ABSTRACT
Creating effective lighting for forensic documentation is more than simply adding light to a scene. The forensic photographer must determine what type or types of lighting supports and delivers the best information detail to investigators. Frontal lighting is created with the light behind or near the photographer's camera and lens that makes pictures look as though the light came from the camera's lens itself or on axis with the camera, similar to that of an on-camera flash. The light on the subject is reflected directly back into the lens imaging surface. Frontal lighting is used to minimize shadows within the evidence and created a very flat textureless image. Side lighting consists of light that falls on a subject within the scene at approximately ninety degrees to the side of the camera. White-line and black-line lighting methods of lighting glass can provide different information about the evidence and glass structure.
