Paranormal Photography
When the smoke and mist started to show up in my pictures, I thought it was my breath. I would cover my face and hold the camera out at an arm’s length away when I’d snap the pictures to make sure I wasn’t unintentionally corrupting my photographs. Something fascinating happened, I realized I could see many of the anomalies when the flash went off. Not only did it make this more interesting, it was very useful in finding the best places to take pictures. There was no point in putting the camera up to my face, I couldn’t see them before I snapped the picture.
I started to think maybe these things are always here and there’s just a brief moment when they’re visible. So I decided to take multiple shots in each spot, consecutive photographs. I would go out and scan the area with my camera several times each night. Holding my camera out an arm’s length in front of me, I would start at one end and snap three or four consecutive pictures in each spot, turning a few degrees and repeating the process until the whole area was scanned. I could see these anomalies with my eyes when the flash went off, and often I would just keep taking pictures and watch the phenomenon as it occurred. This can easily add up to a lot of pictures in each session, depending on the size of the area being scanned. This is how I ended up with so many good photos. Quite often I would go out several times a night and check for activity.
In preparation, I would remove any bright or reflective objects from the area using the scanning method to see what was there. Anything that would take away from the darkness of the natural environment was removed. This gave me a “clear canvas” and made it easier to analyze my photographs. If something “unexplainable” showed up in a particular area, I would keep scanning that area and most often I would find a good spot where something interesting would show up in my pictures. I returned to these areas on a regular basis.
I can’t stress enough to take a lot of pictures. The camera can often see what the eye cannot, scan the area with your camera. Save all your pictures, organize them in folders with the date by month and year. This way it’s easy to go back and look through them for when you discover something new. Believe me, you’re likely to have things in your pictures that won’t make sense, like what happened to me when the triangles appeared, and it took a while to realize what they actually were. Save everything.
Use a real camera, I don’t recommend a phone. I’ve had good luck with Olympus and Toshiba, and have seen good results with Kodak. By all means, try different cameras. Just keep in mind the flash seems to be a critical element.
There’s no reason to limit this method to night time photography. I’ve found it to be very useful to scan the area in daytime hours to document the surroundings, and make note of anything that may appear to be a false anomaly in the pictures. I have also had some interesting things show up in broad daylight.
You may even want to use a tripod if you don’t have a steady hand, or are comfortable in one spot scanning an area. If you are shooting video, absolutely use a tripod. These things move very quickly, and you will likely have to look at each frame to see what’s there. Without a tripod, it will be a blurry mess.
I learned I had to take my head out of the box of human reality. I could be looking right at one of these beings and not know it, not recognize them by appearance, or simply not be able to see them with my eyes. I also learned if you expect one thing, you will get something else. I guess it’s the trickster nature of these phenomena. Whether it’s ghosts or cryptids, just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there, maybe watching you.
