How many times have you looked at a series of photographs but have been unable to find a single one that is clear enough to provide the evidence you need to address a specific issue?
Unfortunately, regardless of the source, many of the photographs you encounter during the investigation of an accident or a product failure are likely mediocre at best, and completely useless at worst. Taking care to make decent photographs applies equally to consulting experts, police agencies, insurance adjusters, and law firm investigators. You don’t have to become a professional photographer (although many of you are getting paid for making photos during your work!), but there are fairly simple things you can do to make your photographs more useful.
At more than one inspection, the subject of making photographs has come up. Quite a few times I’ve heard, “Well, my photos aren’t great, but they’ll be good enough.” Do you treat your measurements, analysis, or reports the same way: “They’re not exactly right, but close enough”?
Some of the all-to-common problems are: blur from camera shake; poor focusing; inappropriate lens focal lengths; bad composition; bad camera menu settings; bad lighting; and incorrect exposure. Close-up photographs are often essential, but have their own additional potential issues.
Fortunately, almost every one of these photo faults is easy to correct with a little care and a little knowledge. Even used on automatic, most cameras and flashes today are incredibly accurate for 95% of the photographic situations you’re likely to face–if you are careful handling your camera. But even the most advanced technology can’t overcome carelessness.
Rather than making this into one giant post, I will be posting a number of separate articles addressing the problems I’ve mentioned above, plus some other photographic issues. In the meantime, remember it’s worth taking the time to make the best photos you can. After all, if you’re not going to try to take good, usable photographs, why bother taking them at all?
