Hoax? This could make you second guess!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=510155&in_page_id=1770#StartComments

~Meagan

Creepy & unexplainable happenings

The first ghosts in photographs were the result of accidents. During a long exposure--such as those required in photography's infancy--a person who stood still would register as clearly as a building. But a person who moved out of camera range after only a portion of the exposure was completed would instead appear as a see-through blurSpirit photo is when something that is captured in a photo that cannot be explained.
Some of these unusual can have a special meaning to someone, when the photos are interpreted
for love or connection it is called photo scrying. Messages coming from someone on the other side or realm. Spirits
can be seen with animals, children, or even just regualr old photos of trees.
-Meagan

Another U.L./Spirit Photography Example

This video is sort of like the U.L. where the young guy picks up the pretty girl and she leaves her sweater and he goes to return it to her house only to find that she is a ghost and that she died years ago. The exception in this video is that the people are Portugese, none of them are good looking, and they never get to know if the girl will leave her sweater because they crash when she scares the Hell out of them. This is semi-relevant and sort of cool because it kind of lives up to the U.L. as well as it could, not sure if its fake or not, but its pretty damn convincing if it is... Enjoy even though there's no way of knowing what anyone is talking about, the ghost hitchhiker girl is odd to say the least.

-Evan

Orbs on Camera, Exorcism at a Notoriously Haunted WWII Airfield

This is a video in which a group of people (apparently very interested in ghosts, judging by their YouTube profile) perform an exorcism on a WWII airfield notorious for its spirit activity. Supposedly many of the pilots who left on missions never returned, not alive anyway. In the video their are clear instances that stand out as credible in the world of spirit photography. There are also some EVPs, but those never tend to be to convincing in my opinion. Either way, this video seems to be an excellent example of spirit photography. It contains lots of orbs, streaky, eerie forms, and odd movement on the film. And the crew seems really into spirit photgraphy- see for yourself...

-Evan

The Earliest Spirit Photography and it's Skeptics

It is said in one source that spirit photography got it's start in 1862 when William Mumler first captured a spirit on film. His photo, in which Mumler captured a spirit, shown as a transparent image of a person behind the individual he photgraphed, was the start of a revolution. Civil War families in his this time were is search of proof that, in some way they could still be in touch with their loved ones lost in the war. Spirit photography was highly criticized by skeptics of the era, despite the interest it sparked among those who were seeking proof that their loved ones "lived on" after death. Mumler was later taken to court for fraud by P.T. Barnum, the famous showman who thought his photos fake. It the courtroom Barnum had a friend of his, a photographer, present the picture above as proof that any competent photographer could create "spirit photographs" as convincing as those shot by Mumler. Barnum's photo showed a bust of him with the spirit of Abraham Lincoln standing behind him. This created more trouble for those who had taken legitimate spirit photos in a time of intense skepticism.

Taken from: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/day/04_26_2001.html

-Evan

Spirit Photography Today

Spirit Photography has been around essentially from the birth of photography. But it is still around today. In fact, spirit photography even earned a place in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in September of 2005, entitled The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult. The exhibit focused on the 1800s to World War II era, when skepticism was the strongest.


Most recently, the largest exposure to the phenomenon of spirit photography is the newly released FOX movie "Shutter." Below is the trailer. In the movie, main characters Joshua and Rachael discover strange orbs in their photographs. With some research and explainations from believers, they find that the imperfections in the photographs are a spirit. This film pushed spirit photography into the view of huge populations.





-Leandra




The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult. Special Exhibitions. (2008). Retrieved April 11, 2008: http://www.metmuseum.org/special/perfect_medium/occult_more.asp.


Shutter Theatrical Trailer. YouTube. (2008). Retrieved April 11, 2008: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VryEHnctPm8.

"Three Men and a Baby" Ghost, Spirit photography and U.L.

Below is the clip mentioned in "Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid," from "3 Men and a Baby," if you look closely at the window in the background at about 00:38 you can see the ghost of the little boy in the curtains at the window. This is both a good example of spirit photography and possible proof that an urban legend isn't necessarily nonsense. The look on the boy's face is sort of creepy if you can pause the clip at the right point and actually see it. The story of the reason the little boy's ghost is in the apartment never really varies much from the story found in "Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid." The story in the book can be found on page 232 under the title "The Ghostly Videotape," there is a website which attempts explanation (though the guy seems like sort of a loser) aside from the fact that the "ghost" has already been debunked. He does a good job of keeping the tale convincing and the guy he asks is really into ghosts, so of course he won't disprove it, check it out on http://paranormal.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/article/26030602.php and you'll see what I mean. Either way you can find a myriad of facts/opinions/information online if you look it up, its sort of interesting.



Three Men And A Baby Ghost - The top video clips of the week are here

-Evan

History of past photographers

The premise of spirit photography was that departed spirits could imprint their images on pictures. The spirits appeared as faint, ghostly images floating besides the living subjects.Spirit photography had enormous appeal during and after the Civil War as bereaved families sought some form of tangible proof that their loved ones lost during the war still continued their existence in some fashion.But spirit photography also attracted many critics, prominent among them P.T. Barnum, the famous showman. Barnum felt that the spirit photographers were taking advantage of those whose judgement was clouded by grief. Barnum made a point to prove that when William Mumler went of trial for fraud, that he was in fact using his knowledge of trying to realive grief from the depressed that his statement was, "I have never been in any humbug business where I did not give value for the money."

