Ghost Photos… What’s Real? What’s Fake?

I used to say that most “ghost orbs” were dust, insects, humidity, or something else

Then, a long-time friend challenged me. He insisted that all photos of orbs meant the site was haunted.

After that, for over six years, I tried to create convincing fake “ghost photos” to prove that I was right.

So, I tried to recreate circumstances I’d blamed for photos with orbs, apparent vortices, and so on.

I took all of these pictures in low-light conditions. I always used the flash on my camera to highlight the deceptive object or issue. I wanted to create false anomalies.

Hair in “Ghost Photos”

The first group of photos, below, could look paranormal if you didn’t know what was in the picture.

Half of the photos show a single piece of hair or a few strands of it.

That could happen if a photographer has long hair (as I do) and doesn’t pin it back.

The other photos in this first group show camera straps.

I used to think pictures of camera straps always showed both ends of the strap exiting the frame of the photo.

Not true.

Now I know camera straps can look weird. And, it can “vanish” from one side of the image.

Sometimes, both ends of the camera strap seem to disappear, so, the “vortex” seems suspended in front of the photographer.

Also, my camera strap is almost black. The reason it looks white is because the camera’s flash is very bright, and it highlights the camera strap.

About 90% of the “vortex” pictures I’ve seen were probably camera straps, or something like them. If you use a camera strap (recommended, especially in dark settings), be sure to loop it around your wrist or — if it’s a very long strap — over your arm or shoulder.

(I lost my original photos when this site moved to new hosting. I’m still looking for those photos among my backups. Until then, the following thumbnail illustrations show the kinds of pictures I’ve featured.)

The Fake Orbs Problem

The second group of photos shows how difficult it is to create convincing, fake “ghost orbs.”

The first few pictures are flash photos taken on a densely foggy morning. Even the one with the white lines (a spiderweb) doesn’t show convincing-looking orbs.

Next, you’ll see smoke photos. Unless your camera is sensitive to smoke, you’d need to be surrounded by smokers for smoke to be a significant issue. Regular cigarette smoke barely showed up. When we tested clove cigarettes (a different density of smoke), that was slightly more convincing.

Incense looked anomalous in my photos. However, unless your team is using a sage smudge, or the client burns lots of incense at home, I’m not certain we need to worry about smoke.

I could not get chimney smoke to show up in photos. Unless the weather is “just so,” hot air — and wood smoke — rise into the atmosphere. Smoke is not likely to descend and remain thick enough to be an issue. However, smoke from a nearby campfire could be an issue.

The remaining photos show random samples of test photos, trying to create lens flares and fake orbs. Insects, house lights, and even sparkly, reflective jewelry produced nothing noteworthy.

After years of study, using film and digital cameras, I finally had to admit that I’d been mistaken about false, ghostly anomalies.

True Confessions about Ghost Photos

For nearly 10 years, I was a hardcore skeptic about orbs in ghost photos, and I said so in my articles.

So, I need to make a few points very clear.

Orbs are much harder to fake than I’d expected. Moisture, reflective surfaces, and even house lights rarely create convincing orbs. Most lens flares are too obvious to confuse with unexplained orbs, and lens flares are far more difficult to create in typical ghost-hunting circumstances.
Camera straps can cause “vortex” images, even if one or two ends of the strap seem to vanish in the photo. Keep your camera strap wound around your wrist or arm.
Hair can cause weird-looking lines and swirls, some of them dotted with an orb at the end. They can look like vortex images, too. Wear a scarf if you’re taking ghost photos.
Cigarette smoke is very difficult to capture in a photo. We tried traditional cigarettes (it’s nearly invisible) and clove cigarettes (before the ban). Cloves gave better results but still aren’t enough to worry about.
Smoke from the right incense can appear ghostly. However, unless you’re using sage smudges at a site, I don’t think that’s an issue. Cone incense and incense on charcoal dispersed too quickly to photograph. Stick incense produced the best results, but someone had to wave it right in front of the lens, even on a still night.
Fog causes faint, repeating orbs. In hundreds of foggy photos, I saw nothing I’d confuse with a ghostly orb.
Jewelry, house lights, and spider webs don’t seem to create confusing images in photos.

