Yes another Ghost picture that proves nothing...

Hi, I'm sure you've all seen a million threads with pics of what people claim are ghosts etc on ATS, especially from new members like me.

First off I want to say I make no far fetched claim about this picture at all. I post it simply so that it may be of interest to other people to disuss as they see fit.

On a personally level I am an atheist, I don't believe in ghosts or life after death and I have lurked on ATS for years reading the NWO and Political stuff. This is not really my bag at all.

So to the picture. I am an amateur photgrapher. I enter competions online and at a local club. I was taking pictures for a project today at a local church yard. The shot was one of 49 pics. There was nothing else in any other picture and ever in any of the other 4500 pics taken with this camera.

The camera was a Nikon D70. It was on a tripod and the camera strap was secured to the tripod to keep it out of the way. I was alone and there was no other person around. The picture was taken on f5.6, iso200 and 1/100 second at 72mm focal length (108mm as 35mm camera) on a 18-200mm Tamron lense. It was captured as a RAW image 3008 x 2000 pixels.

The RAW image has been manipulated in PhotoShop (saturation, contrast, exposure etc) to show it in the best light possible.

I can find (nor do I offer) any explanation for what this is. I am happy for the image to be examined and I remained open minded. What do you think.

I know what it's not, as you may also do...it's not a reflection or lense flare...

nice little capture...

It's defined by its shape, which may very well count out moths, flys and other bugs near to the lense...

Could be a smudge on the lense, but it's an odd shaped smudge and jus don't seem to fit right as a smudge unless done deliberately with a shaped object and a dab of vaseline... ( I am not calling you a hoaxer, am just going through the options)

could be some other form of moving object, like dust or a bit of litter... or maybe ash from somewhere.

But it has a kind of cloudy patchiness to it... which gives it that ethereal look...

nice find and well spotted...many would not see that in the corner of a pic...

thanks for posting it... might be worth doing further photos in that place...

Yeah, that's a smudge, I get them all the time on my camera lenses.

Originally posted by Dragonfriend
Yeah, that's a smudge, I get them all the time on my camera lenses.

Thanks for your observation. Do you mean a smudge on the lense or something more 'technical'.

I took a picture 1min 8secs before and 1:04secs after and both those were smudge free.

If you fancy yourself as a bit of a photgrapher then clean lenses are very important. I use alcohol wipes on mine each time I go out.

In my opinion its not a smuge on the lense. Also never had another one in 4500 images with this camera so I don't believe it to be any other kind of image 'error'.

Anyway thanks for you interest.

That fog in the top right?

Could be anything really. You using Macro setting?

reply to post by Extralien



Thanks for your reply.

You are correct I am fairly confident that I know what it is not. I don't believe it to be a smudge on the lenses or other mistakes within the camera. It wasn't raining and the air was clear. No bonfires , smoke or other elements in the air either.

Cheers.

Originally posted by bskivss3
That fog in the top right?

Could be anything really. You using Macro setting?

No not Macro? Not sure why you ask?

You absolutely right the 'fog' could be anything at all. Its just that in the absence of any other sensible explantion by the person that took it (me) I'm offeringit up for discussion.

As I said originally, I make no representation for what it is. I do not believe in ghosts, BUT the location of the shot and the fact that I have never seen anything like it before has made ask myself (and others) well what is it then?

Thanks for your interest.

Thanks for sharing your photo! A few questions.....did you take more than one picture of this particular spot? Did you see the "misty" spot with the naked eye? Are you able to visit the same spot again and take a number of pictures to see if the misty spot is still there or reappears?
It might be worth exploring a little further for the sake of curiosity if nothing else. I do believe in ghosts but any I have seen have been in solid form.

The first thing that shot into my head was an insect of some sort. The "smudge" is somewhat translucent as is a diaphanous wing of a fly or gnat. If you look at it closely, you can see the grass behind it as well as the edge of the gravestone. The filters you put it through to show the best light may have heightened the opacity or the brightness of the wing itself, hence the dark gray hue.

Very true! I would of never thought of that. Well, my mind is always pondering on things like this. Nice observations!

This sort of "fog" usually ends up being a bit of something that was hanging down over a corner of the lens but not enough to shift the autofocus. A camera strap, a bit of hair, a piece of paper, etc.

I don't know what it was specifically, but those are a few things it possibly could have been. Or a ghost. Whatever that means.

I believe it could be a finger entering the frame about an inch or so from the lens.

The finger would be pointing down to the middle-left of the photograph, as if you were holding the camera from the front/right.

Can you remember how you were holding the camera?

I can nearly even see fingerprint lines in the 'fog'.

This kind of thing, except with the finger further from the lens.


[edit on 26-1-2009 by fooffstarr]

First off I think thats a beautiful photo. I think its too bad that there is a smudge (for lack of a better term) on it.

I dont know much about photography, although I do enjoy taking a few pictures everynow and then.

The first thing I thought when I saw it was photoshop.

It just looks to me like a smudge that was added in after the fact. atleast that is how it looks to me.

The second thing that came to my mind was a finger getting in the shot.

I dont know. I think its a beautiful picture for what its worth