Forensic dental photography 2 31use occurs because ultraviolet light is strongly absorbed by pigment in the
skin.^26 Any area of the healing injury that contains excess surface pigmenta-
tion compared to the surrounding normal tissue may sometimes be recorded
with favorable results using reflective ultraviolet photography.^26 The opti-
mum time for photographing injuries in the living skin using ultraviolet
light is seven to eight days after the injury is inflicted (Figures 11.2 to 11.10).
Case reports suggest that it is possible to photograph a healed injury up to
several months after the injury. Such a case, reported by David and Sobel,^27
illustrated a five-month-old injury recaptured using reflective ultraviolet
photography where no injury pattern was visible to the naked eye. Using UV
photography, one author (Wright) has recaptured remnants of different bite-
mark injuries seven and twenty-two months after the victims were bitten
(Figures 11.35 to 11.38).Figure 11.35 an alleged bitemark; grayscale image acquired within hours after
injury inflicted (visible light).
Figure 11.36 the same alleged bitemark as in Figure 11.35 (inside the white
oval). uv image taken twenty-two months after the injury. the pattern was not
visible to the human eye under normal lighting conditions.