Capturing Elusive Images
Images can be captured with digital cameras and thermal cameras. But be sure you know how to interpret images correctly to avoid confusion.
Digital Cameras
Now that almost everyone in the world owns a digital camera, we are bound to see an upsurge in ghostly images, real or imagined. The furor over orbs in the first few years of digital shooting put many investigators off them forever, but if you are serious about attempting to capture paranormal images, your patience may just pay off. New model digital cameras do not suffer from the same technical issues that plagued the early models and caused every speck of dust to look like an orb.
In the book Ghosts Caught on Film: Photographs of the Paranormal? by Dr. Melvyn Willin, he suggests that every psychical researcher should ask themselves a series of questions when viewing ghost photos:
First, is the photo a deliberate fake or fraud? Could the photographer have used props to achieve the image?
Could anything have happened during the photographic process that might have inadvertently caused this image?
Did the photographer simply not notice people in the vicinity at the time the shutter was clicked?
Could some accidental factor have caused the anomaly, such as a light leak or lens flare?
Does the picture show an anomalous effect that may actually be a natural occurrence? Or does the photo show a paranormal effect that is outside of nature?
Have you done an objective evaluation, or have you reached conclusions that only serve to reinforce your own beliefs and worldview?
This list of questions, when answered honestly, can really help the serious investigator do a proper evaluation, not only of the images they have captured, but also of the proliferation of anomalous images on the Internet.
Willin's book has a nice selection of black-and-white and color photos, some of which date back more than a hundred years. They are presented as full-page pictures in good quality reproductions. On the page facing them, the author gives the history of the photo and background information, then beneath that, his analysis of the image, including observations of anything suspicious. He does not reach any definitive conclusions, allowing readers to analyze it and make up their own minds.
It is interesting to note that the book also contains frames pulled from video surveillance cameras, like that of the apparition at Hampton Court Palace. In one outtake from a surveillance video, a chillingly pale skeletal figure in cloak and hood strides up to a double doorway, setting off alarms. As amazing as the still photo is, the video is even more so. It can be viewed online at YouTube (
The best approach when trying to capture photographic evidence is to keep shooting. Whenever possible, use the room's own available light and turn off the flash. Then, if the image of an orb is captured, no one can protest that it was the flash bouncing off a dust particle or an insect.
Thermal Imaging Cameras
Thermal imaging cameras are proving to be a very interesting resource for investigators. These cameras, which measure heat signatures, can be used to record interviews as well as the actual course of the investigation.
In an interview with medium/sensitive Carroll Heath, TAPS captured an image that Grant Wilson described as “psychedelic.” As Mr. Heath did a reading for Jason Hawes, colors arose from Jason's head area and seemed to reach toward Mr. Heath. When Heath gestured with his hand, the strange colors dispersed. Although TAPS does not usually employ mediums, they allowed Mr. Heath to participate in the investigation because they were in his home.
In another instance of thermal imagery, Jason and Grant captured a full-body apparition standing a few feet away from them in a sanatorium. The apparition was invisible to the naked eye yet showed very clearly in the view screen of the thermal imager.
