What causes these dots?

<p>I was taking some test shots near dusk of a family and these spots showed up. They did not show up on the images before or after. Those images before and after were shot the same way so it was nothing on the lens. This has happened before and it only happens near dark so I am figuring that it is something to do with using flash at dusk? Using D300 w/SB600.</p><div></div>

<p>Your flash is illuminating dust, water droplets, tiny insects - things in the air between you and your subjects. Because the camera isn't focused on them, the appear as out-of-focus blurry circles instead of the smaller specs that they actually are.<br /><br />I'm just SO glad that this wasn't another one of those posts asking about "spirit orbs."</p>

I strongly concur with Matt. There is a lot of salt spray as well. And I recently had to break someone's heart when I gently

tried to explain that these blurry spots were not "Thetans".

<p>Matt, so the "things in the air between me and my subjects" just kind of drifted by for one image and did not appear in any pix a few seconds before or after? That is weird. I'm scared to ask what "spirit orbs" are:)</p>

<p>Depth of field is quite shallow in the area the dust resides making it sensitive to forward and backward movement where one slight movement will throw it so out of focus/blur it that it doesn't even show up.</p>

<p>I saw a demonstration of this somewhere on the web instructing on focusing and depth of field issue where they showed a building in the distance and window with bars a few feet in front of the lens. When the photographer shot wide open with whatever lens they were using and focused on the building in the distance the bars disappeared from being so blurred. <br /><br />It sort of like what happens using binoculars in a deep field of grass where the grass directly in front of the lens just disappears from being so out of focus when trying to focus on distant objects.</p>

<p>I vote for "spirit orbs".... :)</p>

<p>Because it was dusk and they were moving I had switched to automatic (P Mode)<br /> Could it also be that the camera was having problems adjusting in the dim lighting conditions? Note that image (see sample) taken a few seconds later has none of the spots. I'm just glad that it only happened once and just during a test shot.<br>

Spirit orbs.... I did hear voices in the air all around me but I usually do...lol</p><div></div>

<p>Mulder: Finally, what we've been waiting for, photographic evidence... </p>

<p>:-)</p>

<p>Tom<br /> Washington, DC</p>

<p>PS - Did you check there were no time-gaps in the EXIF data for that shoot?</p>

<p>Scully} The X or EXIF Files? :-)</p>

<p>Mulder: The truth is in the little known X-EXIF files, if Assistant Director Skinner would take the time to read them. :-)</p>

John Hill , Sep 04, 2009; 01:20 a.m.

Scully} The X or EXIF Files? :-)

 

very good!

<p>Please see....<a href="../photodb/photo?topic_id=1481&msg_id=00U3XJ&photo_id=9548876&photo_sel_index=0">The Phenomenon of Oribital Light Reflections</a></p>

<p>MOM?</p>

<p>"Mom, what happened to my sister?!"</p>

<p>"Fox, we traded your sister for you. We're not sure why. You don't have a great personality and we're pretty sure Scully's into chicks and not you."</p>

<p>Looks like a family of spirit orbs to me. I could be wrong but don't really think I am</p>

<p>Thank you...you made my day</p>

<p>Man, for the last 5 years I've been trying to tell people these things are not spirit orbs. Digital cameras with a built-in flash really need to come with a warning about that.</p>

<p><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=4162183">Keith Lancaster</a> Thanks for the link ( <a rel="nofollow" href="../photodb/photo?topic_id=1481&msg_id=00U3XJ&photo_id=9548876&photo_sel_index=0">The Phenomenon of Oribital Light Reflections</a> ) I have never heard of orbs before and cannot remember seeing them except the one or two times this summer at dusk while using flash at dusk. Those spots in the daylight shot are very odd..especially Elvis. I am looking for Michael Jackson in my image ;-)</p>

<p>Here's 2 pics I took on a rainy day within seconds of each other that proves the fact that the "orbs" are light/dust/rain/mist reflections since in fact it WAS RAINING at the time....<br>

<a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v405/killercar/orbs.jpg">http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v405/killercar/orbs.jpg</a><br>

<a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v405/killercar/orbs1.jpg">http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v405/killercar/orbs1.jpg</a></p>