# What's The SD On The "Corroboree" Ghost Photo? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339 "2010-07-11T23:49:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/21 "2010-07-12T15:06:22Z")
I don’t think this was a woo woo question. He’s asking for technical explanations for a photograph, not alleging or assuming anything supernatural. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/22 "2010-07-12T15:07:50Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t think this was a woo woo question. He’s asking for technical explanations for a photograph, not alleging or assuming anything supernatural. Well yeah…but given the previous issues, I think he was acting in good faith by not starting the thread here. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/23 "2010-07-12T15:10:46Z")
Did someone say woo woo? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/24 "2010-07-12T15:19:02Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Wow, that “Jesus” photograph is cool. I didn’t see any child until I read the explanatory text. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, that photo was a bit like those “do you see a young lady or old woman” or “two faces or a goblet” type of illusions. At first, I only saw the child, and didn’t get the whole Jesus thing, but once I saw Jesus’s face, it was difficult to reset my brain to see the child. Okay, who else kept looking up and down **Crotalus’** link trying to find the “Jesus” image. WTF? …Oh, wait. It’s in **Umbriel2’s** link. Gotcha (Ya and otherwise). ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/25 "2010-07-12T15:23:45Z")
> [@Umbriel2](#): > > While it indeed looks to me like a woman in a white dress with hands raised in front of her face, possibly holding something, she doesn’t look especially aboriginal. My money is on a simple incident of “pareidolia”, [which can be surprisingly vivid](http://forgetomori.com/2008/skepticism/best-pareidolia-ever/). Gotta agree here, although it’s pretty startling at first glance. The “woman” looks more like she has a headdress on. Interesting site, it seems to reject marginal stuff like “orb” photos in favor of debatable photos/video. Anyone seen this one? It scares the crap outta me… > **[Jason Gaston](https://jasongaston.net/)** > > I've come here to do two things: Blog and chew bubblegum and I'm all out of bubblegum. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/26 "2010-07-12T15:26:21Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Wow, that “Jesus” photograph is cool. I didn’t see any child until I read the explanatory text. I still can’t see the child. Sometimes I have a hard time with that stuff - it was years before I finally saw the “old woman” in the “young woman/old woman” drawing they always use as an example for this sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/27 "2010-07-12T15:42:00Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > You’re not interested in how it was done? I am. There wasn’t photoshop back then, so it’d be interesting to know how the photo was staged. I routinely made double exposures with my 35 mm camera back in the days before photoshop. They’re of my sister, wearing mom’s wedding dress, with her hair and veil over her face. And they’re spooky as all hell. I made them based on instructions from a book. 'Course now, with photoshop, they’re hardly impressive at all. I selected an f/stop for a two second exposure, covered the lens with opaque cardboard, opened the shutter with a cable release ( to prevent myself from bumping the camera and blurring the photo), arranged the scene with her there, uncovered the lens for a second, covered it again, had her run out of frame, uncover for a second, and close the shutter. I only ended up blurring the scene about a third of the time. Often, old photos have ghost parts, given long exposure times the cameras needed, someone could walk in, and out of, the frame accidentally, or even on purpose, people have always like “ghostly” photos. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/28 "2010-07-12T15:45:42Z")
But hey, why should Jesus have all the fun? [Lenin](http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/lenin.html) has made miraculous appearances, too. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/29 "2010-07-12T15:59:55Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I still can’t see the child. Sometimes I have a hard time with that stuff - it was years before I finally saw the “old woman” in the “young woman/old woman” drawing they always use as an example for this sort of thing. it is much easier to spot the child in the second picture where they coloured all the exposed skin yellow. look for the child’s face and arms. ghost trapped in a [car](http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/530/brickscarez9.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/30 "2010-07-12T16:12:09Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > There are slightly better images of this photo [here](http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-best-ghost-photographs.php). Scroll down to number 6. The upper half of the person seems clear and real, and you can see through the bottom half. You can’t “see through the bottom half”. There’s a branch _in front of_ the bottom half of the figure. The person is standing between two bushes. You can see one bush in front of her (with a branch extending diagonally upwards in front of her body), and more bushes behind her. There is nothing in the picture that suggests anything other than a totally solid human body, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/31 "2010-07-12T16:40:54Z")
