lens flare/orbs/radionics/quantum physics...help!

[rjh01]

[qimg]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=23809&stc=1&d=1319416459[/qimg]

Your link does not work.

 

[Corsair 115]

*facepalm*

Lens flare. Case closed.

Tell your friend to read up on lenses and photography. I was taught about lens flares nearly thirty years ago when I was in film school.

(Lens flare is so familiar thanks to still photos and motion pictures that video game graphics and CGI effects emulate lens flare to make the generated imagery seem like it was taken with an actual camera.)

 

[oody]

I just stumbled onto this thread. Welcome, reaction105; I came to this forum 4 years ago for reasons very similar to yours. I have long since given up trying to convince people that their religious beliefs are unfounded (your mileage may vary). As you are discovering, this is a question of perceived spirituality. People like being in the small club that is able to see the Emperor's Clothes, and they like it enough that they can generate huge clouds of cognitive dissonance.

There is a lengthy thread here at randi.org that I found extremely useful in understanding and coping with this mindset: the thread about the Amega Wand, which is a $250 stick filled with mysterious healing crystals. I think you will see strong parallels between that discussion and your current dilemma, if you take the time to sift through the volume of posts. I hereby present The Stick Thread: http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167749

As for radionics, don't miss the career of "Dr." Albert Abrams, the inventor of the "science." Your health practitioner follows in the footsteps of one of the great scam artists of all time.

 

[John Albert]

Your link does not work.

It was just a joke anyway, like one of those "Demotivational Poster" -type things.

A pic of Al Gore giving a speech with a bright light in the background causing a lens flare, and the caption read something like, "Only spirit orb can stop global warming"

 

[Scott the Grey]

When I was little I used to like being out at night and blurring my eyes whilst looking at the streetlights. My jaw dropped the first time anyone tried to tell me that those familiar patterns of out-of-focus light were anything more than that.

Maybe your man can go out and try what I did as a child too, he may not be able to admit it to you but at least a part of him will realise that regular everyday light can appear interesting with a little lens (eye) manipulation.

I liked the 'red grid' photo from the ipod. Those little gadgets have so many selling points I guess they forgot to mention the 'Yin' detectors! XD

 

[Dr H]

Engaged in a discussion of "spirit orbs" several years ago I set out with my own (film) camera to demonstrate the effects that produce them.

I got some spectacular night shots of "spirit orbs" ascending from my rooftop to a "ufo" by the simple expedient of using a moderately long lens assembly and shooting the roof of my house with a strong streetlight just off my left shoulder. In addition to the lens flare orbs, backscatter inside the lens assembly itself produced a remarkably solid-looking "ufo" hovering above the roof and the trees.

If one looks closely one will find that the ufo just coincidentally happens to have the same number of sides as the the number of leaves in the iris of my camera shutter.

Then I had great fun making up a story about a "haunted picture" (actually a fine art reproduction of a Martha Moore painting). I set up a strong spotlight shining across the camera lens at just under 180 degrees, but not on the picture itself, which was illuminated by a weaker source directly behind me.

I got some wonderful blue orbs hovering about the figure in the painting, in what otherwise looked like a completely normal setting. I eventually got to the point where I could place the orb pretty much anywhere I wanted it by manipulating light and camera angles.

I also found a number of ways to do this with multiple exposures, where I could manipulate the color of the orbs as well as the placement. But this level of complexity is unnecessary. All it really takes is one strong (relative to the scene) light source and paying attention to camera angle.

Of course the alternate explanation is that I was really photographing a bunch of souls who were reading my thoughts and obligingly placing themselves where they knew I wanted them to be. But I really don't think I have that level of inner coherence, yet.

 

[reaction105]

I just stumbled onto this thread. Welcome, reaction105; I came to this forum 4 years ago for reasons very similar to yours. I have long since given up trying to convince people that their religious beliefs are unfounded (your mileage may vary). As you are discovering, this is a question of perceived spirituality. People like being in the small club that is able to see the Emperor's Clothes, and they like it enough that they can generate huge clouds of cognitive dissonance.

There is a lengthy thread here at randi.org that I found extremely useful in understanding and coping with this mindset: the thread about the Amega Wand, which is a $250 stick filled with mysterious healing crystals. I think you will see strong parallels between that discussion and your current dilemma, if you take the time to sift through the volume of posts. I hereby present The Stick Thread.

As for radionics, don't miss the career of "Dr." Albert Abrams, the inventor of the "science." Your health practitioner follows in the footsteps of one of the great scam artists of all time.

Thanks for the tips. That cognitive dissonance you speak of is doing my head in.

I guess your experience with photography shapes your understanding of these artifacts. Personally, I do VFX for film and TV, and video/photography has been a hobby of mine for a long time, so I see a lot of video footage and photos. What gets me is (even if you don't know much about photography), why aren't you asking "what is this?" instead of saying "that's a soul orb"? You could extend that to any paranormal concept, and that's what underlies this thread.

Amusingly, the new camera on the iPhone 4S doesn't actually create the red grid effect...I wonder what he will think if he upgrades, and his magnetic light goes away.

 

[EHocking]

...He said: "...those that are happier, more loving, or more spiritually evolved people can capture them, while others cannot." (His emphasis)...

Ah, so it's because I'm a grumpy, lonely, soulless atheist that stops me from taking awful photos with lens flare ruining the shot.

And all this time I thought that it was years and years of practice with a camera.

 

[BTMO]

Please pass a message along from me.

"They are artifacts of camera construction and the conditions under which the photos were taken".

Then tell him the fee for my analysis is $1,935.47 (inc GST). It'd have been much cheaper, but he wasted my time with his faith healer bull ****. As he no doubt expects to be compensated for his time, I expect to be compensated for mine, and can get nasty when my bills aren't paid...

I wasn't joking about this. Tell him I want my money.

 

[GT/CS]

What is the cause of the extra suns on these photos?
Do I need to purchase a better camera?

 

[Jack by the hedge]

What is the cause of the extra suns on these photos?
Do I need to purchase a better camera?

I never knew Tatooine had an ocean.