Need photo help. What the heck are these "orbs"?

[Dr.Girlfriend]

I'm also posting here.

I've been trying to get some redecorating ideas for our kitchen and living room and I've been noticing orbs...lots of orbs...in the photos. It's not dust. The camera lens is clean. And they kind of freak me out.

Like this (excuse the messy kitchen):

And this (same room, one from Wednesday night, one from Thursday night):

And excuse the obviously demonic cat.
I was thinking if it was a dirty lens, the orb/circle things would be the same size and in the same location in each picture. And they're not. Thoughts?

 

[MICKEY88]

they are the result of flash bouncing off of dust particles in the air

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Spirits. Some camera sensors can see them even when humans can't. To have that many haunting one place, especially so close to Halloween, is creepy. I'd move. Soon.

Then again, maybe Mickey88 is right and it is just dust particles reflecting the flash since the flash is so close to the lens. Try taking a few shots without the flash. If you still see them, call an exorcist.

 

[Experiment_626]

They're dust particles in the air with a type of lens flare caused, in this case, by the flash. This doesn't reflect (no pun intended) poorly on the cleanliness of your home or your lens; unless you live in a Clean Room, you've got dust.

I've talked to people who actually do believe these things are spirits and/or ghosts. I usually try to be as non-committal as possible and change the subject as quickly as I can, unless I know that person very well.

In almost all cases where I've seen these, the photo in question was made indoors with a flash. In the rest, they were made in a situation where the ambient lighting would also lend itself to such flare. I'm thinking of a particular case I saw, where a photo was made in late afternoon with the sun low in the sky and in the background of the image, at a carnival in proximity to where children were riding a pony in a grassy field. The pony was probably stirring up dust particles as it walked, and the partially-blocked sun was supplying the light to illuminate them from just the right angle.

 

[JoeDif]

I'm not so sure about dust particles....that one orb is smiling

 

[pjacobi]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orb_(optics)


-Paul

 

[ukcatfan]

Yep, they are spirits. And the really bright glowing one over the kitchen table is their demon overlord.

 

[ukcatfan]

Like this (excuse the messy kitchen):

If you think that is messy, then you would truly be frightened if you saw mine!

 

[annnewjerz]

If you think that is messy, they you would truly be frightened if you saw mine!

+1

 

[mom2rtk]

What kind of camera do you have?

It reminds me of what I got from a filter on one of my lenses once. Honestly, my house is far from squeaky clean, and I never get dust reflections like that with a flash........

 

[ukcatfan]

What kind of camera do you have?

It reminds me of what I got from a filter on one of my lenses once. Honestly, my house is far from squeaky clean, and I never get dust reflections like that with a flash........

The EXIF shows that it was a Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS. Your experience shooting with a DSLR will not be comparable to a SD series Canon p&s camera where the lens and flash are probably less than an inch apart. The farther apart they are, the less chance this has of happening. That is another benefit of an external flash.

 

[Chelley00]

Anyone else notice the Mickey head in the first picture?