Sept 1 "investigation"

[Pythia]

I wasn't going to do this but after recieving several PM's and making a promise, here it is:

For those of you who don't know, (I'll make it short for those who do and are at this moment rolling your eyes) my 10 year old niece, my 14 year old and I decided to go ghosthunting. My niece suggested this cemetery and after asking around I found out that it has a violent past. Up until the 1950's people were hung on this property, in front of this church. There was also a grave of a former slave buried here and marked unknown.

So on 9/1 we went back to the cemetery to do a nighttime investigation.

My brother (niece's dad) decided to join us.

We got to the cemetery at about 7:30 pm and the first thing that I noticed was that the former slaves headstone was gone. After looking around we found it in the corner of the cemetery.

We walked around looking at graves and taking pics and waiting for night to fall.

After it got dark, my brother got his video camera out and started doing video, while I went around taking pictures.

Here's a nighttime shot of the unknown grave.

More,

This one is odd, I can't figure out what the orange thing is.

After about 30 minutes my camera started acting stupid or maybe I'm stupid, but all of the pics were completely black even though the flash was going off. (I hate digital cameras, I'll never use one again. I am too technologically r******ed to use this tiny piece of junk. It's back to 35mm for me.)

So I'm standing there with my flashlight in the crook of my neck cursing and messing with the camera and my brother grabs my arm and all three of them are shushing me. They said they could hear voices.

I go back to messing with the camera and get it working again. When I look up the three of them are hightailing it across the graveyard headed for the car. My niece comes back and tells me that they can hear singing coming from the church and they are leaving.

So while they are sitting in the car making rude gestures at me, I take these pics of the church.

I don't see a choir in there, do you?

I have more pics but I can only post so many at the time, I'll post more later.

Oh, and in theory, if you click on these pics, they will get bigger.

[Barek Halfhand]

I see we have much to discuss....your attraction to this place transcends simple interest in the sites' historcal significance...one may ponder...b

halfhandshuffle:Motörhead-Ace of Spades

Edited September 18, 2007 by Barek Halfhand

[Pythia]

Well, yes one may ponder..... and while one is pondering I'll post these 2 pics of the tree.

And these with the little orb/bugs in them.

I sure am glad to see you back Barek!!!

Edited September 19, 2007 by cyqe

[Barek Halfhand]

I have already spotted Jerry Garcia in these photos...b

thats an under the porch ghost cat from Alabama if I've ever seen one...

here's another cloud dude....

Edited September 19, 2007 by Barek Halfhand

[Barek Halfhand]

Well, yes one may ponder..... and while one is pondering I'll post these 2 pics of the tree.

I sure am glad to see you back Barek!!!

why thank you clarice , nice to be back....

Edited September 19, 2007 by Barek Halfhand

[Pythia]

I love Jerry Garcia!!

Here kitty kitty!

I think I told you this before, but there is a guy buried here with his dog buried next to him. The dogs tombstone is just as big and elaborate as his. I can't remember the names, but it says "My Best Friend" on the dogs stone and the dogs picture is carved into the stone and they both died on the same day.

Weird!

That figure next to the pump is different. I don't think I've seen anything like it. Could it be something to do with the camera?

That tree face is freaky!

Thanks Barek!

Here's 2 more

Edited September 19, 2007 by cyqe

[Barek Halfhand]

and jerry loves you too...amen...

halfhandshuffle:System of a Down-NuGUNS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbSxI85l9f8

Edited September 19, 2007 by Barek Halfhand

[Pythia]

Well of course he does!!

Wait, is this a naked lady on the right?

Ohh Barek!

That's actually incredible!

[Barek Halfhand]

These pictures of yours are awesome....yet foreboding to a degree....

And here again is that mysterious shape!

halfhandshuffle:Rollins Band - Starve

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BLiRJ8eyY0

Edited September 19, 2007 by Barek Halfhand

[Barek Halfhand]

Well of course he does!!

Wait, is this a naked lady on the right?

Ohh Barek!

That's actually incredible!

