Since the 19th century, never has spirit photography been as popular as it is today. From the amateur ghost hunter to the professional paranormal investigator, more people are looking to prove the continuance of life after death through the lens of a camera. Spirit photography is considered to be a form of mediumship or spirit communication in which the ghost or entity makes contact with the physical world by leaving an image on a photographic plate or digital image. Though this may be a fun hobby to some, or part of a trade to others, it is always important to understand your equipment and its proper use. This is the best way to be sure to gather clear documentation and avoid false positives.

Glossary of Terms:

Aperture: Circular hole in front of the lens which controls the amount of light that enters the camera and reaches the film or digital CCD.

Apparition: A partial or full visual manifestation of a ghost or spirit. It may appear as a shadowy silhouette, semi-translucent, or completely solid as in life.

APS: APS stands for Advanced Photo System. It is a new film system for consumer photography that uses a unique format and photofinishing techniques.

Camera Shake: Movement of the camera due to improper camera support. It will often produce out of focus pictures or pictures containing motion blur.

CCD: CCD stands for charged couple device. It is the sensor used within digital cameras that consists of a series of light sensitive diodes. This sensor receives the image information (photons) and converts it into data that is able to be processed by the camera (electrons).

CMOS: CMOS stands for complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor. Unlike CCD chips, CMOS chips have transistors at each pixel which permits each one to be read individually. While more cost efficient and easily manufactured, the transistors generally allow less light to reach the pixel sensor and thus do not provide as high quality fidelity as a CCD.

Dorbs: Ghost hunting slang for dust orbs. These are spherical anomalies caught on film which are created by flash reflections of dust, pollen, and/or fine particles which are within the focal length of the camera. These are often confused with spirit orbs.

Ectoplasm/Ectomist: Traditionally, ectoplasm was the term described as a stringy gel-like semi-solid which often extruded from various orifices of a medium during spirit contact. Modern spirit photography now considers it a paranormal vaporous airborne substance which appears in photographs.

F Stop: It is the number that equals the lens’ focal length divided by the diameter of the aperture. The smaller the F stop value, the more light you are allowing into the camera at any one time.

Focal Length: When focus is set at infinity, it is the distance from the rear nodal point of the lens to the focal plane.

Frames per second: Frames per second or fps is used to describe how quickly a motor drive or winder can automatically advance a film camera. In regards to a digital, it refers to how quickly the cameras processor and buffer can take photographs in succession.

Hot Shoe: A universal fitting atop many cameras used to run accessories such as an external flash.

ISO: International Standards Organization. It is the prefix to film speed which has replaced ASA (American Standards Association). The higher the ISO value, the faster the film speed and generally the grainer the image quality.

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