Ghost photography?

Question

This summer, a friend and I want to try our hand at ghost photography. Don't worry, we'll both take it seriously. This weekend, I was looking at some famous photos of ghosts that experts believe to be genuine. (I was on paranormal.about.com) And I noticed that almost all of the photos, even the recent ones, are in black and white. Do you get better results in b&w? Our first expeditions will be outdoors during the day. Do b&w photos have a better chance of showing paranormal activity? Thanks!

Answer 1

As a Paranormal Examiner for 28 years and the Director of a Paranormal Examinations and Research Non-Profit Organization here in GA, I can try to answer your Question.

For Daytime shots, we use both Digital and Film cameras, with the Film cameras (2) using Color and Black & White, ASA 200 on the Black and White and ASA 400 on the Color.

On the Film Cameras, use f-stop 11.0, and a shutter speed of 250.  

We also use our Sony HandyCams with super Night-shot capacity, so we alternate in Daytime between Color and IR (which appears as Black & White) in the Still mode.

We also use our Thermal Cam, and our Pana Cam (Professional model Color TV Camera) to shoot both in Color and in IR Mode.

There's some suggestions.  Good Luck!

Answer 2

Just from an investigative point of view, color photographs carry much more information than black & white photos. If your interests are not artistic but investigative, my suggestion is to use the tools that will give you the most information. So go with color. I don't know why the photos you saw were all in black & white, but I suspect that B&W photos just look spookier and can trick the eye more than a color photo.

Answer 3

All the best ones seem to be in black and white. But I've seen some great ones come from taking color shots in a completely dark room.

Go to this site and check out the one called "Haunted Hotel Ghost Photo" at the bottom and you will see what I mean.

http://www.scaryforkids.com/ghost-videos...

Answer 4

First Black & White was only available when some of the older photographs were taken.

Second, Black & White Infrared film is cheaper to both buy and develop than color infrarred. Infrared in general is simply a pain to use and I don't suggest you start with it but eventually give it a try. Some people believe the infrared spectrum (not seen by the human eye) could be the realm of ghosts.

Third, Black & While film is available at higher speeds than color. One theory is that ghost vibrate at different speeds than us and a faster film is needed to catch anything. The other theory is more practical and says that the average ghost sighting is less than 15 seconds (often less than 5) so you need a fast film to point and shoot without getting a blurry useless picture.

Please let me know if I might of any further assistance.

Psi

Answer 5

*Slaps hand on forehead*

ROFL - taking pictures of ghosts seriously. Think about that for a minute. Firstly, there would have to exist ghosts. Next you are asking about the best way of taking a photo of nothing. Huh?

LOL

Answer 6

I am leaning toward the belief that ghosts cannot be photographed. Many of the black and white photos of ghosts are from the era in photography where color was not yet invented or way too expensive to use. It was also during the time when ghosts were ghosts and people claimed to see them when they were photographed.

I base my opinion on my experience as a paranormal investigator trying to photograph ghosts. I know that the orbs most people like to get are just dust. I do feel that if ghosts can be photographed then it will be when they are physically seen also.

Full body apparitions are rare, but if they can be photographed, I believe it will be in the full body apparition phase.

Just try and not be caught up in the modern pop use of scientific researcher and you will do fine. Just be honest and enjoy your new hobby.

Use color they are more informative like TR said.

BB