Crime Scene Photographer: Job Description & Salary
Learn the details of a career as a crime scene photographer. Discover the job description, the salary, the required training and the key skills for the job.
Career Information at a Glance
Crime scene photographers, also called forensic photographers, use cameras to document evidence in a crime. Some crime scene photographers are crime scene investigators, while others work their way into the profession with a degree in photography. The chart below can give you an overview of the profession.
<table border="1"><tr><td><b>Degree Preferred</b></td><td>Associate's degree</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Education Field of Study</b></td><td>Photography, forensic photography</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Key Skills</b></td><td>Detail-oriented, strong constitution, computer proficiency</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Job Growth (2020-2030)</b></td><td>17% (photographers), 16% (forensic science technicians)*</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Median Salary (2021)</b></td><td>$50,375**</td></tr>
</table><p><i>Sources: *U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, **Payscale.com</i>
</p><h3 id="section---WhatDoCrimeScenePhotographersDo">What Do Crime Scene Photographers Do?</h3><p>A photograph can be worth a thousand words, but a crime scene photograph can be worth a lot more. When there's a murder, an attack, a burglary or a traffic accident, crime scene photographers take pictures of evidence of the incident. Photographs can be misleading, though, so crime scene photographers use special techniques to make sure that law enforcement, and later, the courts, can reconstruct the scene accurately. Crime scene photographers take photos of the victims, snap shots of the layout of the scene and capture the scale of anything that might be deemed evidence.
</p><h3 id="section---DoYouNeedADegree">Do You Need a Degree?</h3><p>The degree you need to be a crime scene photographer may depend on how you come into the career. If you're interested in law enforcement, you can pursue that, become a police officer or crime scene investigator and then move to the photography side of the job.
</p><p>Another path is to study photography and get at least an associate's degree in the field. Some technical colleges also offer a program in something like crime and accident scene photography. With that and some real-world photography experience, you may be able to apply to become a crime scene photographer.
</p><h3 id="section---WhatSkillsAreImportantForForensicPhotographers">What Skills Are Important for Forensic Photographers?</h3><p>Aside from photography ability, you may need a particular set of skills to do the job successfully. You'd be exposed to gruesome, horrific and tragic scenes, so having a strong mental and physical constitution is important. You'll need almost superhuman attention to detail. Every piece of evidence you photograph could mean the difference between finding the culprit and letting a criminal go free, so there's no room for careless mistakes.
</p><h3 id="section---HowMuchDoCrimeScenePhotographersMake">How Much Do Crime Scene Photographers Make?</h3><p>According to the website <i>Payscale.com</i>, forensic photographers made an average annual salary of $50,375 in 2021. To a great degree, the salary might depend on experience. For instance, a 2019 listing for a forensic photographer government job lists the potential salary for the position as between $30,732 - $62,946 annually.
</p><h3 id="section---WhatSTheJobOutlookForTheField">What's the Job Outlook for the Field?</h3><p>The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the job growth for all photographers as 17% between 2020 and 2030. However, crime scene photography is a narrow career within that field, so it may not be subject to the same issues as the rest of the industry. In fact, the BLS projects that employment for forensic science technicians will grow by 16% during the same period.</p>