What did the witness to a crime see from 40 feet away at 3:00 a.m.? What did the driver see when approaching the intersection at sunset? What could the injured party see in the movie theater before tripping on a stair? I’ve provided this type of photography through Imaging Forensics for over ten years.

Witness perspective photography involves returning to the scene under similar lighting conditions, observing the scene, and photographically recording it so that the trier of fact can see the lighting conditions, perspective, size of objects, etc. from the witness’ point of view. As the photographer, I document, in detail, what I can can see – how much detail there is, what objects are too dark to discern, which are too light, etc.Then I photograph the scene to represent what I could see. I make prints that represent what I was able to see at the scene, under the given lighting conditions, using the proper focal length, print size, and print viewing distance so that the viewer will see all objects at the same size, brightness, contrast, and color as I did when at the scene.

Here are a few examples of cases I’ve worked using this technique:

I worked a defense case last year in which I illustrated what the accused could see in his rearview mirror when pulled over at night by the police. The defense attorney showed my photographs to the prosecuting attorney, and all related charges were then dropped.

A case I previously referred to was a plaintiff case for a woman who fell over a retaining wall in a poorly lit parking lot. In this case the defense photographed the wrong area and used the wrong equipment (giving a false perspective). I photographed the area properly (the right place, the same lighting conditions, the right lens, etc.), and plaintiff received a multi-million dollar settlement.

A third example was an accident in which a driver ran a stop sign resulting in a fatal accident. The family was suing the city over the visibility of the signage and road markings. I was retained by the defense, and provided photography showing the perspective from the drivers seat of the same make, model, and year of vehicle under the same lighting conditions. This case resulted in a summary judgment in favor of the defense.