-Meagan

Forms of Spirits

There are many forms of claimed supernatural images captured. It has also been claimed to be captured in a wide variety of places. Evidence of spirits can be captured in the form of light orbs, smoke, smog, haze, and imperfection in a photo, the common "ghostly figure", and even in cloud formations. The authenticity of the paranormal image is often debated and contraversial. Orbs can just be airborn particals infront of the lense. The flash of the camera give it the effect of a hovering light globe. Other forms can just be developing errors or imperfections in the film. Sky spirits (cloud images) are usually just the observers imagination at work.

The image shown is supposed to be a face, maybe George Washington?

- Alex

Short, K. (2007) SkyGhosts. Retrieved April 9, 2008 from http://www.skyghosts.com/

Eaton, J. (2001) The Truth About Orbs!. Retrieved April 9, 2008 from http://www.ghoststudy.com/main/fakepageorbs.html

Spirit Photography Was Actually Part of Movement!?

Spiritualism is a movement based on the principle that the living can be in touch with the dead. A connection is typically practiced when someone is on their deathbed, a modern spiritualist, James Crissman, has had somewhat recent evidence of the happenings of such in Central Appalachia. Both visual and auditory contact were made in these instances. The two most influential premodern spiritualists from the 1600s through early 1900s were Emanuel Swedenborg and Andrew Jackson Davis. Both were early believers and spreaders of the phenomenon. The rise of modern spiritualism was brought about in 1848 by two sisters, Catherine and Margaretta Fox created a system of tapping to communicate with spirits in their home, eventually developing the system so well as to find out the spirits' stories. The media made a big deal of the Foxes and Spiritualistic interest spread like wildfire. The Fox sisters went to New York and became famous as mediums for afew years as mediums. This inspired the use of seance as a further form of communication. This led to the development of many churches whose main objective was to contact spirits. The movement eventually spread worldwide. Spirit photography was one of the many things that made the movement convincing (not that it didn't really happen).

Source: http://www.deathreference.com/Sh-Sy/Spiritualism-Movement.html (Spiritualist Movement forum)

-Evan

Dark Room Tricks

Sometimes what is claimed to be spirit photography, can easily be pointed out as a fraud. There are many techniques and tricks that a photographer can do in the developing stages of each photo. While in the dark room, they can play with exposure times and over lay images.

In the developing stages of photography itself, it was difficult to capture a crisp and clear image. The objects in the image had to remain still for a very long time when exposed to the photo paper/film. When photography was first developing "ghostly" images would appear frequently. Ghost or spirit photography was merely an accident. If a scene was being photographed but someone in the background didn't stick around long for the camera to capture, they would appear as a ghost like figure.

- Alex

(2000) The American Photography Museum. Do You Believe. Retrieved April 6, 2008. http://www.photographymuseum.com/believe1.html

How To Get Your Own Spirit Photo

Dave Oester created a website entitled "Ghost Photography in Cemeteries" in which he instructs you how to get your very own, genuine, spirit photo. If you follow his instructions, oringially from the International Ghost Hunter Society, there is a 90% chance of success on your very first investigation.


1.) Choose a cemetery. The older the better of course.


2.) Walk around for the first thirty to forty-five minutes to allow the spirits to get used to your presence. Speak only in low voices. Project only positive thoughts and that you desire to photograph these spirits as proof of life after death.


3.) It is best to investigate cemeteries with others, as too feel safer. No need to worry, the spirits will not follow you home.


4.) Any camera with a flash, whether film or digital, is suitable.


5.) The best time of day to capture these images is when the cemetery is getting dark. Be aware to not attempt any investigations in rain, snow, or fog. If the temperature is cold, hold your breath for several seconds before taking the picture. This is to prevent the mist of your breath from being mistaken as a spirit.


Try it yourself.


-Leandra


Oester, D. (1998). Ghost Photography in Cemeteries. Retrieved April 4, 2008: http://www.ghostweb.com/spiritph.html

Legitimate Ghost on Camera

This is a video of a man whose house has the spirit of a little girl who continuously appears in the pantry of all places. The most interesting thing about this video (he has four or five videos of the ghost) is that he actually approaches it and places his hands on the hands of the little girl's through the window and claims that they feel cold. Immediately after this, the little girl puts her face up to the pantry window as well, then fades away, slamming the pantry door open. I believe that this a legitimate example of spirit photography in that, 1) there is no room for a person to fit in the pantry, 2) the two guys run up to the pantry and look for any way that there could be someone in the pantry, but there really is no way. There are plenty of other convincing aspects, you'll just have to look at it yourself and see if you can find any reason to debunk it. There are also videos from earlier recordings including one where the little girl's ghost is seen by total accident in a family video. Scary stuff...



-Evan

Questions about the past and the present

Spirit Photography was primarily dated back to the 1860's and early 1900's. Spirit photography was believed alot more in this time period because it was the fashion-therapists, fortune tellers, and psychics. Many questions arose as to whether or not the photos captured at that moment are true or not because the cameras being used weren't as reliable as the technology that we have today. Many people that were in anguish over a lost loved one, or family relied on such photos for comfort of knowing everything was fine. Robert Boursnell, born 1832-1909, was a spirit photographer and recieved markings on his plates to be a psychic in 1851. In 1903 the spiritualists of London presented him with a signed testimonial and a purse of gold as a mark of their high esteem. He later gave up with photography because just like all the rest of spirit photographers, he was accused of fraud.

-Meagan