Many technical projects, most vehicle and component testing, and all accident reconstructions, product failure analyses, and other forensic investigations, require photographic documentation. Roadway evidence disappears, tested or wrecked vehicles are repaired, disassembled, or scrapped, and components can be tested to failure. Photographs are frequently the only evidence that remains of a wreck, or the only records of subjects before or during tests. Making consistently good images during any inspection is a critical part of the evaluation process.
Anyone involved in these technical pursuits must be able to create professional images regardless of the lighting or physical conditions. Photographs should not be ¿okay¿ or ¿close enough¿ any more than calculations or analysis should be. If the project is important enough for accurate calculations, it is important enough for accurate photographs.For testing and projects, results must be presented in court, to boards, management, or peer groups, or published in reports and technical papers. This course will provide the skills necessary to consistently produce high-quality photographs for any purpose.
This is a hands-on class and students should bring the following with them to class: a camera (with manual exposure mode preferred) with the instruction manual; battery; normal or zoom lens; macro lens (if available); flash with batteries; circular polarizer; and tripod with head; laptop computer with card reader and photo software (if available, as this will be helpful to review images and set up workflow.)
This course has been approved by the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR) for 20 Continuing Education Units (CEUs). Upon completion of this seminar, accredited reconstructionists should mail a copy of their course certificate and the $5 student CEU fee to ACTAR, PO Box 1493, North Platte, NE 69103.
- Consistently produce quality photographs
- Create complete and meaningful photographic record of any project, accident, or testing
- Ascertain what equipment works, and when, why, and how to use it
- Describe the photographic process used, from equipment through post-processing (necessary for many court proceedings and peer-reviewed papers)
- Develop a consistent methodology for post-processing and distribution of images
This course is designed for individuals who must take photographs as part of their field of work. This may include accident reconstructionist, product failure analysts, forensic scientists and engineers, testing and development engineers, human factors experts, biomechanical and biomedical experts, police agencies, government agencies, and anyone needing to illustrate technical papers or books.
Individuals should have some familiarity with taking photographs within their field of work, but even first-time photographers will benefit.
Tom began his engineering career as a tire development engineer at BF Goodrich and later as a consultant in tire failure analysis and vehicle accident reconstruction for SEA Limited. He continues to consult in those fields and has added forensic photography as an area of expertise. A long-time Nikon shooter with a passion for photography, Tom became an early adopter of digital photography and promptly divested himself of all vestiges of film photography. He took every course or workshop he could find on digital capture, post- processing, and digital printing, as he mastered each part of the process and has been teaching photography and post-processing in lectures, workshops, and classes since 2004.
As a long- time professional engineering consultant, professional photographer, and photography instructor, Tom is uniquely suited to teach both the fundamentals of digital photography and the specific practical use of photography in technical projects, accidents, and forensics. He is a registered professional mechanical engineer, and has been an SAE member since 1980. Tom was Atlanta Section Chairman 1987/88, and was active throughout the life of SAE's AIRP (Accident Investigation and Reconstruction Practices) group, including a stint as the chairman of the heavy truck forum group. Tom has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland.