Photographs

I believe that ghosts and spirits (if there is a difference) move in and out of our plain of existence quickly. Even when they are there, the chances of you snapping your photo at the right instant is pretty slim.

I do not present photos containing motion blurs or any photo containing questionable effects caused by misuse of the equipment as evidence. If I cannot solidly define in one way or another what is in a photo, it is not evidence to me. Some photos do get posted here just because I like them though.

I also try particularly hard to "debunk" my own photos. I joined a paranormal networking site a while back and at first, I thought I had found my true community. I found many of the members to be excruciatingly hard on any evidence presented which is the way I think it should be.

But alas, as some of the "true believers" and "experts" became more vocal I felt more and more photos were being presented and accepted as evidence that were in fact products of motion blur¹, poor quality cameras², excessive "enhancement"³, and "matrixing" to the point of fantasy⁴.

Fortunately, I did manage to find a few kindred souls who reinforced my belief in high standards for evidence. I hope to learn more from them.

I will post both the good and bad. Some of it is an exercise in debunking. Some of it is just for fun. All of it will be real.

1. One "sensitive" actually told me that just because I couldn't see it in a photo, it doesn't mean it isn't there. My argument that real world explanations should outweigh the paranormal made no sense to her. I admit that I do not know how to argue with that.

2. My opinion: A dark shadow doesn't equate to a "shadow person". Sometimes a dark shadow just means your camera sucks and cannot handle variations in lighting. Oh, and if most of your photos come out blurry and you can see ghosts in them...same answer.

3. My favorite time was when an "expert" (who admittedly never called himself an expert - he just liked to show everyone how good he was at it and mention the awards he had won) used his "enhancements" to prove someone in a photo was "too transparent" to be a real person. By merely zooming in and lightening the photo a little some of us were able to discern that his transparent apparition was wearing a sweatshirt, sunglasses, and a ball cap and was carrying a digital recorder. He never really admitted he was wrong - only that we were right. (correction posted 08/15/2010)

4. My opinion: There are NEVER 10 ghosts looking at you through a window...EVER. Those shadowy figures in the distance at the cemetery are tombstones. Orbs are just about always crap, mine are, and the ones in your photos are too. Get used to it.