As requested, here is a bit of information to help in understanding EXIF (exchange image file format) in digital photos. Keep in mind this is only helpful in photos taken directly from digital cameras. Scanned photos do have EXIF meta data but it doesn't display this information. EXIF data can now be edited pretty simply, so it's not a sure fire way to tell if a photo is genuine, but it can help guide us in finding out why a photograph may look the way it does.

I use EXIF data constantly to figure out why a photo did or didn't turn out right, especially when taking night photographs. This data can tell us nearly everything we need to know from the camera model that was used down to the individual settings. Settings are useful, of course, for determing the causes of anomilies. Or, just as importantly, what was not the cause, meaning a blur wouldn't be likely when the settings were very quick. The camera model is useful in determining the quality of optics - many camera models are prone to "artifacts" - and in determining the capabilities of the camera to help improve the pictures.

Many common programs have EXIF viewers with plugins to ie, firefox, and explorer, but to make things easier I'll just link a free viewer I use. It's called EXIF Pilot Light (windows 98/xp/vista) and can be safely downloaded here. The perks include full exif data instead of just the basics, a thumbnail viewer, and the ability to click the photo and preview the full version in windows explorer. The only thing I don't like is that you can't copy the exif data... boo. But it's better than the photoshop viewer.


Pretty basic. Directories on the left. Find where your photo is. Click it, you get a thumbnail. The default is the basic file information on the right. See the EXIF button under the thumbnail? There's the good stuff, click that.

The camera settings are too complex to even begin with, maybe some of the others would like to get started on that but I'm not that motivated yet. Either way, here is a great beginner's tutorial.

I'm only scratching the surface here, would love to hear more input!

Awesome thread!! Thanks

WOW great post Epi, even though I dont undertand any of it. I am lucky if I can save a photo never mind figure things out LOL..JN-

Don't worry, I don't understand it either, but I'm sure it was important to those who did understand it. So you're not alone!

LOL Whew at least I am not alone. But its great to have someone like Epi to analyze photos. <wondering if she saw my ghosts yet> LOL

Good stuff.

I agree another great thread epi .

what a wonderful tool to have especially with all the different things we find in pics these days .

thanks x x x x

JN . I dont have a problem saving my pics its finding them again after

OMG Me too, and I swear I look everywhere! I hate computers LOL..

Practice makes perfect =) Most things on the computer wind up being self taught.

Well if you're not interested in all that other junk it's a great tool for getting the best photos you can out of your camera. Say you're touring a reportedly haunted house and your photos just aren't looking right. The rooms were dark and the photos were coming out almost completely black, no flashes allowed on the tour, so you just start fiddling with the controls. You get home and you realize there were one or two photos out of the bunch that just turned out fantastic, but you cant remember the settings - ack!! Easy enough, you just pull out this little program, check the EXIF, and see that you had it set to "automatic landscape mode". Pull out your handy manual or find it on your camera's website (if you don't remember which little symbol that mode is), and now every dark dreary building like that will have splendid photos! Not only that but it's better than using the flash and causing all those ugly shadows. Problem solved!

If you can install a program and find a photo on your hard drive, you know enough.

^^ Just saw that about the picture problem. What Amroth said, you'll get the hang of it!

Here's a brief sampling:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exif#Viewing_Exif_data

and a good way to spot a fake would be, from the given example, exposure time. If the suspect object/entity leaves trailing, and is superimposed, there should be an elongated number floating around somewhere.

Great Post Just what i need!!!!

OK, OK, I will buy the digital camera.

Great thread Epi!!! The tutorial was awesome!!!
I hear a lot about EXIF data, when dealing with pictures of paranormal activity.
I always had to wait for someone else to post it or tell what it said, because I couldn't figure out how to find it myself.
Thank you very much!!!

Yaay!!!

Anytime, glad I could help!


Thread props to Jennie, this was her idea!

I only suggested it. You made the thread, which I think should be pinned btw, it's your knowledge and expertise and time and effort. Don't give me props, because I didn't do anything, except type some words. Easy!
I will go suggest the pinning now.

Pinned.

It would be good if we could create a thread containing guides and information on the facts behind photography that could be compiled in to something people could refer to when trying to analyse paranormal pictures.

