"Ghost" shots

First off....posting images that belong to someone else is a no-no. If you don't own the copyright then it should be a link to that image. :)

But as for taknig the photo - it's fairly straightforward.
Simply set the camera on a tripod and set for an exposure of at least 1/3 of a second so that movement will be obvious and press fire.
The stationary objects, in this case cars, don't move within the exposure but the person walking through the frame does. The person is shown as a ghostly outline.
It happens because a camera records the light reflected from any given point. A stationary object reflects enough light during the exposure to be well defined and solid. A moving object though only reflects light from any given period for a short time so the image appears faded and transparent. It hasn't had time to reflect enough light to become well defined and solid.

I took this example in Grand Central Station in NYC. The people in colour are my girlfriend and her daughter neither of whom moved during the 5 second exposure so they're solid.
grandcentralselectivedrp.jpg
 
Heya Your.Sweet, I had to change your post and take out the image and put in the link to the image since the photo is not your own. We only ever just post our own work right into our threads, never the work of others (with some exceptions in the Off Topics in birthday or other celebratory threads, maybe).

As to creating the "ghost" photos: you need a long exposure (such as Darich's 5 seconds), and the person in the photo only stays for half of the time and then walks out of the frame. Later you will see a see-through person, a "ghost". My son once had loads of fun doing this with himself on our sofa, but it would take me long to find those pics ... but I could go look out for them for you, if you want me to.
 
Sorry i didnt know. Um yeah that would be awesome if you could. I have an old canon slr so i can change the shutter speed to as long as 30secs if needed. I tried one earlier (Got my sister to walk across while i took a pic of my car) with a 2 second shutter speed. Will find out if it worked when i get them developed.
 
Yep, it's a long exposure thing. I have tons of fun with it, and really need to do some more of it.

Here are a few examples of what I've done, and I'll tell you how I did it.

This one was quite simple, really...and I know it's nothing special...I was just having fun....tripod and long exposure...the parking lot outside of Miller Park after a game...

tailgatersSM.jpg



This one was more fun....but harder to do, as it was in daylight. It was a 10 second exposure....I had my cousin sit there for the first five seconds, and then get up and run out of the frame as fast as possible. Because it was daylight though, it was tough getting the exposure...I closed my aperature aaaall the way down, and it was still quite bright...I had to adjust in PhotoShop.

SatMornCartoons.jpg



So much fun to do!
 
Corry - you could've gotten the last exposure a bit easier using an ND filter... :) I like the way it looks though - sort of like a painting.
 
Seems like my son and I deemed those photos too silly to be kept, I cannot find them anywhere any more and there are only a couple of test pics still among my original files which don't show any persons, just a "ghost jar of marmelade" ... sorry.
 
Heya Your.Sweet, I had to change your post and take out the image and put in the link to the image since the photo is not your own. We only ever just post our own work right into our threads, never the work of others (with some exceptions in the Off Topics in birthday or other celebratory threads, maybe).

As to creating the "ghost" photos: you need a long exposure (such as Darich's 5 seconds), and the person in the photo only stays for half of the time and then walks out of the frame. Later you will see a see-through person, a "ghost". My son once had loads of fun doing this with himself on our sofa, but it would take me long to find those pics ... but I could go look out for them for you, if you want me to.


or if you are posting an edit for someone who says its ok to edit.


corry, as an easier way of doing that, couldn't you just have taken the picture like normal, then taken the picture without your cousin and used photoshop to change the opacity of the one with your cousin for a blend type deal? I havent tried this but I dont see why it wouldn't work.

Either way that is such a cool picture. It really puts the ghost into ghost images
 
or if you are posting an edit for someone who says its ok to edit.


corry, as an easier way of doing that, couldn't you just have taken the picture like normal, then taken the picture without your cousin and used photoshop to change the opacity of the one with your cousin for a blend type deal? I havent tried this but I dont see why it wouldn't work.

Either way that is such a cool picture. It really puts the ghost into ghost images

I'm certain you could do it that way....however, weather that would be easier or not is subjective...for me, no...it wouldn't be easier. I'm not that great at photoshop. For me, the way I did it would be easier.
 
I'm certain you could do it that way....however, weather that would be easier or not is subjective...for me, no...it wouldn't be easier. I'm not that great at photoshop. For me, the way I did it would be easier.
As someone stated earlier, an ND filter would've really helped you with the brightness, but I love your photo nonetheless

Do you use film or digital?
 
I'm certain you could do it that way....however, weather that would be easier or not is subjective...for me, no...it wouldn't be easier. I'm not that great at photoshop. For me, the way I did it would be easier.

with photoshop you wouldn't need really and skills, just the ability to drag a sliding bar back and fourth.

First load the image without the person in it. That is your background. Next make a new layer and then open your picture with the person in it. from there just lower the opacity so the person seems to fade out, and youu're done. This can be useful for sunny days such as yours, because you can use any shutter speed and still get that ghostly effect.
 

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