Don’t take my word for it.

Run tests with your own phones and cameras. That’s important. Know how they respond to these kinds of issues. No two cameras have the same sensitivities.

Then, you’ll know if you’ve taken an actual ghost photo… or something else.

Tips for the Best Ghost Photos

Ghost Photography Tips

The following is an edited excerpt from the first edition of Ghost Photography 101, by Fiona Broome.

Man in Blue ghost photo - Fort Worden, Port Townsend, WA — Fiona’s famous ‘man in blue’ photo. (Ft. Worden, WA)

Bring a camera to haunted places and take lots of photos.

You’ll learn the ins and outs of ghost photography on your own. Trial-and-error is fine.

However, the following tips might make the learning process easier.

First, learn where the “hot spots” are at the site. Ask others where they’ve felt the most chills, found the most EMF activity, or taken the best ghost photos. That’s a good place to start.

Take cues from your ghost hunting tools

If you have ghost hunting tools, they may help you identify the best locations.

For example, if your EMF meter detects energy spikes — or drops lower than it should — that’s a potential location for ghostly photos. Try taking photos standing directly at the location where your EMF meter indicated something odd.

However, sometimes when you’re in the middle of an anomaly — or a haunted spot — your camera won’t record anything unusual.

Step away from that spot. Turn around and take pictures of it from a distance and from several different angles.

Unexplained photo - Gilson Rd. Cemetery, Nashua, NH — One of many strange ‘ghost photos’ taken at Gilson Rd. Cemetery, Nashua, NH

Several ghost hunting tools can detect EMF-related anomalies. Of course, an EMF meter can reveal the most electromagnetic anomalies.

You may identify equally good, active locations using a hiking compass or more specialized tools such as an Ovilus or any real-time paranormal communication device.

If you have a hiking compass, the needle points in the direction of magnetic north.

However, if you’re near electromagnetic fields (EMF), the compass needle will point away from magnetic north and towards higher EMF. (Movement can easily affect hiking compasses, so I only pay attention to needle variations more than 30 degrees from magnetic north.)

The Ovilus is one of many tools that became popular during 2009. It seems to respond to EMF surges by talking. Using a pre-programmed vocabulary — plus additional words and names that baffle many researchers — the Ovilus “speaks” out loud. Similar tools include the Frank’s Box, the Shack Hack, ghost radar apps for mobile phones, and “ghost box” devices.

If you’re using one of these tools and it starts talking, take photos. Take lots of photos.

If someone’s camera or phone suddenly stops working, that’s another cue that EMF energy is interfering. Take photos right away.

This ghost photo is actually breath on a chilly night. — This eerie photo is probably just breath on a chilly night.

Remember to take photos inside the area where the EMF or other electronic signal occurs, but also step away and point your camera so you’re looking at the location, from a distance of at least a few feet.

Your “gut feeling”

Your “gut feeling” is the single most useful tool to help you identify spots for ghost photography.

Whether you get goosebumps, the hair goes up on the back of your neck, or you simply feel prompted to take a photo, pay attention to those subtle cues.

Share those feelings with others. You may be surprised by how many people will confirm what you’ve felt.

I believe that everyone has some psychic sensitivities. They’re often felt as a “gut feeling.”

Few people feel 100% confident about their intuition.

Mentally note how you feel when you take good ghost photos. Soon, you’ll recognize those “gut feelings” more confidently… and then take more pictures when you do.

It’s important to learn to identify real anomalies and the normal things that can look like them.

However, it’s not as easy to create fake ghost photos as skeptical critics insist. When it doubt, trust your gut feeling.

Photographing Ghostly Ectoplasm

The following is an edited excerpt from the first edition of Ghost Photography 101, by Fiona Broome.

Ghostly figures in Portsmouth, NH cemetery — Smoke is the #1 explanation for crisp ‘ecto’ photos, like this one.