The bachelors grove photos from the net I have been examining (haven't gone yet), seem to feature some undressed apparitions I noticed ( good eye )...b

halfhandshuffle:technotronic Get Up

Edited September 19, 2007 by Barek Halfhand

[Radian]

Very very interesting Cyge..!!

Yahoo! barek's back!!!

[oushgirl]

Very interesting photographs... do you know of any sites that may have some history on the cemetary? would love to read about it... ty

[Barek Halfhand]

I'm still not convinced all we are seeing is a garbage can here

( 1st thread)

this thread

Edited September 19, 2007 by Barek Halfhand

[Pythia]

Very interesting photographs... do you know of any sites that may have some history on the cemetary? would love to read about it... ty

No I don't, I'm sorry. This is a small cemetery in the middle of nowhere Alabama. All of the information I have is the result of talking to the elderly people in my community.

Members here, someoldlady, and She-ra did some background checking , on a geneological(sp?) site to trace one of the people that I thought at the time, owned the former slave that is buried here, but that was strictly names and property owned. In other words, there were no stories involved and from what I've heard from the people in my community, the person we were looking for, didn't own the slave after all.

Here is my first post about the place:

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum...howtopic=103279

There is some history there. I've learned a lot from my geriatric friends since then, but I'm reticent about posting it.

Edited September 19, 2007 by cyqe

[JustNormal]

Great photos Cyqe...Have not looked at them all, but again there is something in the window here and down on the bottom right, sort of an image..JN

[Episteme]

Beautiful shot!!

Nice ent, Barek!

This one is odd, I can't figure out what the orange thing is.

Same thing, ya think? I'm not sure how much you know about filters (brighten, contrast, sharpen, etc), so I'll just give a quick rundown. Basically, filters use math, lots and lots of math! Some software is designed to be quick and easy (such as Picasa), and are based more on making the photo more attractive than being precise. Other higher end programs are designed to allow you to do the same thing but keep the integrity of the original photograph. Working off the original (much darker) photo, our results are much different:

What I did here was adjust the curves. In fact, here is a neat little demo of exactly what I did, it's the dark picture of the lady towards the bottom of the page. Hold your mouse over it and you can see the little curves graph. So we can see that the flare/orb thingy isn't quite as smooth and clear as it first appeared.

Digital cameras also automatically sharpen, adjust contrast, and white balance every shot (unless you're set to save in raw format), so darkened photos like this are subject to a bit of extra yuck.

So, with that said, we can see the image is a bit troubled and will be hard to analyze much more going off of looks alone. But the exif and environment might be able to help us out. First, how dark was it when the shot was taken? You said they were turning out almost black, was it dark enough for them to be like that? The exposure time for this photo was (hold on to your shorts) 8 seconds! Frankly I don't know how you held still long enough to see so much, you go girl! This camera does have nightshot, so if it was very dark the best results would have been achieved using that setting.

My best guess, just going off the photo and exif? The flash reflected off the stone, was blurred by the inevitable wiggle from the very long exposure time. But if it was really bright... meh, maybe not. The black areas in all of them I've checked so far is also unusual. Adjusting levels essentially reduces black (and the additive primaries, RGB), when doing this we should see more of the colors in your photos. We don't, we see a violet color, and I'm not sure why so I'll try to dig on it more soon. There are also lines in many of the photos. This is the way digitals record, it is a normal thing to see when they're not working quite right because of low batteries, camera settings, or some other malfunction. Mine took a few of those right after I dropped it in the ocean. Yours seems to be only showing up in the darkened photos, or did I miss some?

Great photos, Cyqe! Thanks for sharing, I love digging through these!!

[Pythia]

Thank you Episteme!

You're brilliant of course! which is why I don't understand most of what you're saying but I get the general idea!

For a little while the camera was flashing and then seconds later flashing again. I had no clue what it was doing, so I tried to hold it still between flashes. Then it would flash once, but the pic would come out black. Then about the time they started shushing and hearing things it started taking pics again.

