Ghost Photography 101

Ghost photos are easy to take, and fun to share with others.

Perhaps you've heard about a place that is haunted, and you'd love to capture a "ghost" on film. You can be successful on your first attempt!

First, photography is a science. Follow the rules to get the best results. Learn all that you can about cameras and photography, to improve your "ghost hunting" photos.

However, ghost photography is not a well-defined science. Most of us are sorting this out as we go along.

Here's our best, basic advice:

• Don't snap pictures facing the sun, or even at a right angle to the sun. The light can flare off the lens and create a false anomaly.

• A bright or full moon can cause flares, too. Consider getting an attachment for cameras that shields the lens from direct light.

• Avoid taking pictures where things may be mistaken for anomalies, including city lights, headlights, streetlights, reflecting street signs, joggers, dust, moisture, rain, fog, pollen, floating milkweed "puffs", smoke, and insects (esp. lightning bugs). You may remember them when you first see your photos, but three years from now, you may forget and say, "Cool! Why didn't I notice that anomaly before?"

• Be very careful when shooting indoors. Many things can reflect your flash, creating a false anomaly: windows, television sets, metal items, glass, polished furniture, and even polished floors.

• Keep your camera strap, fingers, and rings away from the lens, as they can creat false anomalies. If you have a camera strap, either remove it or place it around your neck (or your wrist, if it's a short loop) to keep it out of the way. Remove rings if your fingers are at the front of the camera as you support it.

  If you have a Polaroid camera, or a digital camera with a preview screen, check to see if you're getting reflections, before taking lots of pictures.

• Don't expect lots of anomalies. One or two anomalies per one hundred photos can be very good. (Digital cameras record far more anomalies, but some question their reliability.)

  However, if you're getting far more than, say, five anomalies per hundred photos, either you're in a profoundly haunted location or you're picking up reflections from natural sources. Rule out the logical explanations first.

• Wait 20-30 minutes before taking photos when you arrive at a site, for best results. Some profoundly haunted cemeteries produce anomalies on film from the start. However, most haunted settings should be very quietly assessed for about half an hour before attempting to capture hard evidence of ghosts: photos, EVP recordings, and so on.

• More sensitive film settings picks up clearer anomalies, so use 400 ASA films (or the equivalent setting on your digital camera) for dusk and night photography. Some people advise using 1000 ASA at the very least, while others complain that the results are too grainy-looking. I have captured an anomaly at dusk using 200 ASA film, but prefer 400 ASA. At higher speeds, I have difficulty determining the edges of an anomaly. Experiment, and see what you prefer.

  (ASA and ISO numbers are the same. ASA is an older term among photographers.)

• If you use a film camera, it should be a traditional 35mm camera. (Point-and-shoot is fine.) "Advantix" cameras cost about four times as much, per print.

• Use more than one camera when you can. Or, bring a friend with a camera. Similar anomalies on different rolls of film help confirm what was there.

• Be sure to time your flashes so overlapping flashes won't create a false anomaly. Agree ahead of time how you're going to alert each other that you're about to snap a photo.

• Take at least two photos each time, without moving, as soon as your flash is ready again. Don't move a muscle between photos! Some anomalies do a "now you see it, now you don't" routine. If at least one photo taken at the time shows no anomaly, this helps prove that it wasn't a reflection, something metallic on a tree, etc. Anomalies move, shift, and otherwise change. Beer cans in the grass don't. Shiny spots on headstones don't. (However, if you even breathe deeply, you may shift just enough to make a natural reflection seem to move. We cannot stress this enough!)

• If you see a "dazzle" or sparkling effect when you're taking photos, quickly take several more. Often, the "dazzle" indicates you may be capturing an anomaly, perhaps even a portal manifestation.

• Go with your "gut feeling," and start snapping photos when the hair on the back of your neck starts to rise. I took a daytime photo of a supposedly haunted hotel, but was more drawn to a house two doors away. I later found out that the house was the scene of a 19th-century murder, while the hotel had no violent history.

• Even better, use EMF meters or temperature gauges to identify the best areas to capture anomalies. In many settings, even a regular compass can provide hints about "hot" areas. (See our article, Use a Compass to Measure EMF.)

• Save all of your photos, until you've taken 1,000 pictures or more, or you've seen at least 15 - 20 anomalies in your photos. Until you're used to spotting faint orbs and traces of ectoplasm, it's easy to dismiss a photo as "nothing."

  Many times, anomalies are so faint, finding them is like a "Where's Waldo?" search. Look very, very carefully. I've discovered dark anomalies ("black" orbs) in prints only by enhancing the image with my computer graphics programs.

• Keep a disposable camera in your glove compartment, unless you always carry a camera with you. You never know when you'll be running an evening errand and discover the perfect "haunted" site for photos.

For more information:

Or, for a few of our favorite "ghost photos," see Real Ghost Photos.

See our other pages about ghost photography, at our Ghost Hunter's Guide. We're always adding new information.

Links to others' ghost photography pages:

• The Shadowlands: Psychic Photography, offers similar advice and some different viewpoints, too.

• Ghosts on Film and other pages at the American Ghost Society offer another perspective on ghost photos. We don't agree with all of Mr. Taylor's opinions--few researchers agree 100% in this field--but respect his research.

Keep in mind that we're all figuring this out as we go along. Regarding hauntings, we have no proof, one way or the other. Skeptics and believers alike are searching for hard proof regarding the paranormal. So far, that doesn't exist, but genuine "ghost photos" may be a strong step in the right direction.