Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Should we just give up on ghost photos?

I just saw ANOTHER app that can put "real ghostly images to your photos"
New app ghosted has now been released and ghost capture is as popular as ever.  As seen in the recent news article it is still managing to fool journalists who are after a quick news story. RGJ.com




Did reader capture image of a ghost at Pyramid Lake? 
A reader named Ashif Halim submitted this photo to Online Editor Pete Krajewski that he says captures a ghostly figure at Pyramid Lake. Just behind the man in the white shirt, an image of what appears to be a little girl in a white dress can be seen. The photo's authenticity has not been confirmed, but an independent analysis was conducted by paranormal investigator Mariah Robards, who said the apparition appears to be authentic based on the fact that it has its own light source.
So did reader capture image of a ghost? In one word NO. And with all due respect - what independent analysis was conducted by Ms Robards to assess that this photo is authentic?

Can you spot the girl anywhere in the picture above?
Looks similar to this one doesnt it?



The above photo is a known hoax which fooled a lot of newspapers.


So, what does this new app "ghosted" do thats different?
"Now, you can frighten your friends by adding ghosts into your photos, with Ghosted. Take a picture of a friend and add ghosts to the photo, adjust the transparency of the ghost images to make it look like it is really in the photo."
✔ Added transparency slider, so you can adjust the transparency or opacity levels of the ghosts
✔ 25 More Ghosts Added (over 50 total)
✔ Added HD iPhone/iPod Touch 4.0 Retina graphics!
Sounds fun right? I just bought it for A$1.19 just so i can experiment and show how easy it is to fake photos (see below).


In some ways this makes me think we should give up looking at any ghost photos as genuine because there are so many different ways to fake them these days. When people declare fake photos genuine it gives a lack of credulity to any real ghost photos that might come along.  There's always been trickery with ghost photography since the beginning of photography so this is nothing new, we just have different technology. 




Here a couple of my own examples from ghosted.



Admittedly they are pretty crappy examples but with a little tinkering you could probably trick some people.



Maybe its time to accept ghosts can't be caught on film? Or more to the point if we're in the "business" of providing evidence, then ghost photos can't be presented as fact or evidence because there are too many ways to fake it.

What are your thoughts on the subject? Please share below.




6 comments:

  1. I agree...we have received several of these photos. AFter the 2nd one, we said, "Wait a minute! I've seen that ghost before!!" Then the third and the fourth came in....then other groups were receiving the same photos. Ugh!

    I know a photo I captured is genuine. It's hard to convince other people of that unless they were at the location with you.

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  2. Thanks for your comment PVeatch.
    I'd like to see your photo? Is it on a website or anything? Cheers.

    Bryony
    Paranormal News Australia

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  3. With today's technology, I would never try and convince anyone that any of my photos are the real deal. I know they are-and you might believe they are-but no matter what, there will always be fakers and healthy skeptics. That does not change my mind from wanting to post what I consider evidence Why ? Because it is exciting and I want to share with others who will appreciate and possibly have similar experiences or even alternate explanations.

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  4. Very true CB :) Thanks for your comment

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  5. i think its a shame when people label their fake photos/videos as real ghosts, they should just be honest and admit that they're not real, then people can give them a positive response like ''wow, good fake'' instead of getting negative ones when they say its real, and then get busted and end up with negative comments about their pics like ''thats not real, its a fake u jerk'' my brother took a pic on his phone about 4 yrs ago of all his friends standing together once at his flat before they went out drinking for the night, when i saw it i noticed straight away that there was a face of a girl peering from behind one of the girls legs, he said they noticed it there as soon as they looked at the pic not two minutes after taking it, he never posted it anywhere, or even showed many people, and eventually ended up deleting it from his phone because he said too many bad thing were happening to him since he took it and since he got rid of it things were fine, its a shame he got rid of it as it was really creepy, but even if he had kept it and posted it, noone would've belived it to be real, because every fake ghost pic out there is 'real' and its a shame. cuz i'd love to see some real ones. people should just admit their pics are fake. and give the real ones a chance to be seen for what they are. the word genuine has lost its meaning these days.

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  6. yes, i think its sad that people bother to make fake photos and promote them as real.

    Hey, d.o.s your friends photo isn't this one is it?
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-510155/Mysterious-ghostly-face-child-appears-mobile-phone-photo-teen-pals.html

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