography books.

[Nik Havert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers a lot of photography technique, but I would've liked more practical tips on actually photographing a scene rather than in-depth discussions about Poisson's spot and the physics of light. Knowledge of how light works is important to good photography, but your average crime scene photographer is not a portrait or landscape or artistic photographer. We are there to document a scene to the best of our ability and get a job done, often while rushed for time.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author writes not as a lecturer, but as a real teacher, the kind that tells stories and provides examples and fun experiments to try to make it interesting. It is interesting, and covers in depth a lot of aspects. It can still be incredibly dry, but it's valuable knowledge, and I very rarely wishes for more thorough examples to help me understand things.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't really enjoy how this book is written albeit informative and instructional it's not your everyday textbook.