Photography for Accident Reconstruction, Product Liability, and Testing

Many technical projects, most vehicle and component testing, and all accident reconstructions, product failure analyses, and other forensic investigations, require photographic documentation. Roadway evidence disappears, tested or wrecked vehicles are repaired, disassembled, or scrapped, and components can be tested for failure. Photographs are frequently the only evidence that remains of a wreck, or the only records of subjects before or during tests. Making consistently good images during any inspection is a critical part of the evaluation process. 

Anyone involved in these technical pursuits must be able to create professional images regardless of the lighting or physical conditions. Photographs should not be “okay” or “close enough” any more than calculations or analysis should be. If the project is important enough for accurate calculations, it is important enough for accurate photographs.

published in reports and technical papers. This course will provide the skills necessary to consistently produce high-quality photographs for any purpose. This is a hands-on class and students should bring the following with them to class:  a camera (with manual exposure mode preferred) with the instruction manual; battery; normal or zoom lens; macro lens (if available); flash with batteries; circular polarizer; and tripod with head; laptop computer with card reader and photo software (if available, as this will be helpful to review images and set up workflow.)

This course has been approved by the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR) for 20 Continuing Education Units (CEUs). Upon completion of this course, accredited reconstructionists should mail a copy of their course certificate of achievement and the $5 participant CEU fee to ACTAR, PO Box 1493, North Platte, NE 69103.