Where Knowledge Rules

Religion & Spirituality:

Spirituality

Get a Widget for this title

Photographing ghosts

Photographing ghosts

Having spent close to twenty years in the photography business (as both a photo lab/darkroom specialist and a photographer), I have seen first-hand how many photographic errors, tricks, and camera malfunctions are possible.

Oh, if I had a nickel for every person who claimed they had a ghost picture...



A few examples:

- A blurry, unidentified ghostly object in the shot

Camera strap, thumb, or the photographer's own long hair passing in front of the lens. NOT A GHOST.



- Wispy spirits swirling around in the photo

Somebody is smoking a cigarette off to the side... or it's cold out and the photographer's own warm breath is visible. NOT A GHOST.



- "Ghost orbs"!

Moisture in the air is captured and illuminated by the camera flash. Our eyes may not see the moisture at the time, but the flash will pick it up. NOT A GHOST.



- Mysterious lights/reflections

Mirrors, windows, reflective stripes on backpacks and sneakers... even drinking glasses and dinner plates... can all cause odd reflections in photos. Reflective items don't even necessarily need to be IN the shot to be seen- a sort of ricochet effect can happen. NOT A GHOST.



- Blurry, partially transparent objects/figures

Caused by a slow shutter speed, whether used intentionally, or selected by the camera to compensate for lighting conditions, or caused by a dying battery or other malfunction. Camera shake, blurriness, and "trails" are fairly inevitable at shutter speeds of 1/60th of a second or slower. NOT A GHOST.



I would personally estimate that 95% of the "ghost pictures" I've seen have a reasonable technical explanation; the other 5% I can honestly say could not be explained scientifically. (It's in that 5% where things get very interesting.)

Overall, critical thinking is necessary in evaluating alleged ghost pictures. Understanding the technical aspects of photography helps, too. That said, I am open to the possibility that ghosts may in fact exist, but am not convinced they can necessarily be photographed.

Learn more about this author, Christine Conte.
Contact this writer Click here to send this author comments or questions.


Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:

Photographing ghosts

  • 1 of 13

    by Christine Conte

    Photographing ghosts

    Having spent close to twenty years in the photography business (as both a photo lab/darkroom specialist

    read more

  • 2 of 13

    by Mark Mihalko

    One of the biggest questions that have paranormal investigators continue to debate is what type of camera to use on an investigation,

    read more

  • 3 of 13

    by Amanda Turenchalk

    I became interested in the paranormal when I was younger and would see a shadow-spirit lurking about our home. I wasn't

    read more

  • 4 of 13

    by Denise Cole

    We photographed my grandfather as we were spreading his ashes during a sunset.

    He had died after battling bone cancer, 5

    read more

  • 5 of 13

    by Charleine Fenn

    This is an interesting subject for me. I have seen photo's depicting ghostly figures. As an avid photographer I couldn't

    read more

View All Articles on:
Photographing ghosts

Add your voice

Know something about Photographing ghosts?
We want to hear your view. Write_penWrite now!

Helium Debate

Cast your vote!

Are angels real or imaginary?

Click for your side.

128686

Featured Partner

Text and Academic Authors Association

The Text and Academic Authors Association (TAA) is the only authoring association devoted exclusively to serving text...more

What is Helium? | Buy Web Content | Contact Us | Privacy | User agreement | DMCA | User Tools | Help | Community | Helium’s Official Blog | Link to Helium

Helium, Inc.
200 Brickstone Square Andover, MA 01810 USA