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Ghost photography and long exposure
The origin of the term ‘the camera never lies’ appears lost in the ether and while many believe the statement true, the presumption has almost always been compeletely false…
The invention of photography has been attributed by history to Frenchman Nicéphore Niépce in 1823 with his image, The View from the Window at La Gras now thought to be the oldest surviving photograph, dating between 1826-27. Within thirty years of the La Gras image being taken, there were those experimenting with new technologies such as double exposure – and linked to the meteoric rise of the Spiritualist Movement, those that saw the opportunity for profit.
Perhaps out of all of the ghost photographers of the late 19th century, William Mumler was perhaps the most notorious. His ‘spirit photography’ techniques appeared to be able to capture the ghost of a deceased relative when photographed with one of his clients – with remarkable regularity. The theory is that he used a pre-prepared glass plate holding the ‘ghost” image and superimposed it over a clean plate, or vice versa. While he was eventually tried for fraud he was actually acquitted, but the public backlash against Mumler didn’t stop other photographers following his footsteps.
Now fast-forward to the present day. Carefully prepared glass plates aren’t needed anymore… just a computer or a phone. There’s free software out there for editing images, and apps for superimposing fake ghosts on images. There’s also a general lack of knowledge on what effect moving when taking a photograph can produce, especially in low light conditions – which brings us to the subject of this blog: long exposure.
Amazingly, a lot of these end up in the National Press, then get shared around the globe continuing a cycle of fake news. Its a rarity that these images are called out: one of these rarities can be seen however in Episode 1 of Are You Haunted?, where the team debunk an alleged ghostly image as long exposure (a massive well done to AYH for this, more mainstream media need to educate rather then spread falsities!). The relevant clip can be seen below:
Very simply put, the ‘exposure time’ (primary factor is shutter speed, but see this Stackexchange article for a more in depth description of exposure factors) in photography is physically the amount of time the camera requires to take the photograph. To get a clear image in long exposures, a tripod or other steadying device is often needed. Why? Just think on it. If say, the camera is set on a 3 second exposure the camera is processing data for the entirety of those 3 seconds, so any movement of the camera will show in the final product, usually as blur. In dark conditions, many older phone cameras (for example) need a longer exposure time to take a clear image: if the cam is set to Auto you may not even know what its doing, but mine for example shows a message saying ‘hold phone steady’. So moving the phone even a fraction during this produces some interesting blur effects.
Long exposures are designed to pull the strongest images from dark situations and work best with a contrasting light source. The method is also utilised by many unscrupulous photographers to get their images into the press (being paid in many cases). For others, its simply ignorance of the process, a simple mistake.
The image below is one I deliberately created to demonstrate long exposure back in 2008. The subject, Suzanne Hitchinson, walked quickly into frame, paused a second then out again (4 second exposure) in a relatively dark room, with a directional light while wearing her hood up. The result was this hooded apparition…
Spotting long exposures can be tricky. Its a good bet that blurred and/or transparent apparition photos taken in poor lighting will be the result of the process, but in many cases, especially with a skilled photographer, the images can be crystal clear. One telltale giveaway are light sources, especially with older camera types. Take the image below of the Garrison Room at Castle Keep, Newcastle upon Tyne:
The photograph was taken with the camera set on a tripod with a 0.5 second shutter speed. Even with this relatively short exposure the lights have a ‘halo’. These halos are very common in a lot of digital photography utilising long exposure, though as camera technology gets better and better, the halo effects are slowly disappearing.
However, this simple halo tell-tale sign can go a long way toward exposing (if you’ll pardon the pun) a number of alleged ghost photographs, the most famous of which (that instantly springs to mind) is the Reverend Hardy’s famous staircase ghost image taken in 1966 at Queen’s House, Greenwich. Have a look at the link and see if you notice the telltale sign. Some might argue that the same process can be seen on the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall picture taken by Captain Provand in 1936: The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall.
So what’s the bottom line? Unless you have access to the original photograph, slide, negative or digital file you cannot take any image seen on the interweb or otherwise as proof of the paranormal. In our digital world images can be altered at the click of a button, and with the vast majority of the UK’s population going armed with camera phones, a lot of rather dodgy images get taken. As sad as it is to say, you also need to look for motive and background. Usually the result is a slow news day, ££ changing hands or simply media exposure (excuse the pun again) for the person or venue at hand…
Click on the images
Clicking on the images will open said images in the lightbox, allowing you to see larger versions for easier reference.
"Ahhh," I hear you say. "You know nothing young Boggart! Is this article you talking out of your backside?" Well, while my ramblings can take the occasional odd turn, in this case the article is based on approximately 35 years of photography, from film to digital... I even got to play in a dark room developing my own photographs... discovered in the utter pitch black for some reason my balance simply goes... best not go into too many details... I may still have the scar...
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