2nd Edition

Pocket Guide to Crime Scene Photography

By Mark E. Vecellio, Erick P. Bryant Copyright 2025
202 Pages 190 Color & 2 B/W Illustrations
by CRC Press

202 Pages 190 Color & 2 B/W Illustrations
by CRC Press

202 Pages 190 Color & 2 B/W Illustrations
by CRC Press

There are more than 800,000 sworn law enforcement officers employed within the United States, many of whom are regularly tasked with photographing crime scenes or evidence associated with criminal investigations.  Despite this fact, law enforcement personnel—including detectives and crime scene investigators—frequently receive little to no formal training in the art and science of photography,... Read more

1. Providing Context

2. Equipment and Accessories

3. Camera Terms and Photography Principles Made Easy to Understand

4. Crime Scene Photography: An Overview and Checklist

5. Overall Photographs

6. Mid-Range Photographs

7. Close-Up Photographs

8. Photographing Footwear/Tire Tracks, and Impressions

9. Photographing Latent Fingerprints

10. Night Photography/Painting with Light

11. Alternate Light Source Photography

12. Photographing Vehicles

13. Injury/Deceased Remains Photography

14. Tips for Photographing Bloodstain and Shooting Scene Evidence

15. Crime Scene Photography Using Mobile Devices

Biography

Mark E. Vecellio is currently an assistant professor of Forensic Investigations at West Virginia University Institute of Technology, in Beckley, West Virginia.  Mark has over a dozen years of teaching experience within higher education and managed the Crime Scene Investigations and Forensics Branch of the U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigation Division’s Special Agent Course.   He holds a master’s degree in forensic science from George Washington University and a master’s degree in public administration/criminal justice from City University of Seattle.  Mark has authored several research and technical publications within the field of forensic photography. Mark retired from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID), where he served as a special agent, supervisory special agent, and forensic sciences officer.  Mark’s specializations, in addition to crime scene photography, include death investigations, crime scene reconstruction, and sexual assault investigations. Mark is a member of several forensic organizations.

Erick P. Bryant currently serves as a crime scene analyst with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. He previously served with the U.S. Army CID, where he retired as the chief of the policy branch at the U.S. Army CID headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. He holds a BS in political science from Georgia Southern University and a master’s degree in forensic science from George Washington University. He has expertise in the following forensic and investigative disciplines: crime scene investigation, analysis and reconstruction, forensic photography, bloodstain pattern analysis, criminal investigation, death investigation, sexual assault investigation, child abuse investigation, and interviews and interrogations. He has also served as an adjunct faculty member at several colleges and universities. He is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Science, the International Association of Identification (IAI), the Rocky Mountain Division of the IAI, and the Rocky Mountain Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts. He is certified with the IAI in both crime scene analysis and bloodstain pattern analysis.