i notice in this image that there is an awful lot of dust about and it is probably this that is giving the appearance of 'orbs'.
if your camera is digital then i suggest you clean your lens front and back and digital sensor glass (the later very carefully).

mistereman

Agreed.  Dust inside or drops of water on the lens will do that especially if you are standing side-on to the sun.

I would go as far as to say every photogrpah that shows an orb is either a result of dust or moisture - or has been faked.

I thought it was a fault with my small Samsung pocket size camera, however I also have orbs in pics from my Oympus E-300 digital SLR - taken in a huge hall at Warwick Castle.

The Olympus has virbrate device that gets rid of dust off the sensor when it's switched on.

It's a very common problem, only seen when using flash and always worse when the flash is close to the lens, as in a compact camera, and only with digital cameras.

I believe that it a combination of dust in the atmosphere reflecting the flash and the camera software trying to make it visible by 'blooming' the pin point to merge it with the surroundings.

If it were dust in the camera it would show with all pictures, not just flash.

It really is just an artefact of digital photography and I don't think there's anything you can do about it.

It's a very common problem, only seen when using flash and always worse when the flash is close to the lens, as in a compact camera, and only with digital cameras.

I believe that it a combination of dust in the atmosphere reflecting the flash and the camera software trying to make it visible by 'blooming' the pin point to merge it with the surroundings.

If it were dust in the camera it would show with all pictures, not just flash.

It really is just an artefact of digital photography and I don't think there's anything you can do about it.

Axial (or near-axial) flash is the most common culprit, but not the only one. In a dusty atmosphere it will occur at any time that the light direction is roughly along the axis of the lens, but may also occur if a piece of reflective dust just catches the light in such a way as to direct light into the lens.

The effect can also occur on chemical film if the reflected light is bright enough relative to the background. It is a very common problem in underwater photography and has been ever since the invention of underwater flash. Poor software design can certainly make it worse though I suspect that is less of a problem now than it used to be.

In terms of getting rid of the effect, I suspect that apart from turning the flash off you are pretty limited with built in flash. However, if you use an external flash gun you can try diffusing it (a simple piece of white cloth or tissue over the flash can work wonders) or bouncing the flash off a neutrally coloured wall or ceiling.

Have fun,

Ian.

I agree with the others, Ive seen plenty of "orb" pics but most are dust. However if you catch an orb along with EMF activity or a recorded voice, I'd pay a lot more attention to it! Ferg.

Same type of orbs that Most Haunted try to pass off as spirits, the only spirits that lot have seen is 40% proof.

Hic ::)

Interesting, thanks for the explanation

S

Those are certainly dirt marks on the sensor.  Since they are "sharp", it is the on the CCD sensor inside the camera rather than surface dirt on the lens.  (Just see how much dust gets on the external surface of the lens or filter without significantly degradation of the image).

This link gives information on how to clean CCDs:-

http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/

I've used this one:-

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-visible-dust-1-0x-orange-vswabs-12-pack-/p1028077

But I bought it from a local camera store and it cost less than £30 and has enough swabs to keep me cleaning fr some time.  (You don't have to pay £80+ for the "professional" kits.)

Don't be tempted to use short cuts or "ersatz" methods....the CCD is delicate and is a large part of the cost/value of the camera.

only just found this section, we have recently been to berry pomeroy castle with my mum and dad, we took loads of pics, including this one of me taken by mandy, mum and dad took one at the same time but nothing odd on theirs, look to the left of my head, you will see the "orb" we have sent it away to be checked out, but anyone got any ideas?

Looking at the colouration of this artefact I would think dirt on the lens is most likely.  One thing to remember is that lenses 'spin' when you zoom in and out so these marks appear and disappear depending on exactly how far you are zooming.  It's all very complicated!

It's all very complicated!

Actually it's pretty simple, to get to a very good general approximation use the formula below:

Orb in picture => dirt somewhere   😀

The complicated bit may be working out where the dirt is; it could be on the sensor (unlikely in a sealed camera), on the lens (unlikely if you have a clearly focussed "orb") or dirt in the air that just happened to catch some light when the picture was taken.

Of course; it could be something otherworldly, but I'd recommend the application of Occam's Razor and go with the dirt theory. Most things in life are less complicated than we try to make them.

Have fun,

Ian.

You're right Ian, the principle is simple.  Finding the culprit can be the complicated bit 🙂

I used to use CCD technology for optical measurements and used to calibrate the CCDs (the picture thing in a camera) with an absolute black dark box and every CCD would have a few saturated pixels which would give a white spot like a picture like stars in the night sky. Digital cameras try and mask these out with the internal software which doesn't help with quick snaps. My rule of thumb is make sure the lens is clean and adjust the white balance in the cameras menus by a notch. This will reduce orbs but if your camera produces orbs the likihood is that they will return at some stage. That said some camera firmware updates can reduce this error.