Matt Cahill , Feb 09, 2006; 03:31 p.m.
Hey folks - looking for some help here.
My nephew took some photos with his FinePix E5100 Digital Camera. He
took one of himself, and got freaked-out when he found artefacts that
look like a photo of someone else in the same frame - you can
understand that he got rather spooked.
I don't believe in ghosts and stuff, so I'm trying to figure out *how*
this can happen, technically. This 'inserted photo' doesn't really
make sense to me.
The problem is, I don't want to post his photo here, because he's
rather private about his photographs (nothing wrong with that). So,
I've Photoshopped an approximation of what he has using radom photos
just to illustrate the issue.
If anyone has anything to contribute to this mystery, I'd love to hear
it. I just don't want him thinking there's a ghost in his room (!).
Stephane Robichaud , Feb 09, 2006; 03:38 p.m.
My guess is long exposure and he moved the camera before the shutter closed.
Rob Bernhard 
, Feb 09, 2006; 03:47 p.m.
Couldn't you post the real photo and just blur out his face?
Matt Cahill , Feb 09, 2006; 04:25 p.m.
Stephane - I'm not sure a slow shutter would be the issue. Wouldn't this just smear the transposed picture rather than create the stutter?
Matt Cahill , Feb 09, 2006; 04:27 p.m.
Also - it's a FinePix E510, *not* a "E5100" (which doesn't exist).
Craig Gillette , Feb 09, 2006; 06:48 p.m.
If he took it himself on timer, the exposure might have been slow/long enough to catch him moving into place, or if longer, been partially illuminated by another light source, etc. Hard to say without seeing it. However, there are some para"normal" sites which deal with ghost photos and some are much more technically competent and used to seeing the fakes or anomalies so if you look up "ghost photos," some explain them, some accept them.
I'd expect there are a variety of reasons that I'd consider before the supernatural.
Anupam Basu , Feb 09, 2006; 06:57 p.m.
Was this a flash photo? Using flash can lead to some cool effects that look like double exposure. Again, the real photo would be helpful - blur out his face if he is too shy.
Eric Carter , Feb 09, 2006; 07:56 p.m.
To know what really happened we'd probably need to see the original photo and if possible the EXIF data recorded by the camera in the file to see shutter speed, flash, etc...
Most "ghost" images where there's actually a "ghostly" person are caused by using a slow shutter speed and having someone walk in the frame and stop long enough to "impress" their image on the camera film or sensor, then move out of the frame before the exposure is completed, while most "orb" ghost photographs are dust or water droplets hit by flash that are closer than the "depth of field" that the camera is focused on. These images reflect the flash light and are rendered by the camera in the shape of the camera aperure iris - a circle or orb.
It might also be lens flare, if you have a stray reflection from light hitting the lens surface itself.
John Schroeder 
, Feb 09, 2006; 10:37 p.m.
If the photo was taken at an event then he might have caught the red-eye flashes from another camera in his exposure. That would account for a multiple steaming image. This would be very easy to do in a dark room and his flash turned off. Or if the camera was put into a low-light (slow-sync) mode with flash. Any other explanation would require us seeing the original photo.
Douglas Green , Feb 10, 2006; 02:26 a.m.
Bill Murray owns a restaurant not too far from where I live. Perhaps I can get him to show up with Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis to help you sort through it.