If we get enough guides like this I can merge them together in to a single help thread.

EXCELLENT POST!! Thank you. I do have a question. What if you cannot access this information? Is that because a pic is linked through a host? (IE: Photobucket?)

It can be a few things, She-ra. I have an old camera which doesn't have this data, back in the day they didn't all write this data to the photos. Sometimes people also copy a photo in the browser and paste them to a new document rather than saving them and trying to dig for them in the hard drive (I'm guilty of this little shortcut myself). Rarely some photo editors also erase this data after editing. I'm not aware of photobucket erasing data, it does keep mine. These are the only conditions I'm aware of but there may be more.

I have just used this for the first time EPI and i must say amazing and thankyou again . an invaluable tool

Quick question why do some pics have an exif file and some dont . is that just because certain cameras dont record the data sorry if you have already answered this

blessings SS79 x x x

Read what ya quoted.



((Yeah, I had a long day too! ))

LOL sorry thanks i was just checking .

Whether you're a serious ghost hunter or an amateur, you're likely to run into a situation where you're in a dimly lit or evening setting. You can always use the flash, but at night it won't help much and inside it often creates pesky reflections and shadows. Using other settings may turn out red or simply blurred. There are many solutions to these problems and you don't need an expensive camera to solve them. I will be focusing mainly on digital cameras but many film cameras also have these options available.

Now I may lose many of you here, but I'll come right out with it from the start. Your camera manual is invaluable. You may learn enough right here without it, as most cameras have commonly used settings, but you will learn a lot by flipping through or going to the website of your manufacturer and downloading the pdf version. Experiment with the settings and use the EXIF tool discussed in the other thread to see which settings work the best in different lighting. You'll be amazed at the improved quality of your photos.

Basic Modes

There are a some common modes that are very helpful. I'm pulling these from the top of my head, so if your camera has a different setting please speak up so all can benefit! Landscape mode usually has a pic of a mountain scene, night landscape usually has the same picture but with a star. If you only have landscape, not to worry it usually works the same as night landscape. These modes allow more light into the sensor but require a steady hand or a tripod.

Tripods

Tripods, we love to hate them. But a must if we don't want blurred night shots. They're big, bulky, inconvenient, and nothing says, "Hey, look at me, I'm taking a picture!" like a tripod. On the flip side, if you're in a place where you aren't comfortable taking pictures, like a graveyard, people are less likely to give you dirty looks if you appear more official. But there is an alternative, the gorillapod. There's even a generic now. It's small, it's portable, it's cheap, it's flexible and you can attach it to any stable surface. Way more hip. Here's a pic.

Tricks

Tried all of the above and still getting a blur? Likely when you click to take the picture it's bouncing the camera and tripod. Try the timer function. By the time the photo goes off all should be nice and still. Another option available for some cameras is a remote release (aka cable release). This is a button you hold in your hand that triggers the camera to take the photo.

Advanced Settings

For those of you wanting a bit more from your shots, there are some more useful settings. Depending on the camera, these settings are accessed in different places. Before I begin, make sure your LCD brightness is set to normal. You will want to review your photos as you take them and adjust accordingly and a brightened LCD will not give you accurate results.

Film speed / ISO rating - A quicker film speed is never recommended or helpful for night photos. The best setting seems to be between 50-100. Get up much higher and you'll start getting more and more noise.

Shutter speed, aperture - Shutter speed is how long the shutter stays open and allows light to reach the film/sensor. Aperture (lens opening) is the amount of light that is allowed to reach the film/sensor. To remember, I always just imagined the aperture as sunglasses. The higher the number, the darker the glasses.

These settings are totally dependant on the kind of photo effect you're trying to get. Obviously you'll have to work at it to get that perfect night shot, 1/100th of a second shutter isn't long enough to let enough light in on a dark night. But 3 seconds with an aperature of 2.8 just might be. Moonlight, streetlights, and all of the different lighting around you makes all the difference in the world, so the best way to learn these settings is through trial and error. Each new location will require different settings depending on the effect you're looking for. A nice cheat if you're just learning and fiddling in the backyard is to set up landscape mode and check the EXIF, find the settings and adjust accordingly to the brightness that YOU want to get.