In the field, the word ectoplasm is often shortened to “ecto” and it’s considered rare. Ectoplasm is a complex and controversial topic.

Ectoplasm seems to be something physical. People describe it as something that’s visible to the naked eye. “Sparkles” may be small spots of ectoplasm, or they might be something different, since they don’t usually show up in photos.

Orb photos are popular and almost commonplace. Ectoplasm photos are rare and receive little attention.

In fact, many professional ghost hunters seem to dismiss all “ecto” photos as cigarette smoke. Is that fair? From my experiments, the answer is a firm “no.” It’s remarkably difficult to photograph cigarette smoke.

Like orbs, at least 90% of modern ectoplasm pictures have been taken after dark using flash cameras. To confuse matters even more, there are many natural explanations for ecto-like forms in photos.

False ectoplasm in photos

Ectoplasm in photos could be, in order of likelihood:

Smoke.
Breathing, fog or moisture in the air.
An odd, reflected light.
Hair, insects, dust or pollen.
A camera strap.
A light leak in a film camera.
An error during film processing.

Let’s rule those out, if we can.

Film errors are easy to spot. Examine the film closely, looking for scratches, splashes, fingerprints or other surface evidence of mishandling during processing.

A light leak in the camera will usually extend beyond the frame of the photo, into the edges of the film.

Insects, dust and pollen usually look more like orbs. However, hair can be confusing, as can camera straps.

For reflected light to cause an ecto effect, it would have to be very close to the lens… and obvious.

Fog and drifting moisture are usually evident when the photo is taken. You can usually confirm this with a flashlight; the beam of light will highlight bands of damp air that could appear in photos.

Eerie 'ghost' images in breath, Northfield, NH — Yes, this is what breath looks like in a ‘ghost’ photo, but is that all it is?

Breathing is a problem on chilly nights. It’s easily the #1 reason someone might think “ecto” when they look at a misty photo. To rule it out, either don’t breathe (or stand close to anyone who is breathing) or don’t take ghost photos on chilly nights or when the dew point is high.

From my experiments, smoke is not likely to cause “ecto” effects. It’s possible, but not likely. (Those experiments are illustrated in the book.)

As with fog and moisture, you can usually highlight smoke with a bright flashlight, so you can tell if it’s an issue before you take photos. If its light is reflected, the smoke will reflect your camera’s flash, too.

With those factors ruled out, we’re left with another mystery: What are those eerie, misty areas and swirling entities in our photos?

Many professional ghost hunters agree that smoke is the best explanation when we see ethereal, ectoplasmic images in photographs.

Most ghost hunters insist that, even if someone had been smoking 20 minutes earlier, smoke particulate can remain in the air and reflect light, especially light from a flash camera.

If you’re serious about ghost photography and you’ve seen images that look like ectoplasm in your photos, run tests with your own cameras. Rule out normal effects, first.

I recommend testing in a variety of weather conditions, especially varying levels of humidity.

Take test photos of different kinds of smoke, including smoke from:

Cigarettes
Pipes
Incense
Burning wood (like a campfire)
Burning paper
Matches

If you live near a factory that spews minute particles into the air, take after-dark photos near the factory. Airports (and traffic paths of low-flying planes) can also contribute particulate matter in the environment.

It may sound like a mantra at this point, but it’s important: Always know what different normal effects look like, before deciding that you’ve photographed anything paranormal.

For locations with particulate matter in the air, check regional environmental websites. In the United States, you may find helpful information at AirNow.gov and at the EPA website, http://www.epa.gov/air/emissions/where.htm

Eight Ways to Spot Fake Ghost Photos

After spending years trying to create convincing, fake, ghost photos, I learned that it’s not as easy as I thought… or as simple as skeptical critics claim.

Spider webs with moisture in them

Some people might confuse the lines for ectoplasm, but most won’t.

Damp, foggy morning, using the flash in all photos

As you can see, there were no orbs, even in thick fog. The third photo (lower left) has something odd in it, but it’s not an orb, as I’d been expecting from so much dampness.

