SPIRIT PHOTOS OR NOT... by Mike Goodall.

Since my article appeared on Spirit Photography in psychic publication a couple of years ago, I have received many photographs from readers for evaluation. Most of these were produced by digital cameras, but some can also occur when using compact cameras with film. The most common pictures I receive are those of 'orbs' as seen below.

These are circular blobs of various sizes which are nothing more than reflections of the flash from small specs of dust or other small particles, or minute insects floating in the air. The nearer the camera, the larger and brighter they appear; sometimes if near enough, covering a large proportion of the picture, and sometimes appearing as blurred arcs. They can also appear to have shape, such as diamond, hexagonal, etc. and this is caused by internal reflections within the lens system of the camera. There can also be seen granulation or rings inside some of the brighter orbs; this again is due to the construction and design of the lens.

At many feet away a large amount of them can look like what has been described as 'angel dust', as seen below.

Remember that dust particles and minute insects are floating around in every home, no matter how clean, and outdoors, all the time; just about the only place where they are absent is a computer clean-room, where all the air is constantly filtered. This photographic anomaly has been know for years by the photographic trade, and confirmed by none other than the Kodak Film Laboratories in America. The technical reason for these 'orbs' showing up in photos is that the flash tube in the camera is situated very close to the lens, often as near as one inch away, and light is reflected back into the lens. In older cameras, especially those with separate flashguns on the end of flash brackets, this never used to occur. If you have a photo containing one or more of these 'orbs', and you did not see any such object when taking the picture, then put it down to this photographic anomaly.

The second most popular sent to me is the 'camera strap' phenomenon below.

This is caused by the strap falling in front of the lens. It shows up as a shaft of light , normally to the side of the picture. You will not see this in the viewfinder when taking the photograph, as viewfinders are normally offset from the lens; so you will only notice it when the picture is processed or downloaded onto the computer. I have seen so many now that they are instantly recognisable. Getting the photographer to admit that they did this is the hard part. I have been taking pictures for around 55 years, and on rare occasions, have done this myself; so excuses like "I am a seasoned and professional photographer and it could never happen to me" really account for nothing.

Another anomaly to occur is whisps of light that are almost always caused by smoke, as seen below.

You may never know whether the photographer was smoking at the time the pictures were taken, or whether someone else had been smoking in the room, but these whisps of smoke can stay around in an enclosed room for some considerable time. They are difficult or impossible to see with the naked eye, but are picked up by the flash of the camera in a dramatic way. They can, of course, also occur outside on still nights, and can be mistaken for spirit beings.

Yet another anomaly is shafts or patches of bright light on pictures taken indoors, below.

These are caused by reflections of the flash from a silk, or gloss paint on opposing walls or doors. If they occur over the head of someone in the picture they are often mistaken for spirit lights.

Note: all the photographs above have been take with the intent of exagerating the phenomena, and may appear only slightly on your own photographs.

I have however received a few photos that are unexplainable at this moment in time, and these have been filed for future reference. It will probably turn out that in the near future these so called 'spiritual images' will have a natural explanation.

While of the subject of mis-identification of phenomena; many of you will probably be viewers of the 'Most Haunted' programs shown on Living TV. When using their infred-red night vision cameras, they always refer to these 'orbs' as being spirit entities, when in fact the orbs are mostly of dust in front of the video camera's lens; just the same as with still photography. These are often seen to float across the screen, an air currents take them. In some instances the orbs are caused by small insects, seen zig-zagging across the screen. As they are warm-blooded creatures they show up as white blobs with an infra-red camera.

A classic example, in one of the earlier series, was a small spider crawling up it's web on the end of a wooden crib. It was so obvious that I am surprised that they made so much of it; but I guess it makes 'Good TV'; 'never let the truth get in the way of a good program'.

Whilst I have little doubt that spirit lights do, in rare circumstances, occur (such as those seen by platform mediums over the head of their next recipient of a message) in most pictures they are simply photographic anomalies.

So may I emphasise... if you didn't notice anything unusual at the time that the picture was taken, it's probably down to the camera and it's anomalies.

Please note that all the photos in this article were produced instantaniously with no special set-ups, other than sprinkling a little dust into the air, introducing smoke into the air, or positioning the camera in a special way.

Finally, to those readers who have just branded me a 'skeptic', I suppose that I am. Having a good scientific grounding I always try and find a natural explanation for phenomena first before attributing it to the work of 'Spirit'. There any many people, and some of them are by friends, who associate anything slightly unusual as being the work of 'Spirit' when there is a perfectly natural reason for its occurance.

I have had my share of genuine spiritual phenomena, and have some Mediumistic abilities myself, so I do understand that such penomena can occur, but I must say that in my opinion it is quite rare.

For anyone wishing to discuss these anomalies my email address is mike@mjgoodall.co.uk