Orange County Paranormal Society

As more and more paranormal sites go online, there is an ever-growing collection of evidence that people have come up with- both during investigations, and while just out having fun. In turn, there seems to be an extensive amount of false-evidence in people’s picture galleries. Most people are unaware of the tricks their cameras can play, but there are some who are fully aware of it, and use it to benefit their claims.

One of the most common problems is overexposure. When a picture is taken, either digitally or on film, the camera’s shutter remains open for a given amount of time to ensure a proper exposure. The darker an area is, the longer the shutter has to stay open, and any movement that occurs in this time can greatly affect the way the picture comes out. Even shutter speeds as fast as 1/60th of a second can capture motion. When a camera uses it’s flash to take a picture in the dark, the light from the flash bounces off the closest object, sends the focal length back to the camera, and captures the image as fast as possible. This helps stabilize whatever object the light bounces off of, but anything else can easily become distorted and leave trails and ghost like imagery.

Another instance of overexposure comes when someone used a tripod to take a picture with a long shutter speed. Most instances, the speed is at 1/2 a second, and sometimes ranging up to 2 seconds long. This makes anything that is not in motion to stay perfectly in focus, but causes extensive problems with anything that is moving, even in the slightest bit. Most notably, people. With an exposure that is 1/2 a second or longer, a person who is moving becomes translucent and ghost-like.

Here is an example of an overexposed image, that was on a website for a paranormal investigation group. There are a couple immediate give-aways that the picture was improperly exposed. The first sign is the lighting. When you first look at the stair-case, the walls, and the ceiling, everything is perfectly lit. But when you look at the lights that are on the ceiling, they bleed out, showing that more light was let in then needed. The second sign is the trails coming from the ghost-like figure you see. These trails show that there was an opaque object in motion. You can distinctly see the trails left by his hair/hat, as well as the trails left by the hood of his jacket. While the site tries to claim there was no issues with exposure, an extraction of the image tells otherwise.

Every picture that is taken digitally contains something called EXIF data. EXIF data contains all the data and information involved with both taking the picture, and post processing it. Here is the EXIF data from the picture above. There are quite a few things that immediately stand out. First being ‘Exposure Time’, second being ‘F-Number’, and third being ‘Creation Software’. Starting with ‘Exposure Time’, we can see that the picture’s exposure was 1/2 a second. As mentioned above, this is more then enough to have images come out overexposed. ‘Exposure Program’ specifies that the picture was taken with the camera’s automatic settings, showing that the picture wasn’t intentionally overexposed. ‘F-Number’ tells us how open the aperture was. The aperture is another component that tells the camera how much light to let in. The smaller the f-number, the more light is let in, and the more a picture is exposed. ‘Creation Software’ tells us what computer program was used to edit the image. PictureProject is Nikon’s native photo editing software. While PictureProject has far less features then programs such as Adobe Photoshop, it lets you adjust certain aspects of the image. Unfortunately, EXIF data doesn’t tell us what exactly was done, only that something was in fact done. This could be anything from resizing the picture, to adjusting the brightness and contrast, to creating multiple layers and creating a doctored image. Since PictureProject lacks advanced features, it is safe to assume that the picture was probably just re-sized, or had some other small adjustment made. ‘Creation Software’ aside, ‘Exposure Time’ and ‘F-Number’ are all we need in order to deem the picture over-exposed and inadmissible.

Putting aside exposure problems, another common issue is a dirty camera lens. Most people don’t make sure that a camera lens is cleaned properly before snapping away a bunch of pictures. Having even small amounts of dust or a fingerprint on the lens can really mess up a picture. Oils left behind from a fingerprint can cause parts of the image to come out blurred. When some people see a random blur in an image, they tend to think it is paranormal, and immediately jump to conclusions. The blur will always be in the pictures, but depending on the lighting, clarity, and the object being photographed… it is not always noticeable. The other problem mentioned about dust, seems to be an even bigger issue. Dust and water residue cause all sorts of problems with a picture. Most notably, such obstructions on the lens can cause what some people claim to be orbs. While orbs are heavily discussed and debated in the paranormal world, these obstructions on the lens aren’t actually what most would call orbs.

Here is another picture that a paranormal investigation site has up. The caption for the image talks about how many orbs there were, but if you look closely, it isn’t just what some claim to be orbs. Many of the marks appear to be smudges, mostly showing signs of water marks. Chances are, the camera was exposed to moisture and dust, and the lens hadn’t been cleaned properly. It is quite common for people to either not clean their lenses at all, or try to clean it with their shirt or a piece of toilet paper. Both of these methods leave behind not
only lint and fibers, but it also doesn’t really clean the lens. Lenses should be cleaned with a lint-free cloth and proper cleaning solution. The items can be picked up practically anywhere, for as little as $5. Chances are, you can find suitable items that are used to clean eye glasses.

While there are many people out there who do not have any problems with their pictures, I can’t even begin to count the number of people who do not partake in the proper methods of taking pictures. Hopefully this will give some people an insight as to what needs to be done before and during the time they are taking pictures. Otherwise, I hope it at least gives insight on certain things to look at and take into consideration before jumping to conclusions.