Hair

In some cases, hair could be confused with light streaks or vortex images. The color of the hair is the clue. (My hair is auburn.)

However, notice the last of these four photos, at the lower right. It looks like it has large, overlapping orbs. That’s also a photo of hair; when the light catches it in a certain way, it appears as a series of large, faint orbs.

Smoke

Frankly, the only way we could get smoke to show up in pictures, consistently, was to use actual stick incense.

The results open some interesting questions. Some of these photos could be mistaken for anomalies. But if someone nearby were using incense, wouldn’t a photographer notice the fragrance?

Pollen

Pollen was very difficult to capture in photos. Even shaking ragweed directly over the camera lens, the pollen rarely showed up at all. (See the third photo, in the lower left, where I was shaking the ragweed in front of the lens.) The final photo in this series shows what it looks like to crush the ragweed with your hand, and then sprinkle the pollen in front of the camera lens. These extremes suggest that pollen is rarely a problem for an experienced ghost photographer.

However, in the few photos where it did show up, it could look similar to orbs with “faces” in them.

Unless you’re standing directly underneath a tree that’s sprinkling pollen, or it’s a very bad night for hay fever, I don’t think pollen is a major concern. Among the few photos that showed pollen orbs, even fewer were orbs that we’d confuse with actual anomalies.

Is it possible to confuse pollen for an anomalous ghost orb? Yes. Is it likely? No.

Dust and dirt

Dust particles – from household dust and dust (or dirt) kicked up while walking – were equally difficult to confuse with anomalous orbs.

In the first photo (immediately below this text), that’s a Swiffer duster, caked with dust, that my husband was shaking in front of the lens. Nothing showed up, except the actual duster.

In the next two photos, you can see orbs and other shapes created by reflected dust. They’re more likely to be confused with ghost orbs, but I think I took 50 photos to get these results.

The final photo in the dust & dirt series shows what very dry, fine dirt looks like, sprinkled in front of the lens. This is the same powdery, dusty dirt that could be kicked up by people walking or a car driving past you during an investigation. It looked almost identical to pollen, but a finer texture.

Keep in mind, all of these particles were sprinkled within three inches of the camera lens. Few produced images large enough to look like ghost orbs, and other characteristics — such as a solid, dark dot in the middle, or an irregular, notched circumference — usually don’t match anomalous orbs. However, a few dust orbs did look like anomalous “ghost orbs.” (Some researchers might argue that those few were actual ghost orbs. After all, most of these photos were taken in haunted cemeteries.)

Rain

Rain produced such obviously fake results, I don’t think rain is an issue for professional or experienced investigators. First of all, you’re likely to feel the rain even if you don’t see it right away. Then, some of the drops reflect such as solid reflection, I doubt that you’d confuse a photo of rain with an actual, anomalous orb.

Breath

In my opinion, the number one issue for ghost photographers is breath. Though these photos were all taken on a winter night, I was able to achieve similar results on a warm summer night when the dew point was high. These are a few of many photos that show strange forms and mists, the result of exhaling sharply at the exact moment I took each photo. So, these are extremes.

The third photo (lower left) intrigues me the most. It’s a fairly benign-looking misty shape. It could be confused with an actual, ghostly anomaly.

Before I completed the first edition of Ghost Photography 101, I showed these photos to someone else who’s been studying ghost photos for years. He insisted that some of the photos did represent ghosts (particularly pictures like the third in the breath series.)

I could see his point, but in my research, if something could be explained by something normal, I have to discount it.

I’d rather err on the side of caution.

On the other hand, I think we need to explore another possibility: If we give the spirits something to work with – like breath or incense – should we look to see what the spirits do with it?

After all, that’s not too different than using white noise to give the ghosts sounds to work with, to form EVP. And, it’s also similar to using a device like a Frank’s Box, ghost box, or “shack hack” to give entities sounds and words to use.

Ghost Photos – Sparkles and Other Surprising Anomalies

The following is an excerpt from the first edition of Ghost Photography 101, by Fiona Broome.

