Okay, so (mmmm...queso) I was hanging around Facebook today, and I bumped into a little drama taking place between two other ghost peeps regarding the veracity of a photo that was presented as possibly paranormal. Now, since I don't have a dog in this fight, I am not going to be specific in my description, but I will say that the photo was clearly NOT in ANY WAY paranormal, nor could anyone reasonably suggest so. That brings me to my topic:
Intentional fakery in paranormal investigation.
I realize that this is a broad topic, and not every questionable photo has been intentionally faked, but I am beginning to think that erring on the side of fantastic is becoming tiresome and overdone. As someone who has been on numerous investigations, I have certainly seen my share of photos that might be paranormal in nature, and I post them on the website for everyone's amusement. Looking back, I can also say that I have been taken in occasionally by an errant hair or camera strap. It's an imperfect world.
What really has my hackles up are the folks that post photos that show nothing...not one thing...but the "nothing" in question is circled as if to make it more real. Also, slow shutter speed does not equal paranormal activity. If you have those LONG streaks of light coming from every light source in your photo, and you get a lot of those all the time, you need to adjust the settings on your camera. I have a ton of photos like that taken in dim lighting. Total no-brainer.
I will take an orb photo ANY day of the week over a plain old bad photo.
Alright, you are probably thinking, "but that doesn't mean that people are intentionally faking photos!" No, it doesn't, but they are out there, and they know who they are. I mean, I can tell the difference between a REAL ghost and someone in a fedora standing at the end of a hallway.
The trouble is this: when you have people buying in to outright fakery, it raises the stakes and makes people feel like, "if I am not getting a fabulous photo, then I am not legitimately investigating." That could not be further from accurate. The fact that you AREN'T getting a ton of "ghost photos" means that you are probably doing more RIGHT than wrong. We can take 200 photos and MAYBE we'll get one worthy of consideration, and that's OKAY.
Oh well. If nothing else, it gives me fodder for mockery. I'm just keepin' it real.
Yes, as a photographer, I sometimes get light streaks in dimly lit photos...and that is NOTHING MORE than slow shutter speed. Period. I can't stand when ghost hunters post all these pictures with streaks of light and they're all like, "oooh, check out this vortex that I got a picture of..." Umm, no, check out this streak of light that I got 'cause I didn't use a flash in a dimly lit room and the shutter stayed open for a few seconds and I wasn't using a tripod to avoid camera shake. Just keepin it real folks...sorry to burst your bubble.
ReplyDeleteHow can you tell the difference between a REAL ghost and someone in a fedora at the end of the hallway?
ReplyDeleteAll real ghosts wear signs that say "real ghost"...I was just kind of being a little fascetious. I came across a photo once that was SO OBVIOUSLY FAKE that it has stayed with me, and it involved someone standing at the end of a hallway wearing a fedora. I guess the truth is just that it's damn near impossible to photograph a ghost, let alone have one pose for you in a costume!
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