Photo Log

Recently I was involved in a major investigation and arrived on site three days after the incident. The initial investigation team had taken dozens of photographs and turned them over to me. When I asked them to walk me through the story the photos told they were unable to easily do so.

They had taken many photos of some aspects of the accident scene and few or none of other aspects. They felt that if they took enough pictures they would capture what was important.

This may well be a situation where less is more. The scene could have been well depicted with a half dozen well thought out photos. Consider using a photo log to keep track of each picture, and of what the photographer was trying to capture. Completing the photo log before you take each photo will force you to stop and think about the purpose of the photo.

Ideally, a short narrative about each picture should be made at the time the photo is taken. For example:

Photo # 1 shows the accident scene taken from the north door of the warehouse. Time 7:15 pm. The back of damaged forklift can be seen in the lower right corner.

Photo # 2 shows the forklift and the damaged container and was taken from about 50 feet north of where Photo # 1 was taken.

Photo # 3 shows the flat tire of the forklift.

I searched the web for an example of a photo log and found the only one right next door in Saskatchewan. (See Resources page) In addition to the Photo Log (about five pages into the PDF) there are other forms for sketches, interview schedule and witnesses. You may need to modify the photo log a bit to give yourself more room to record information.

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