Ghost in picture?

[blarg]

A friend of mine had this photo taken of him and his friends (he asked me to blank their faces out, that's not high exposure ). On closer inspection, on the left hand side appears to be a transparent man standing behind.

We are both intrigued how this could happen. The shutter was open for a second, and if the man came into the picture half way through it being taken, then surely he would be blurred as his motion was captured?

Also he seems to be sharper than the other 3 people.

I'm actually now wondering if there is a window in the background and I have just texted my friend to ask if there was.

Edit: There is no window.

Some exif data
Camera Nikon 4200
F2.8
1sec
ISO-79

[BryDeeC]

I not an expert at photography yet, but my guess is that he entered to frame sometime during the exposure, then moved. Since he wasn't there for enough time, he looks like a ghost on the image.
Just my guess.

[kelticsol]

Being that this is chit chat:

It's the great ghost of Guido the magnificient. He's been known to be spotted with 15 other guys that look just like him.

On second look, there is no gold chain about his neck. I was wrong.

Maybe he caught the flash then left right after and the exposure went on, thus making him more opaque.

[dseymour]

On the 8th grade east coast trip last year, there was something interesting that happened.


All the boys and girls stayed on different floors. Not only that, but they put tape over the door frame so if anyone went in or out, they would know. And everyone was taking pictures of themselves in the room. One girl took a picture of her face from about a foot away. No surprise, her face was completely washed out, and there was major red eye. But when she looked at the picture, she noticed something in the background. A man in a leather jacket in a nearly black room, no red eye, no flash effects, nothing about him seemed right. He seemed to be in his 30's. But there were 4 girls in the room, no men even on that floor. The tape wasn't even ripped the next morning.

Still, no one knows who it was or how he even showed up.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by kelticsol

Being that this is chit chat:

It's the great ghost of Guido the magnificient. He's been known to be spotted with 15 other guys that look just like him.

On second look, there is no gold chain about his neck. I was wrong.
.

*applause*
*a cookie for you*

What others have said is pretty much it: it would seem the photographer used a slow-sync flash to get the background as well as the boys in the shot: the downside to this is often very slow shutterspeeds. This also explains the blurriness around the people.

[constructivecriticism]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

it would seem the photographer used a slow-sync flash to get the background as well as the boys in the shot: the downside to this is often very slow shutterspeeds.

You guys seem to agree that a flash was used. I tend to disagree, seeing how the light seems to come off camera, and is not as intense as a flash might be.

We can all agree a long exposure was used, so that's the explanation for the translucent individual in the corner. No ghost here. Or anywhere, for that matter.

[blarg]

So how does a long exposure create a translucent effect? I guess that's the question I should have been asking. If the chap is standing behind them, why does he appear the way he does? If he moves, why isn't there any motion?

[Dirt_Bike_Ryda]

because he was standing there when the flash went off. and his other movements were not recorded as the ambient light was not strong enough. im assuming rear curtain sync was used, and he walked into the photo from the left, (just at the end of the exposure) and the rear curtain flash over powered the ambient light that would have otherwise caused him to be blurred. and the reason that the three main subjects are more blurred then him was because they were there longer meaning that the ambient light had more of an affect on the image sensor.

also looking at the background, it seems to be blurred as well "camera shake" it seems that the camera has moved slightly to the left during the exposure. chi ching, that "ghost" may have came from the left remember, sooo.. it has kinda created a panning affect with him moving in the same direction as the camera.

hope that helps.

[blarg]

Aha. Perfect. Many thanks for the explanation.

I knew it wasn't a ghost really.

[Dirt_Bike_Ryda]

no problems