Here is the original photo so everyone can see how dark it was:

The two squiggly lights in the other photo are streetlights. Sorry, should have said that when I posted the pic. To give some idea of the relation, if I were to stand on this particular grave facing the headstone the squiggly lights would be about 1/4 of a mile in front and to the left of me.

I'm a complete idiot when it comes to cameras and this one was borrowed, as you know, and I didn't drop it in the ocean, but the person that I borrowed it from, used it last (can you guess?) at the beach. I had to go through all of her beach shots to get my photos loaded. What a coincidence!

This pic is that same grave from a different angle.

Original pic.

Thanks for looking! and thanks for explaining!

[Barek Halfhand]

charming place ....

Larry "bud' Melman? ....b

halfhandshuffle:saturday night fever-night fever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO8v3FvUVT0

Edited September 20, 2007 by Barek Halfhand

[Barek Halfhand]

Who's paying attention?....b

halfhandshuffle:Prince-Raspberry Beret

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkwCPPQyaY0

[Pythia]

Hey Barek! Thanks for those!

Do you see something new in the kitty cat pic? I've got to go back now and see what that guys dog looked like, don't I?

Good job on Bud Melman! At first I didn't see it but if you back up from the monitor it really pops out at you.!

I'm not sure what that is behind the tombstone. Any ideas?

I can't seem to find a daytime shot of it. I'll keep looking.

This is really cool Barek! I can look for stuff all day long, but I only see the very obvious.

[Barek Halfhand]

Hey Barek! Thanks for those!

Do you see something new in the kitty cat pic? I've got to go back now and see what that guys dog looked like, don't I?

Good job on Bud Melman! At first I didn't see it but if you back up from the monitor it really pops out at you.!

I'm not sure what that is behind the tombstone. Any ideas?

I can't seem to find a daytime shot of it. I'll keep looking.

This is really cool Barek! I can look for stuff all day long, but I only see the very obvious.

The pictures seem to change periodically don't they? ...b

halfhandshuffle:Lamb Of God-Ruin

Edited September 20, 2007 by Barek Halfhand

[Pythia]

Yes.. they do... as a matter of fact. Interesting isn't it?

[Episteme]

Then about the time they started shushing and hearing things it started taking pics again.

That part is just creepy! Did the choir follow you home? Eeep!

I'm a complete idiot when it comes to cameras and this one was borrowed, as you know, and I didn't drop it in the ocean, but the person that I borrowed it from, used it last (can you guess?) at the beach. I had to go through all of her beach shots to get my photos loaded. What a coincidence!

ROFL!!! It's the sand bug! Even more of a coincidence: I was drinking water, laughed and spilled it down my shirt when I read that... I'm seeing a trend here.

Still trying to figure out why the blacks brighten only to come out violet. If anyone knows why some digitals barely pick up some of the RGB values in the dark I'd love to hear it (seems like it's usually greens but it's isolated to the darkest areas of the photo). Maybe theres some sort of fix or workaround, or at the very least cameras with known issues.

[Pythia]

That part is just creepy! Did the choir follow you home? Eeep!

Probably not, nobody has mentioned it. I did get a good lecture when I did get in the car about being so inconsiderate of other's fears and blah blah blah..... I was driving, so I didn't catch all of it.

ROFL!!! It's the sand bug! Even more of a coincidence: I was drinking water, laughed and spilled it down my shirt when I read that... I'm seeing a trend here.

Still trying to figure out why the blacks brighten only to come out violet. If anyone knows why some digitals barely pick up some of the RGB values in the dark I'd love to hear it (seems like it's usually greens but it's isolated to the darkest areas of the photo). Maybe theres some sort of fix or workaround, or at the very least cameras with known issues.

I thought that was pretty odd myself and didn't think about it until you mentioned dropping yours in the ocean.

As far as the violet goes, I've got no clue. You are the resident expert on photography.

I sincerely appreciate your time and effort on these pics Epi.

[spiridion]

The naked ghost is cool! Btw, Silence of the Lambs is my favorite movie. And Cyge, don't apologize for this post - I love cemetery posts!