has anyone ever tried to photograph a ghost?

[Hjortsberg]

or any kind of paranormal activity?

 

[rxmd]

You mean like this?

(That's P.T. Barnum with the ghost of Abraham Lincoln, in case you didn't recognize them.)

There's a great tradition of that sort of thing, most if not all of it full of fraudsters, hoaxes and quackery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Mumler
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hope_(paranormal_investigator)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_photography

 

[Hjortsberg]

no, I mean really.

I've seen a ghost once and I've witnessed paranormal activity once.

Has any really, honestly, photographed some sort of strange ghostly paranormal activity? Or tried to photograph it?

 

[n5jrn]

It's rather simple, really.

First, go into some old building, preferably one with a history of nefarious activity or rumors of being haunted. Take a camera and a flash unit with you.

Second, be sure to kick up lots of dust.

Third, take some pictures using flash. When some show images of out-of-focus dust motes illuminated by the flash, call them "orbs" and say they are evidence of paranormal activity.

Fourth, sell your pictures to the gullible and pocket the cash.

 

[Hjortsberg]

and if someone is seriously attempting to photograph a ghost....?

 

[George Bonanno]

and if someone is seriously attempting to photograph a ghost....?

Don't do it.
Don't even attempt to do it.

 

[Hjortsberg]

Don't do it.
Don't even attempt to do it.

there might be $ involved. hard to believe that my first paying gig as a photographer is to try to photograph a ghost

 

[---f]

oh my god, like people here even believe in that stuff. Jesus, next you'll be telling us you believe in the afterlife... Hitchens died for nothing then. Christ!

 

[Particular]

I read this thread, clicked back to the home page, and then this image popped up in the gallery at the top:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=161095

Not supernatural, but it comes pretty close to unbelievable.

 

[back alley]

glad to see that rff members are not the least bit judgemental or too shy to behave like asses...

 

[pinkarmy]

i found this a funny topic

 

[---f]

glad to see that rff members are not the least bit judgemental or too shy to behave like asses...

I absolutely agree with you.

 

[Corto]

I feel that if you see something you can not understand and you take a picture of it, A lot of people who dont understand it either will make a great effort to explain it.

 

[Hjortsberg]

I feel that if you see something you can not understand and you take a picture of it, A lot of people who dont understand it either will make a great effort to explain it.

perhaps. not ever sure where to start with this assignment.

 

[literiter]

perhaps. not ever sure where to start with this assignment.

First you cover your head with tinfoil, then you find a toad, then......

 

[Corto]

First you cover your head with tinfoil, then you find a toad, then......

Magik still exists in the lands of the northern fires.

Scandinavians are not easy people to convince otherwise.

 

[Tim Gray]

glad to see that rff members are not the least bit judgemental or too shy to behave like asses...

Why should this thread be any different from any others 🙂

To the original poster: I don't know. You might find better answers in a forum where are on the same page with you.

 

[kzphoto]

In all seriousness whether or not ghosts or real, false, an elaborate hoax, etc the OP has a question which no one has answered.

My 2 cents: it would be reasonably difficul/near impossible to photograph a ghost. What exposure would you use? Are they moving fast? Can you light or with a strobe?

Experiment heavily, repeat results which show some success and keep trying. That's all we can do.

 

[rxmd]

there might be $ involved. hard to believe that my first paying gig as a photographer is to try to photograph a ghost

I guess that's the kind of assignment that I would decline. Firstly I wouldn't base a paid assignment on the assumption of the existence of a ghost. And then there is a moral problem with this kind of assignment. The point of an assignment is to make the client happy, and there is just too much that is likely to go wrong.

There might be no ghost in the pictures (most probable outcome), or the customers might not be happy with what they see, or they might be of the type that expect to see SOMETHING which would lead you into all sorts of conflicts. See the links above for some famous predecessors who were in exactly the same situation (commissioned by people who really believed that there was a ghost) and started doctoring something into the pictures for the sake of $$$.

 

[dct]

First you cover your head with tinfoil, then you find a toad, then......

Finally, we got it: We are talking also in this context about gear! This thread made my day by all means 😛