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Ghost orb pictures are among the most popular evidence of hauntings, and orbs can be the easiest subjects for beginning ghost photographers.
Some people seem to attract ghost orbs more than others. We’ve known ghost hunters who never see orbs in their photos, but they get great EVP… and vice versa.
Those of us who do capture ghost orbs in pictures, also seem to bring home higher percentages of ghost orb photos each time. We don’t know if the ghosts have become more comfortable with us, or if we’re developing an innate sense of where the orbs are.
Some ghost researchers claim that one or two orb photos per hundred (using a film camera) is very good. In profoundly haunted locations, as many as 35% of my photos will include anomalous orbs.
However, at The Myrtles Plantation, several of us — mostly researcher Margaret Byl (of G.H.O.S.T.S.) and I — were taking photos outdoors, after dark. To our amazement, we saw no orbs in pictures where humidity should have produced them.
The photo, above (dark scene with white picket fence), was taken in back of The Myrtles Plantation, near the marshy land and pond. We expected at least a half dozen false (natural) orbs in this and other photos.
(I haven’t analyzed other patterns yet, such as images in the grass that may be significant.)
I’ve included this photo to show you that, even in a very haunted location, professional ghost hunters don’t always find great orbs or other anomalies in their photos.
INDOOR ORBS
Indoors, we’re cautious when an orb might be from a reflective surface. (That’s rare,* but it can happen. So, we err on the side of skepticism.)
At the right, you can see one of my few good orb photos taken at The Myrtles Plantation. (An enhanced close-up is shown on the left, below.)
That’s a broken piano at the entry to the most haunted wing of The Myrtles Plantation. We checked the piano carefully, and some of the keys are jammed so that the piano doesn’t work. In fact, it can’t.
We also examined it closely for microphones or other evidence of a hoax. It’s a real, broken piano with nothing added.
There’s no sound equipment anywhere in that wing, that could account for what we heard later that night.
During our visit, that piano started playing all by itself, around midnight. I’d heard the stories of the piano music, of course.
However, I was expecting something classical… a piece by Debussy or something.
Not even close. It wasn’t a melody, but the “plink, plink, plink” of a small child tapping on the keys at the far right side of the keyboard.
The experience was eerie, but one of the less startling events of a dramatic night at The Myrtles Plantation.
We weren’t at all surprised to see an orb over the piano in several of our photos — taken from different directions — including this one.
*For years, I was among the most skeptical voices regarding “ghost orbs.” Then, after several years’ intense study of orbs – with multiple cameras (film and digital) – I discovered that it’s very difficult to create a convincing (but fake) orb in photos.
Since then, I’ve been trying to undo the damage I caused by my early (199os and early 2000s) assertions. See my article Ghost Orbs – An Overlooked Question.
Question: When trying to photograph orbs, I know digital cameras are okay but should you use flash? My camera sort of automatically flashes when necessary but I can turn that off. Should I turn it off?
Georgia,
I almost always use a flash when I’m photographing haunted locations.
Some people believe the orbs (and other energy anomalies) have mass, and therefore can reflect the flash. Others say the orbs can use the light energy (from the flash) to manifest in our photos, and that’s why we don’t see them as often, outside of flash photos.
I’m not sure what the answer is, but I recommend using the flash for the best results.
Cheerfully,
Fiona