The Queen Mary Chapter
In 2006 I had a photo shoot onboard the Queen Mary, permanently docked in the Long Beach harbor. The first night was spent having a glorious time exploring the entire ship, taking photos is strange and unusual areas and reading the ghost stories posted all over the ship. Several times we would stop for a photo or two only to be bombarded by cameras and tourists. People would think I was someone famous with the way I was dressed and the professional photographer following me around. It's likely that there are more photos out there taken by total strangers than ever were taken by real photographers.
It was around 2am when we made our way up to the sun deck. The photographer and I were both smokers at the time. We sat down at a quiet table for a short break. My feet were killing me because we had been walking around all day and I had on 5 inch stilettos. I kicked off my shoes, grabbed my small point-and-shoot camera and fiddled with it a moment. The lighting on the ship was absolutely beautiful, and I couldn't help taking a photo of the deck. I set the camera on the table as we sat talking and pressed the button. The empty decks echoed our voices. It was almost as though we were the only two living souls on Earth that night. I then turned the camera around in the other direction and took another photo. It wasn't until sometime afterward that I started looking closer at the pictures still in the camera. What I discovered then sent chills down my spine.
Towards the bow - Sun Deck
Close up of that same photo.
Sun Deck, 2am towards the stern.
Close up, light enhanced, but not manipulated in any other way.
Yes, I managed to capture some rather frightening images that weekend, but by far I think this next one is the worst.
The guide on the ship told a story about a little girl who would often wander down the hallway and tug at the sleeve of an unsuspecting stranger. She would cry and say she couldn't find her mother. Then, when the guest would turn to look for any adults nearby, the child would vanish without a sound. She was seen down one particular hallway each time. I was merely trying to get a long shot of the hallway before me over the heads of the other people in the tour group... what came out was incredible! I still dont understand how this happened. Everything was in complete blur except the illuminated shape on the other side of the kids head. Nobody saw anything. The glowing shape in the lower left corner was NOT there when I took the picture. I did not use a flash.
This image is raw from the camera. There was no photo manipulation done. Photoshop was NOT USED!
This image is raw from the camera. There was no photo manipulation done. Photoshop was NOT USED!
Here she is, face to face with a young man on the Queen Mary. Trace the edges of her hair down to the puffed sleeve elbow of her dress. She even shows up on the other side of his neck, discounting any "flash" possibilities. He is holding a camera, but you can tell by the strap on his hand that it is a VIDEO camera and it was not equipped with a 'flash' but rather a very small onboard camera light not capable of the effect shown.
Happy Halloween, Everyone.
Don't eat bad candy,
Stay away from haunted houses,
Ignore the 'bump in the night' behind you,
Be sure to check under your beds tonight,
and have a safe and happy Halloween.
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