Ghost Picture?

This is the first picture sent in by Trevor and the e-mail that accompanied it. He is happy to hear any comment and views. He has told me there was no smoke in the bar at the time the pictures were taken.

Quote :

Thought I would send you this picture which was taken unwittingly by my partner when she was testing the camera on her newly purchased mobile phone. We think the image is either a monk or a woman (different people see different things). I personally think its a monk. The photo was taken about a year ago at the Cock Inn at Boughton Monchelsea near Maidstone Kent. The second photo is as the apparition is disappearing. These are 100% genuine photos.

And the second one.

There must have been some smoke, there is an open fire roaring away.

Looks like a hanging.

Quote :

There must have been some smoke, there is an open fire roaring away.

Where there is fire there is smoke. Well in one picture anyway.

The fogging effect appears to be lens flare. There are also areas of over-exposure. I can't see any monk. Where is he?

mysteryshopper wrote:

The fogging effect appears to be lens flare. There are also areas of over-exposure. I can't see any monk. Where is he?

I agree with that. Any chances of knowing which equipment was used?

Two things; firstly, anyone else notice the round object in the foreground of the first image which appears to be missing in the second one?

Secondly, I suspect it's a problem with the camera settings and lens. The first image looks like a thumbprint on the lens and the spread of blue in the centre and the right of the image (although there's a lot of blue throughout) imply a lighting issue, perhaps the flash has been covered, allowing only a bit of light to escape. The reflection on the back of the chair in the foreground has evidence of light flare on it, but it looks muted and blue. This indicates that the light has been recorded as blue and not white, and that the flash has not gone off fully because it's been covered up.

I have to agree, that blue lighting in the second image is most probably a light smoke from the fire.

baroniveagh wrote:

I have to agree, that blue lighting in the second image is most probably a light smoke from the fire.

Have to disagree I'm afraid. Smoke tends to go up the chimney, especially when the burning logs are to the back of the inglenook. The only time I've seen smoke come out of the fire place is when an ember falls out of the fire place, or when someone shuts a door suddenly, causing a vacum resulting in air being drawn down the chimney and pushing smoke out of the fireplace into the room. However, when the latter happens it tends to form a sort of cloud and doesn't billow up in a column like it does in the fireplace. Don't forget that the chimney will draw the air out, so I'd expect more smoke to be concentrated around the fireplace, being drawn back from the room and into the chimney.

While smoke tends to go up a chimney, enough of it will enter the room to give that blue haze effect under the right lighting. If your house has an old fireplace and chimny you can try it yourself. Next time I visit my parents house I'll post of some pictures of it and you can compare.

I'm afraid you're incorrect there. I've had an open fire before so know what I'm talking about. Smoke will only enter a room with either a backdraft, when the fire is not situated under the chimney, or if there is a blockage meaning that smoke cannot escape.

If the smoke is outside the image I would expect to see soot surounding it and not some shiny brasses, and I wouldn't expect to see a table next to it. This is clear a case of light reflecting and being processed by the mobile phone as blue, hence why the whole of the right of the second image is blue.

Anyone more experienced in digital photography able to offer an opinion.

Digital cameras, unlike film models, require colour balancing - known as the white balance (in film cameras, the film itself is 'balanced' for particular situations - or you can use correcting filters for indoors, for instance). Most digital cameras use auto white balance by 'looking for' white objects in the field of view. If there is no white object they use a default setting which, obviously, cannot suit all situations.

If you look through the display of a digital camera while sweeping it across a scene, you may well see colour shifts in the objects as the auto white balance operates. You can even get two photos, taken one straight after the other, where the colour balance has shifted significantly. It can make for quite artistic shots though it's annoying if you're going for pure accuracy.

In most cameras you can set the white balance manually, for indoors, outdoors or particular lighting, for instance. I don't imagine you get this level of control in a camera phone as it is not primarily a camera. So, you will inevitably be subject to auto white balance and its occasional mistakes.

agricola wrote:

I'm afraid you're incorrect there. I've had an open fire before so know what I'm talking about. Smoke will only enter a room with either a backdraft, when the fire is not situated under the chimney, or if there is a blockage meaning that smoke cannot escape.

Yes, but it's never a perfect system. A small amount will usually enter a room, particularly from a large fireplace.

agricola wrote:

If the smoke is outside the image I would expect to see soot surrounding it and not some shiny brasses, and I wouldn't expect to see a table next to it. This is clear a case of light reflecting and being processed by the mobile phone as blue, hence why the whole of the right of the second image is blue.

Anyone more experienced in digital photography able to offer an opinion.

I'm not sure why you wouldn't see a table, but we do not know the relationship between the ignition of the fire and the cleaning of those shiny brasses. For all we know, they're freshly scrubbed.

Though I do agree that it's also possibly the camera used, I've seen this same bluing on film cameras and usually diffusion of light through smoke is the cause.

Why would anyone put a table, in a restaurant next to a fireplace that can't keep the smoke in? And how do you explain the blue flaring on the chair in the foreground in the bottom of the image? Is this caused by smoke? If so why are the two similar pinkish flares next to them? Surely if it's smok they would all be blue?