Medical/Legal Photography
It is easier than ever to take pictures. Multi-lens smartphones and tablets are the norm. While we’ve all become photographers, able to snap images with levels of detail previous unheard of, when it comes to what will be considered defensible in a legal proceeding, you should not rely on pictures taken on a phone by an untrained amateur.
Smartphone photographs, including selfies, may be of limited value as acceptable evidence before a trier of fact or jury. In-device AI software manipulates the images automatically, and then any number of third-party apps can make changes that no lay person could technically describe. While the electric images may look good, when held up to scrutiny, drawing conclusions may not be defensible.
At a time when credibility and expertise are often all that matter in legal proceedings, it is important to know that the photographic evidence you are relying on will stand up to scrutiny. Factors like the color temperature of the light, focal length of the lens, documentation of image magnification and credentials of the photographer may be determining factors in the acceptance of images for evidence purposes.
If the photographer can only speak to the technical aspect of how the photographs were taken, but not speak to what they show, there is still room for the opposing side to discredit their use.
Dr. Howard Seiden has been an avid photographer for decades. He learned techniques from professional medical photographers and the requirements from Evidence Photographers International Council in the film photography era. Being an experienced physician allows Dr. Seiden to be qualified as an expert in photography and medicine.
People are more relaxed removing clothing and allowing positioning and lighting to be more ideal in a clinical setting, as opposed to a photographic studio or a lawyer’s office. Photographs of people, particularly when involving areas of the body that are normally covered must be obtained in a professional caring manner by and expert who understands what the images need to contain. A physician may also have more leeway working in a hospital or a funeral home, where access may be an issue for others.
Imaging is recorded with professional Nikon equipment, processed with Adobe Photoshop and when necessary, professionally printed by Dr. Seiden or under his control.
