Ghostly orbs

[liner33]

Noticed this on a few pictures I took on holiday and I know if you watch any show on living TV they will tell you these are definitive proof of the paranormal but does anyone know what causes them and can anything be done to avoid or at least minimise them?

[LongQ]

It's light from the flash illuminating dust on or just in front of the lens. You tend to see it when there is something that reflects the light near the camera. Also if there is a light directly above (usually its above but could be alongside) where you are standing. The effect is most obvious with pocket cameras due to their natural depth of field as the result of using small sensors. On a larger camera the image quality could suffer, perhaps unnoticably, but you would be less likely to see any spots.

[DarrenL]

liner33 said:

I went Ghostbusting on holiday and I know if you watch any show on living TV they will tell you these are definitive proof of the paranormal but does anyone know what causes them and can anything be done to avoid or at least minimise my them?

Call the Ghostbusters.

EFA.

[liner33]

LongQ said:

It's light from the flash illuminating dust on or just in front of the lens. You tend to see it when there is something that reflects the light near the camera. Also if there is a light directly above (usually its above but could be alongside) where you are standing. The effect is most obvious with pocket cameras due to their natural depth of field as the result of using small sensors. On a larger camera the image quality could suffer, perhaps unnoticably, but you would be less likely to see any spots.

Kinda stuck with it then

[missdiane]

I had something similar when I took pictures of a church and graveyard, lovely summer evening, no mists, yet the pictures come out with a green mist over the church yard
Made it look quite spooky

[LongQ]

liner33 said:

LongQ said:

It's light from the flash illuminating dust on or just in front of the lens. You tend to see it when there is something that reflects the light near the camera. Also if there is a light directly above (usually its above but could be alongside) where you are standing. The effect is most obvious with pocket cameras due to their natural depth of field as the result of using small sensors. On a larger camera the image quality could suffer, perhaps unnoticably, but you would be less likely to see any spots.

Kinda stuck with it then

Yes and no.

That particular environment looks like it's prone to the problem but it's worth checking for a light (or reflected light) from just . It would probably have to be quite close to have an effect. Also, not unreasnably, your flash is struggling to light the space over the distance to the subject. It is at its design limits. This means that any local illumination - like the dust particles - appear more strongly than they would normally. So moving closer to the subject can help. As can using an off camera flash or optional stronger flash (if available) but few people will have these.

I've seen (and taken!) much worse. A few minutes with a suitable image editor would reduce or eliminate the spots if that was what you wanted to do. I suppose it could also add more if you should choose to augment the ghost story ...!