> [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](#): > > Interesting site, it seems to reject marginal stuff like “orb” photos in favor of debatable photos/video. Anyone seen this one? It scares the crap outta me… > > [Jason Gaston – I've come here to do two things: Blog and chew bubblegum and I'm all out of bubblegum.](http://www.slightlywarped.com/crapfactory/ghastlyghostgallery/ghosts/demoninthepicture.htm) Pff, I’ve seen [uglier dogs than that](http://media.photobucket.com/image/ugliest%20dog/yuel0022/Funny%20Photos/SamUgliestDogLulu.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/32 "2010-07-12T16:47:26Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > I routinely made double exposures with my 35 mm camera back in the days before photoshop. They’re of my sister, wearing mom’s wedding dress, with her hair and veil over her face. And they’re spooky as all hell. I made them based on instructions from a book. 'Course now, with photoshop, they’re hardly impressive at all. > > I selected an f/stop for a two second exposure, covered the lens with opaque cardboard, opened the shutter with a cable release ( to prevent myself from bumping the camera and blurring the photo), arranged the scene with her there, uncovered the lens for a second, covered it again, had her run out of frame, uncover for a second, and close the shutter. I only ended up blurring the scene about a third of the time. > > Often, old photos have ghost parts, given long exposure times the cameras needed, someone could walk in, and out of, the frame accidentally, or even on purpose, people have always like “ghostly” photos. That’s pretty neat. _Can_ we make double exposures with a (non-SLR) digital camera, I wonder? I like “ghost” photography, and while I’ve made ghosts though photo manipulation [like this](http://mulderscreek.com/genres/lilghosts.jpg), it’d be interesting to attempt it with a camera instead too. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/33 "2010-07-12T16:50:30Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > You can’t “see through the bottom half”. There’s a branch _in front of_ the bottom half of the figure. The person is standing between two bushes. You can see one bush in front of her (with a branch extending diagonally upwards in front of her body), and more bushes behind her. > > There is nothing in the picture that suggests anything other than a totally solid human body, IMHO. If had chosen my words more carefully, I would have said that “it appears that you can see through the bottom half”. That’s the illusion. Whether it’s because of a double-exposure or the placement of the shrubs relative to the person, I don’t know. The photo certainly “suggests” something a bit less than solid to a lot of people. [QUOTE=rhythmdvl] Okay, who else kept looking up and down Crotalus’ link trying to find the “Jesus” image. WTF? …Oh, wait. It’s in Umbriel2’s link. Gotcha (Ya and otherwise). [/QUOTE] Heck, I was looking in my own link for the Jesus picture! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/34 "2010-07-12T16:50:30Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > That’s pretty neat. _Can_ we make double exposures with a (non-SLR) digital camera, I wonder? I like “ghost” photography, and while I’ve made ghosts though photo manipulation [like this](http://mulderscreek.com/genres/lilghosts.jpg), it’d be interesting to attempt it with a camera instead too. Some can. You need to see if the camera firmware supports it in its list of effects. I’m pretty sure that my D90 can do it, but I can’t figure out why anyone would want to do it in-camera, except for the sheer challenge of it. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/35 "2010-07-12T16:53:20Z")
It’s a bunch of crap in the woods that ends up looking like a person, simple as that. Anyone thinking it’s an actual ghost is welcome to go track down the [swamp troll](http://www.sirblah.com/misc/creepypic.htm) my co-worker photographed. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/36 "2010-07-12T17:59:04Z")
Screw that one, I want to know the dope about [this one](http://paranormal.about.com/od/ghostphotos/ig/Best-Ghost-Photos/Ghost-in-the-Burning-Building.htm). Holy hell is that creepy. There’s a full article on it above along with a youtube video when you click on part two. There’s also [this page](http://forgetomori.com/2008/skepticism/best-pareidolia-ever/) that talks about it (second one…same page that **Umbriel** linked to). ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/37 "2010-07-12T18:10:16Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > ghost trapped in a [car](http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/530/brickscarez9.jpg). I think I’m going to need a hint. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/38 "2010-07-12T18:46:19Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Screw that one, I want to know the dope about [this one](http://paranormal.about.com/od/ghostphotos/ig/Best-Ghost-Photos/Ghost-in-the-Burning-Building.htm). [Most likely an intentional hoax](http://forgetomori.com/2009/paranormal/ghosts/the-second-best-pareidolia-a-hoax/) (close-ups of the face show horizontal lines, suggesting that part of the image is from a different source). ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/39 "2010-07-12T18:46:26Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Screw that one, I want to know the dope about [this one](http://paranormal.about.com/od/ghostphotos/ig/Best-Ghost-Photos/Ghost-in-the-Burning-Building.htm). > Holy hell is that creepy. > There’s a full article on it above along with a youtube video when you click on part two. There’s also [this page](http://forgetomori.com/2008/skepticism/best-pareidolia-ever/) that talks about it (second one..same page that **Umbriel** linked to). Looks like that one might be a hoax. The image of the face contains horizontal lines not present in the rest of the photo. From the same site, [different page](http://forgetomori.com/2009/paranormal/ghosts/the-second-best-pareidolia-a-hoax/). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339/40 "2010-07-12T19:09:59Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > I think I’m going to need a hint. I think we are to see the two left-side headlights as eyes and the lower light (running lights?) as teeth, inside the air vent mouth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-corroboree-ghost-photo/546339.md?page=3)