help debunk the "ghost" in this image

08/12/2011 11:18:57 PM · #26

a. yes i did take this picture, and i was VERY hammered at the time (thus the "i MAY have been smoking i don't remember")

b. i generally dont use flash outdoors at night i go for longer exposure

c. there MAY have been another photographer nearby it's possible BUT if you know this block, the spot across the street is unlit and kind of deserted, i don't remember another photog, then again i don't remember all that much. this was a "hangover" situation where i was looking through my pictures the next morning (we went to la concha? when?)

i seem to remember someone posting an exif viewer once, i'd like to see if i did have the flash on for this, that would answer it, even though i FEEL fairly certain there was no flash used.

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

08/12/2011 11:20:31 PM · #27

Originally posted by Cory:

Originally posted by MelonMusketeer:
Small bugs, like sandflies, can cause the little dots when they are pretty close to the camera. I'm not sure about the smoke. If this was a second or third exposure within a few seconds, there may have been some moisture on the flash that was steaming off when you shot this one.
Have a look at the exif and see if the flash was on. It certainly appears that way in the photo. I notice also that the building on the left is closer and is brighter in the image.
It's a unique and very cool image, just as it is, because of the old victorian home, and the anomalies.

I honestly don't think it was his flash, the shadow from the wire is cast in the wrong direction for it to be his flash. The light source really is to his left by a few feet.

there are streetlights on the streets sporadically. it could have feasibly been a streetlight on my side causing the shadow

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

08/12/2011 11:22:22 PM · #28

Originally posted by FourPointX:

Should be able to just right click the image and go to the properties...

But... Again, I don't think it was your flash, unless you have it mounted on a wicked long bracket.

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

08/12/2011 11:23:15 PM · #29

Originally posted by FourPointX:

Originally posted by Cory:

Originally posted by MelonMusketeer:
Small bugs, like sandflies, can cause the little dots when they are pretty close to the camera. I'm not sure about the smoke. If this was a second or third exposure within a few seconds, there may have been some moisture on the flash that was steaming off when you shot this one.
Have a look at the exif and see if the flash was on. It certainly appears that way in the photo. I notice also that the building on the left is closer and is brighter in the image.
It's a unique and very cool image, just as it is, because of the old victorian home, and the anomalies.

I honestly don't think it was his flash, the shadow from the wire is cast in the wrong direction for it to be his flash. The light source really is to his left by a few feet.

there are streetlights on the streets sporadically. it could have feasibly been a streetlight on my side causing the shadow

Are the street lights below the wires? IIRC the lights in Key West are above the wires. But - I may be wrong. :)

08/12/2011 11:26:37 PM · #30

ok here it is SOOC - and this almost definitely eliminates flash:

for me to hold the camera this way, and press the shutter button, on the same side as the flash (the right) it would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to have been smoking in that hand and pressing the shutter button.

i looked in explorer details but no flash data, can i see extended exif details in CS3?

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

08/12/2011 11:29:56 PM · #31

aHA! zoombrowser gives extended exif data, and YES the flash was on. i shoulda just checked it before starting the thread, that gives a lot more possibilities/explanations

Judi

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

08/12/2011 11:31:17 PM · #32

Originally posted by FourPointX:

ok here it is SOOC - and this almost definitely eliminates flash:

for me to hold the camera this way, and press the shutter button, on the same side as the flash (the right) it would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to have been smoking in that hand and pressing the shutter button.

i looked in explorer details but no flash data, can i see extended exif details in CS3?

The house was not on its side in real life...therefore the smoke from your cigarette was above the camera. It has happened to me on occasion...so I know it is definitely smoke.

MelonMusketeer

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

Nikon MF 50mm f/1.4

08/13/2011 12:31:56 AM · #33

Originally posted by Judi:

Originally posted by FourPointX:
ok here it is SOOC - and this almost definitely eliminates flash:

for me to hold the camera this way, and press the shutter button, on the same side as the flash (the right) it would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to have been smoking in that hand and pressing the shutter button.

i looked in explorer details but no flash data, can i see extended exif details in CS3?

The house was not on its side in real life...therefore the smoke from your cigarette was above the camera. It has happened to me on occasion...so I know it is definitely smoke.

We haven't eliminated the possibility that Joe was horizontal while pressing the shutter button.

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

08/13/2011 12:37:15 AM · #34

Originally posted by MelonMusketeer:

Originally posted by Judi:

Originally posted by FourPointX:
ok here it is SOOC - and this almost definitely eliminates flash:

for me to hold the camera this way, and press the shutter button, on the same side as the flash (the right) it would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to have been smoking in that hand and pressing the shutter button.

i looked in explorer details but no flash data, can i see extended exif details in CS3?

