What exactly are orbs and vortex things in photos?

Question

I mean in terms of supernatural stuff, What is an ectoplasm?

Answer 1

ok i will tell you about orbs...i research them. First they are caused by dust, moisture, and lighting..but then you have orbs of bright light that are from the spirit world..Last week a close friend died and a few nights later we went and took photos of his house and back yard...We could feel a pressence and bang the perfect photo was taken..It was a dry night no one was smoking, there was no moon, nothing but a back yard in the dark.I caught a bright white energy flying through the backyard with a tail following behind, down the bottom right corner in the grass there was a small orb, when got it home and enlarged it, it was pure energy, white as white, if it were an orb or spirit light from the moisture youd be able to see through it...The one i cannt figure out there is a large circle in the sky of different colours, but there was no moon...if you want to see it..let me know and youll see what i mean

Answer 2

Usually out of focus particles of dust close to the lens.

Answer 3

Saz ~ Good question

Orbs on photos, I do not know, but I have seen a ball of light, which enter into my bedroom, and people told me it's called an orb as well as call other things.  If you would like to read the entire story, just click my link.  Also, you can read the other explainations for this ball of light on my page via added links.

Ectoplasm ~ someone already answered.

I hope that I was helpful.

Answer 4

Artefacts of the photographic process - nothing supernatural.

Answer 5

I read a really great internal research memo about a year ago that was written by a scientist at the Fuji Film company that answered the question about orbs.

The author explained that these are caused by transient foci of electrostatic charges on either the cameras film or CCD.  About half of the memo was about how they had succesfully recreated the orbs in their labs, watched them move around, and finally vanish.  The other half of the memo was about how they're trying to find ways to eliminate them.

I found it interesting to note that the main causes for these elctrostatic charges arise (mostly) from the carrying cases in which people store their cameras.  They tend to be soft fabric inside, and when you rub the camera on this material, well, it's like doing  a highschool physics experiment--remember the one with the rubber rods and rabbit fur?  Same thing here.

As far as ectoplasm goes, NO one has EVER collected any for analysis.  So, I believe that's a bunch of nonsense.  There's just no solid proof.

Answer 6

In terms of the supernatural

An orb is suppose to be an entity or ball of energy from the spirit world.

many mistake insects and dust reflecting off of light as orbs.

A Vortex is suppose to be an entrance way into the supernatural world.

Many make this assumption with any distortion in a photo.

Ectoplasm is suppose to be resin from a supernatural being.

I have only heard this word in movies.

With an open mind I will not say if these things are or are not supernatural because of the ever growing debate that surrounds this subject. I have seen enough evidence to support both theories.

I hope this has helped.

Answer 7

As a professional photographer, I can tell you exactly what they are and they arent supernatural.

Orbs - When you take a picture, you can not see small objects right up close to the lens. However, modern consumer use cameras place the flash very close to the lens, and there is no lens hood to protect from glare. Particles of dust are illuminated by the flash (any bright light from behind could work also) and show up as a blurred indeterminate object in the picture.

Try this, take a photograph in your living room, and see how many orbs show up, then take your sofa pillows and bang them together and try again. You will see millions of orbs suddenly.

If you can, try to shoot a picture with orbs using a camera with a lens hood. The lens hood prevents the particles of dust near the lens from being illuminated, and you can't get orbs.

Vortex - These are most often caused by smoking, but can also be caused by just about any vapors, fog, or smoke which can be produced by many things. The lighting may be too dim to see the smoke or vapor until the flash goes off. The smoke reflects the flash. Cigarette smoke works the best because it makes interesting patterns and illuminates well. It often take little imagination to see faces or bodies in cigarette smoke.

These can also be caused on film cameras by heat, radiation, or age.

Also, negatives and photo paper can become bent, damaged in processing and produce similar effects.

Answer 8

I've seen many of these photos.  Some common causes:

1) reflection of light off of some object.  Yeah, some are just that dumb.

2) Lens flare.  It's a common phenomenon when bright light comes from certain angles into the lens.  There are some other internal lens anomalies which can cause ghostly auras and spots.

3)  Unwanted exposure of the film.  Usually because light got through the back of the camera or the film can was a little damaged somewhere along the line.

4)  Fraud/hoax.