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Odd photos at Red Rock Canyon, green stuff.


signifthis

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how the photos happened

Me and a friend wanted to try and capture some images of the Geminid Meteor shower so we headed out to the hiking trail First Creek at Red Rock Canyon in southern Nevada just 20 miles west outside Las Vegas. Things weren't looking good do to clouds but I was deteremined anyway. I was taking photographs on a Canon 60D with the an efs 18-135mm lense. The lense doesn't have an Infinity setting so I had to take 3 practice shots of the mountains to get the focus I thought I would need for the stars. During these practice shots I captured 3 photos of something I cant explain and would like your help. Photos taken around 1:30am on 12/13/2012.

the anomaly

1st photo; The green circles appear clustered together about halfway from the base of the mountain to me, on the left side of the photo. This was my first attempt at setting up the focus for the stars. It's blurry but yo can see them no doubt.

2nd photo; This is the photo that proves to me the anomaly isn't in the camera or caused by the camera. On my second attempt to focus I moved the camera to the right a little bit on complete accident. IN ORDER TO SEE what i'm talking about you'll want to view the 2nd photo in WindowsLive Photo Gallery or some alternative software. One can see what appears to be just the edge of the green anomaly on the very, VERY edge of the photo on the left side. You MUST zoom in to see this BUT it is clear after comparing all three images that this green spec is the same anomaly in the other two photos. The green is just simply out of place.

3rd photo; This was the attempt I was successful in focusing the image and for some reason I once again move the camera by complete accident to the left. Capturing ALL of the green anomalies IN FOCUS.

the photos

http://s1273.beta.ph...fythis/library/

I would HIGHLY recommend you save the photos and view them in something other than photobucket. If you would like I can email you these photos.

RAW images @ 30sec exposure, 6400iso, and I forget the aperture(i'm new to photography so I was playing around with it).

The photos are in my photobucket library in the same order I shot them.

what it isn't

These aren't orbs.. in order to capture an orb you must accidently photograph pollen or dust within 4 inches of your lense.

what is it?

REMEMBER it wasn't complete pitch black! but.. it was very, very dark. One could slightly see the clouds overhead even with Las Vegas only 20 miles away to the east and a mountain separating us and the city.

Could it be a fungus of some kind?

Maybe some equipment that ejects an equivalent of x-rays, gamaray or microwaves. Something the human eye can't detect but the camera can. This seems unlikely to me because we were at a hiking trail.

Or i'll just say it.. could I have really photographed something really remarkable.

ANYTHING anyone can offer would help greatly. I plan on going back and trying to recapture this on purpose next time.

Edited by signifthis
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Maybe it is just me, but i am having a hard time finding anything out of place in the series of pictures... will anyone who can see the anomalies care to circle them for me?

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If I'm looking at what I think you're referring to on the left side of the photos then it just looks like it's part of that plant/shrub/bush.

Edit: Can you upload at max resolution with just the area in question cropped? so it's original quality?

Edited by Timonthy
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I was thinking that but the only reason i doubt it is because of how green it really is. its so bright and when i took the photo it was soooo dark. Is that possible? If someone with more camera knowledge than me to chime in.

Edit: Can you upload at max resolution with just the area in question cropped? so it's original quality?

I'll try, still new to a lot of this.

Edited by signifthis
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I was thinking that but the only reason i doubt it is because of how green it really is. its so bright and when i took the photo it was soooo dark. Is that possible? If someone with more camera knowledge than me to chime in.

Edit: Can you upload at max resolution with just the area in question cropped? so it's original quality?

I'll try, still new to a lot of this.

Probably just something natural & the colour is exaggerated because of the exposure time and the way the camera developed the shot.

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thank you tim

Hey welcome to UM also!

But I'm sure someone who knows cameras better will be able to give a better explanation than me.

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Hola!

Whatever it is seems to be glowing or reflecting light, to me.

Bioluminescent plants or fungi come to mind, but whether there are any in Nevada I don't know, and a super quick search didn't locate any.

How far away were you from it?

Edited by QuiteContrary
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Pretty cool !

I am far from a camera amateur....I just want to say it is nice to see someone asking about pictures, explaining things in detail, and open to answers, not here to only get " paranormal " answers.

:)

Thank You......( from a Native Nevadan )

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But I'm sure someone who knows cameras better will be able to give a better explanation than me.

These are green blobs slightly brighter than their surroundings and are very far away from your camera. They could be bright shrubs or any number of things. They're too small and too far away to tell in the photos. The only way to know is to go back and see what's there.

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I'm fairly sure that cameras cannot detect any light beyond the visual spectrum. There's some overlap in the IR range (like the "IR" lights on your TV remote or the ones used for "Nightshot") and possibly UV, though I don't know that for a fact. Anything beyond that, on either side, wouldn't show up.

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I'm fairly sure that cameras cannot detect any light beyond the visual spectrum. There's some overlap in the IR range (like the "IR" lights on your TV remote or the ones used for "Nightshot") and possibly UV, though I don't know that for a fact. Anything beyond that, on either side, wouldn't show up.

Normally digital sensors have filters that eliminate infrared and ultraviolet light. Some sensors have had flawed IR filters which cause false colors.

One problem with these long exposures is that it only takes a tiny amount of light to contaminate the image -- 30 seconds at ISO 6400 is very dark! Usually this contamination comes from the viewfinder. Even though the camera lens is pointing away from the photographer, any light behind the camera (a flashlight, a cell phone, etc.) will get into the viewfinder and into the mirror box. Although the mirror is raised during the exposure and blocking the viewfinder, some light can still bounce around the mirror box and hit the sensor/film. That's why they have covers for viewfinders although most people (like me) forget to use them.

Also with your 60D you should use "LiveView" mode for focusing in these situations. Even in this extreme darkness it should be able to show you enough of the mountains to focus on them.

The more I look at these green lights, the more they look like mercury vapor lights. You might want to take a look at the area in Google Maps and see if there are any buildings or roads there.

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