The house was not on its side in real life...therefore the smoke from your cigarette was above the camera. It has happened to me on occasion...so I know it is definitely smoke.

We haven't eliminated the possibility that Joe was horizontal while pressing the shutter button.

Horizontal photographer taking a vertical image of a horizontal subject? Ohh, man - that's deep! ;)

MelonMusketeer

Nikon MF 50mm f/1.4

08/13/2011 12:53:46 AM · #35

My head hurts.

08/13/2011 06:15:25 AM · #36

obviously, i had "horizontal/vertical" on my mind with a LOT of the shots o took over the weekend, and after the amount of rum i'd drank that day it's entirely possible i was horizontal when i took the shot. truly a mystery shot. i still contend it would have been nearly impossible for me to have a cigarette in my "shutter"' hand though...

Stagolee

Kodak Easyshare C180

Canon EF 50mm f1.2L

08/13/2011 06:31:22 AM · #37

Originally posted by FourPointX:

dude....you were wasted! anything could have happened! :)

adigitalromance

Nikon D750

08/13/2011 06:36:01 AM · #38

Maybe the ghost was smoking a cigarette.

Stagolee

Kodak Easyshare C180

Canon EF 50mm f1.2L

08/13/2011 06:39:28 AM · #39

Originally posted by adigitalromance:

Maybe the ghost was smoking a cigarette.

maybe someone was smoking a funny cigarette!

08/13/2011 06:45:09 AM · #40

now you've gone beyond "possibility" to "probability"

chromeydome

08/13/2011 04:49:09 PM · #41

Originally posted by FourPointX:

I've looked around the web a bit, but can't find anything conclusive. help me explain the white swirl seen at the top of this photo, it's unedited (well only sized). this is the artist house in key west (home of robert the doll... the haunted doll of key west), taken last week, no flash.

EXIF on this image posted says "Flash: Auto, Fired, Red-eye reduction" and the camera was set on Auto, so it did fire the flash--you may not have noticed it at the time

So the ghosts are simply something near you that was lit by the flash, and moving during the 1/60th exposure.

Message edited by author 2011-08-13 17:03:12.

chromeydome

08/13/2011 04:52:20 PM · #42

Originally posted by FourPointX:

i took this picture a few seconds later, also no flash.

i know what we see as "orbs" are likely moisture on my lens.

EXIF on this shot says Flash Did Not Fire. That is also why it was a 1/8th second exposure instead of 1/60th as in the "ghost" image, where the flash Did fire.

08/13/2011 05:02:10 PM · #43

yes i mentioned earlier i found that the flash did fire in the "mist" shot, leaving open lots of possibilities.

chromeydome

08/13/2011 05:05:23 PM · #44

Originally posted by FourPointX:

yes i mentioned earlier i found that the flash did fire in the "mist" shot, leaving open lots of possibilities.

ah, I missed that.....

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

08/13/2011 05:27:03 PM · #45

no worries, i appreciate all the opinions/help offered. looks like i may or may not have been horizontal, may or may not have been smoking something, may or may not have captured an anomaly (although it's extremely likely NOT)

one thing for sure though, nothing like key west

MattO

Nikon D4

08/14/2011 12:04:45 AM · #46

# Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 1/60 second ===> 0.01667 second
# Lens F-Number / F-Stop = 28/10 ===> Æ�/2.8
# ISO Speed Ratings = 250
# EXIF Version = 0221
# Original Date/Time = 2011:08:05 20:57:54
# Digitization Date/Time = 2011:08:05 20:57:54
# Components Configuration = 0x01,0x02,0x03,0x00 / YCbCr
# Compressed Bits per Pixel = 5/1 ===> 5
# Shutter Speed Value (APEX) = 189/32
Shutter Speed (Exposure Time) = 1/59.97 second
# Aperture Value (APEX) = 95/32
Aperture = Æ�/2.8
# Exposure Bias (EV) = 0/3 ===> 0
# Max Aperture Value (APEX) = 95/32 ===> 2.97
Max Aperture = Æ�/2.8
# Metering Mode = pattern / multi-segment (5)
# Flash = Flash fired, auto mode, red-eye reduction mode
# Focal Length = 5155/1000 mm ===> 5.16 mm

fotomann_forever

08/14/2011 11:44:43 AM · #47

I used to try ghost hunting.
I was determined I would get a great photo of a ghost. Flashes were always off-camera and I shot as if I were shooting human subjects in low light, therefore I would not breathe while squeezing the trigger. Never gota single orb or apparition, while my friends with point and shoots filled their memory cards with these "ghostly" events.

One "ghost hunter" tried to explain that my equipment was scaring the ghosts away.... LOL...ok.

MelonMusketeer