Many cameras have "AV" mode, Aperture Priority. This allows you to manually set the aperture while the camera sets everything else depending on the brightness. TV mode is another common setting and acts like AV mode but with shutter speed. Or you could go to full manual control.

There are many other important settings but these were the most important for me when learning night photography. Please chime in if I've missed anything! I'd really like to make another on night photo adjustments but am having a difficult time finding a simple and free program that allows for level adjustments through the histogram that everyone can use. If anyone knows of one I'd love to hear about it!

Here are a few of my night shots: click, click, click, click

That was very interesting Episteme and thanks for posting I also think it's a good thing for those who are serious, semi serious about ghost hunting and taking pics at night in really getting to know your camera beyond it's auto setting.

My camera has an option to suppress flash which can be quite useful. I also have one of those gorilla tripods I fully recommend them for taking pics on the go in odd/tricky locations - I had mine wrapped round a washing line to take moon shots recently! and using it with the self timer brought out some good pics.

Thank you Episteme. I’m going to print out this one. It will come useful when we will go away and ghost hunt. In February or hopefully sooner, a Christmas present from me, I’m planning of buying a new camera when my income tax return comes in. What is the best camera to buy? My eyes are set on a Nikon D80 for some time now at an camera store.Thinking of taking up photography. Saskatchewan is an stunning place to take great pictures, albeit we now have snow, it’s still awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-iW0zL2LI0

Stunning night shots! Now to learn how to use my Nikon D40X I feel ashamed, I got it in june and still don't fully understand how to get the most out of it.



Stunning night shots! Now to learn how to use my Nikon D40X I feel ashamed, I got it in june and still don't fully understand how to get the most out of it. I keep meaning to read the manual but never get a moment lol

Excellent post/thread EPI and Beautiful shots! Were these shots taken in total "night" conditions or were they taken at dusk? Amazibly crisp and clear photos - LOVE THEM! Thanks Jody

Me too, they are gorgeous. Mine come out green LOL..JN

Great for bracketing! Take a pic with a flash, one without, use which looks best.


Nice, they really can grab onto anything!


I think it totally depends on your needs. The D80 is a great camera. I read up on it a bit. I'm partial to the canon EOS models, I had one for years and loved it. I ended up going with the EOS Digital Rebel XT 350D. It's an 8mp vs the D80's 10, I didn't feel I needed the extra 2mp as I'm only a hobbyist. (I've gotten paid to do work from time to time but I don't really think that counts. ) I think as long as you do plenty of research you'll be happy. Read up why people were disappointed with the camera, then there won't be any surprises. People returned my camera because you can't record video clips and you can't see what's in the viewfinder through the lcd to take a picture. Doesn't bother me a bit!


The reflection was around 11pm, the frog's foot was around midnight, the "love" was taken around 1:30am - yeah, our neighbors probably think we're nuts. The river with the pink sky was kind of borderline, it was October 28 at 7:04. So it was pretty dark at the time but not completely black, there was just a tad bit of light in the right side of the photo. The sky is absolutely amazing at night, I didn't add any color filters to the one with the pink sky, just corrected the levels to lighten it a tad.

This is why I listen to everything that Episteme has to say about a picture.
Brilliant! I love the first click, reminds me of the bayou's I grew up with.

Wow Mysteries are hurt to find!

cool!

Thanks for posting this, Kudos to you

As I usually upload all my personal investigation photos to Flickr, I find that their EXIF data link tells me what I need to know. But when viewing others' photos, it's good to know there's a program out there that provides that kind of information. Thanks

Thanks for the EXIF info!

I have an interesting questing. I am running a thread on shadow people. One of my topics involves an experience I had. A friend of mine took a picture one night while we were out in an active area. He has a $300 digital camera. I do not recall the brand, but It is a VERY good camera. We thought we just got a shot of nothing in the dark as the it was an accidental shot. I however had felt a presence. Well as I am sure you know, the viewing screen will show the pic before it saves it to the disk. In the unsaved image, I saw the entity. Bright red glowing eyes, and a vague outline of a black hood. However once the image was saved, we could no longer seen the specter, just the background. How is somehting like this possible?