Moth trails? Insects as scribes?
A recent article at Photojojo, Light Painting with Moth Trails, caught my attention. It answers a few questions and raises some possibilities.
First, it gives a clear (and exaggerated) example of how insects can create false anomalies. 
If you aren’t checking for bugs when you’re taking photos at a haunted site, you may be disappointed by your results.
For a few seconds, you might think you captured a great anomaly… and then a team member will show you his photo that more clearly reveals: It was just an insect.
Tip: Always look at any nearby streetlights. Bugs often congregate around lights. You’ll also notice insects in front of flashlights, and the headlamps on passing cars.
In addition, it’s wise to have a buddy look in front of your camera — from the side — to see if he or she notices any insects when the flash lights up.
In the photo shown above, you can see a glorious sea of swirls, streaks and lines, created by insects. (Photo courtesy of Photojojo.)
So, when you see something like that — even a small-scale version of it — suspect that insects were involved.
That said, what if ghosts could use insects to send us messages?
Yes, that sounds rather mad. However, how different is it from setting out a few objects and asking a ghost to move them?
What if we said, “If you can communicate with the insects, get them to swirl in a way that leaves a distinctive image in our photos.”
Or, what if we said, “If you can condense the light you’d use to form an orb, and move it in front of the camera as the flash goes off, swirl your light so it sends us a clear message of some kind.”
I would have laughed at this, until I started conducting research for my book, Ghost Photography 101.
That’s when I saw odd images that could be explained logically… but the forms they took were distinctive.
I’m reminded of the angel image in the smoke, when we were testing smoke “anomalies” in pictures: Smoke, angel or ghost?
Of course, skeptics will chuckle and remind us that smoke is just smoke. Insect trails are just insect trails. Orbs* are usually dust, pollen, or moisture.
But, the rest of us — with more open minds — look at what’s odd, whether it can be explained as a “coincidence” or not.
If you’ve taken photos that seemed to include unlikely images — even though you could explain the origins as smoke, bugs, or something else — let me know.
*I keep reminding skeptics that “ghost orbs” might be bugs or dust or pollen, but the bigger question is: Why do we see so many more of them in photos taken at haunted locations? Shouldn’t we see orbs in more of our other, everyday photos?