Your camera can suggest “hot spots” for good ghost pictures. One of the best indications is a phenomenon called sparkles.

In the late 1990s, my research team noticed bright, sparkling lights that slowly drifted towards the ground after I took photos in haunted areas. They appear to flare when the flash goes off, but the lights linger for about half a second afterwards. On rare occasions, they fade over a period of nearly two seconds.

I called them “sparkles” in my earliest ghost hunting website articles in the 1990s, and the term is now used throughout the ghost hunting field.

If we could capture those sparkles in photos, they might look like the following photo. (It think it’s actually a spiderweb or some hair.)

Sparkle-type image — What sparkles can look like. (That’s actually a spider web or hair, in daylight.)

Sparkles usually appear about 20 – 30 feet away from the camera. They look about the size of ping-pong balls or walnuts. We see dozens of them, sometimes all at once and sometimes in a subtle sequence.

Usually, the sparkles are white or pale pastel colors. Some researchers report more vivid colors.

Sparkles seem to have mass, or they wouldn’t drift towards the ground as if pulled down by gravity. However, people standing immediately underneath them don’t see or feel them as they fall. So far, we have no idea what causes sparkles.

We know what they aren’t. They aren’t bugs (including fireflies), dust or pollen. They aren’t rain or moisture.

Note: Insects immediately in front of your camera can also seem like bright lights, but only when the flash highlights them. In addition, if you’re in an area with fireflies, we’ve noticed that some fireflies “answer” the flash on the camera by flaring their lights as well.

Remember, the anomalous sparkles never show up in photos. (I wish they did.)

They’re best seen through the camera’s viewfinder (or lens), but most spectators (about 80%) see the sparkles whether or not they’re looking through a camera. Both film and digital cameras seem to highlight sparkles. Some cameras are better than others.

My oldest camera is among the best to reveal sparkles. It’s an Olympus AF-1 Twin that my mother bought me, many years ago. It uses 35 mm film. Today, you may find cameras like it at thrift shops for just a few dollars. (I recently found one at Goodwill for $1.50. It works well, too. You might find something similar at Amazon.com.)

Once you see sparkles, you’ll know exactly what I’m describing.

Take as many photos as you can when sparkles appear. There’s an increased likelihood that your photos will include anomalies… just not the actual sparkles you saw.

Myrtles Plantation – Tips for Capturing Ghost Orbs

Ghost orb pictures are among the most popular evidence of hauntings.

They’re also one of 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 a very good statistic.

In profoundly haunted locations, as many as 35% of my photos will include anomalous orbs.

They can turn up where you least expect them.

However, they may not show up when you do expect them.

That’s what happened when a few of us were taking baseline photos at the Myrtles.

(It’s smart to take several photos in locations where you’d expect to see false orbs, due to reflections, humidity, lights, and so on.)

Ruling Out False Orbs

That night, several of us—including Margaret Byl and me—were taking photos outdoors after dark.

Our intent was to see how many false orbs appeared in our pictures. That way, we’d know how cautious to be when photographing known haunted areas at the plantation.

To our amazement, we saw no orbs in pictures where humidity should have produced them.

The photo, at left (dark scene with white picket fence), was taken at the 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.

As you can see, even in a very haunted location, ghost orbs can be rare… even when they should naturally appear in photos.

Was this an anomaly, in itself? At a very haunted site like the Myrtles Plantation, it’s difficult to be certain.

Indoor Orbs at a Haunted Piano

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 below, on the left.)

That’s the famous broken piano at the entry to the most haunted wing of The Myrtles Plantation.

We checked the piano carefully, and some of the keys were jammed so that the piano didn’t work.

In fact, it couldn’t.

We also examined the piano closely for microphones or other evidence of a hoax.

It’s a real, broken piano with nothing added.

There is no sound equipment anywhere in that wing, which could account for what we heard later that night.

During our visit, around midnight, that piano started playing all by itself. Of course, I’d heard the stories about piano music.

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 of 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.