All Ghosts: Say Cheese! (Part II)

"Knowledge is Power." That includes knowing how to increase your odds in getting a true paranormal photo. We continue our tips:

13. Set your camera appropriately for conditions. Night-time settings for night-time scenes.  The camera lens is open longer on low-light settings so hold the camera as steady as possible or you'll get self-created light squiggles.

14. Don't take photos of merely a clearing. Objects in the photograph add perspective and help with mild reflection.

15. Avoid lens flair by having light sources away from, or behind, you.

16. Flash only carries 15 feet. Any anomalies will be highlighted by flash within its 15-foot range.

17. Camera flash in a mirror's reflection can create what appears to be vapor, mist, and fog. Avoid them in photos.

18. Most ghost energy will appear 2 to 10 feet above the ground. With buildings, paranormal energy can appear at any level or height of a structure.

19. The best time of year for ghost-hunting is in the colder months, October through February, when electrostatic energy is at its strongest levels. The cold, however, only affects manifestations other than orbs. Orbs seem to be equal-opportunity seasonal appearances.

20. Ghosts are attracted to people. Curious, they hover to see what people are doing or hear what they're saying. Take pictures of people with space above their heads and to one side so there is room for anomalies to present. You also might try aiming your camera back over your shoulder to see who is following you!

These pointers will give any prospective ghost hunter a stronger start towards capturing a glimpse of other worlds. Good luck! Your paranormal album begins now!

All Ghosts: Say Cheese! (Part I)

Capturing a ghost on film always involves a rather large dose of luck. There are, however, things you can do to increase your chances of obtaining an authentic, paranormal photograph. The following tips will help you win that Paranormal Photo Lottery!

1.  Realize it's a numbers game. The more photos you take, the greater your odds for a paranormal photo. Sources say the odds of catching an anomaly is 1:50 so take lots of pictures!

2.  Ghosts are everywhere all the time. They just don't always show up on film even though they're there.

3.  Take photos at night using a flash. Yes, ghosts can show up on daytime photos, but the odds of photo capture increase with evening hours.

4.  ANY type of camera will capture a ghostly image, even throwaways.

5.  Ghosts are EVERYWHERE; they're not just in cemeteries or old buildings. Take a picture whenever, and wherever, the mood strikes you.

6.  If using film, go with 400 speed. It's a great all-purpose film that works in most conditions.

7.  Avoid taking pictures of objects with shiny surfaces such as glass or polished tombstones.

8.  Don't take photos through a glass window as it can create shapes that aren't there. The older, wavy glass is the worst.

9.   Keep a spotless camera lens. A smudge can cause false anomalies to show up in pictures.

10. Keep stray objects away from the camera lens: camera strap, lens cover, thumb, fingers. Long hair should be tied back.

11. Never take pictures when it's windy, foggy, rainy, dusty or snowing. Particles in the air can translate into non-ghostly orbs. A false reading.

12. Hold your breath when taking pictures in cold weather. Exhaled breath can appear as ectoplasmic mist (fog) in the picture. Another false reading.

Stay tuned for the next blog: All Ghosts: Say Cheese!  (Part II)

Ghost in the Burning Building: The Hoax

Wem Town Hall burned to the ground in Shropshire, England, on November 19, 1995. Onlookers witnessed the blaze, including local resident Tony O'Rahilly. Standing across the street, O'Rahilly took photos of the fire with a 200mm telephoto lens. One of his photos showed a partially transparent little girl in a doorway although no one could remember seeing her.

Both the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena and the Royal Photographic Society concluded the photograph was genuine. It was believed that Jane Churm was the child, a young girl who accidentally set fire to a thatched roof in 1677. Many of Shropshire's old timber houses burned as a result.

Except it wasn't Jane. It wasn't even an apparition.

The hoax came to light when someone happened to look at a 1922 postcard, noticing a striking likeness of a little girl in a doorway to that of the Wem ghost. O'Rahilly had died in 2005 and was unavailable for comment. It also uncovered that some experts from the National Museum of Photography had thought O'Rahilly's photograph was fake.


To read  more: http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2010/05/17/does-postcard-solve-ghost-riddle/#ixzz236O8IseJ

The Ghost in the Choir Loft

In 1982, photographer Chris Brackley took a picture of the interior of St. Botolph's Church found in the Parish of Knottingley, England. The earliest architectural feature of this church has existed since Roman times with updates and refurbishings taking place throughout the centuries. Brackley's aim was to take a photo of the historical nave and chapel of the church. He got more.

High in the church's loft, seen in the upper right-hand corner of his photograph, appears what seems to be the transparent form of woman. Brackley says there were only three people in the church when he took the picture, and none of them were in the loft.

Zoomed in view of the ghost

According to London Paranormal Database Records: "Mr. Brackley was later contacted by a builder who recognized the ghostly face of someone he had seen in a coffin in the church."

The Ghost of Freddy Jackson

Third in a Series of Famous Paranormal Photographs.

This 1919 group portrait was taken of a WWI flight squadron which served at the HMS Daedalus training facility. Looking carefully, the face of a man can clearly be seen in back of the airman positioned on the top row, fourth from the left. Squadron members identify the face as that of Freddy Jackson, an air mechanic accidentally killed by an airplane propeller two days earlier. Jackson's funeral took place the day this photograph was snapped. It has been suggested that Jackson, unaware of his death, decided to show up for the group photo.

This picture was first published in 1975 by a member of the squadron, Sir Victor Goddard, a retired R.A.F. officer.

Spooked, Freaked, Scared

One of the most frequently asked questions on the tour is "What has been your spookiest experience [on the tour]?" Ghost Hunters of Asheville's Downtown Interactive Tour is a family-oriented, kid-friendly tour so there really wasn't much of an answer to this ... until now.

It was an intimate, adult-only tour. There was an opportunity to enter a darkened, extremely haunted, venue. Paranormally sensitive guests and psychics had warned that a very angry ghost inhabited this structure. An older balding man in overalls, the spectre doesn't even realize he's dead. He is angered by ouside presences and photographic evidence points that he has chased away most of the numerous spirits who once inhabited the place.

Walking through a dark, haunted facility, armed only with flashlights, was thrilling, fun, and exhilarating -- until we came to the doorstep of a basement room. I lack the words to adequately describe the foreboding, heaviness, all-nerves-on-alert feeling that literally slammed my psyche. I asked a guest to take a picture of the room. It was filled with pilot blue orbs in every photo he took. There would be no paranormal photos in any other space of the building.

It may seem a fairly innocuous experience (e.g., What's the big deal?), but to someone who has never before felt this type of presence, it was shatteringly disturbing. I actually felt dirty and shaken until mid-day the following afternoon. It was, for all intents and purposes, my first truly paranormal encounter. That I "called" it -- verified by photos -- increased my awe and shock.

I've purposely stayed paranormally insensitive, but have noticed a recent intuitive awakening. I guess you can't be around this stuff as much as I am without it affecting -- and changing -- who you are. Nonetheless, I find it jolting. Believing something is "out there" is very different from experiencing what is out there.