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Notice: These are basic guidelines and are by no means a total tutorial. M.G.H.S. and those affiliated are not responsible for injuries or anything else that might occur while you are Ghost Hunting, or as a result of this basic tutorial.
Well there is a few things you need to know. But, before we get into that, we should talk about your mind. Ghost Hunting, like any other job you take on, you have to have the right state of mind, to achieve the best possible results. One of the most important frame of minds you should strive for is "Keep an open mind" This is very important. If you cannot keep an open mind, then how can you see beyond into the unknown? Next thing to look at. Do you qualify to be a Ghost hunter? Well if you have a desire and a love for this type of work. Then you qualify! Most of the ghost hunters you run into are just people that have a love for this type of work. They are not educated in parapsychology, but they do have allot of experience. They keep an open mind and use various types of equipment and so on to achieve results. Some of the basic equipment that is desired to have in the field with you are as follows: Flashlight, compass, EMF Meter, thermometer, Digital Camera / 35 mm Camera, Video Camera & Tape Recorder with external mic. Now there is allot more high tech equipment that you can purchase to go along with these. Even the list I just mentioned can be scaled down if you are a little tight on money. You can save to purchase these items at a later date. Now if you want me to narrow it down to the bare medium, then we need to know if you want to be just a ghost hunter or do you want to investigate to? For just Ghost Hunting then all you need is a camera, flashlight and the will to go out and have fun. Of course a good location would help to. Now if you want to get into this even further, then you will need more equipment to support your photos and findings. So this is when you would need to add the EMF meter, Compass, Video Camera, and the Thermometer. With these tools you will also have to use some investigative techniques. You will have to get some history on your location as well as any reported haunts. ONE THING TO REMEMBER IS NEVER BREAK THE LAW, ALWAYS GET PERMISSION. It is also a good idea to visit the spot you are going to investigate during the daylight hours to get a feel for the land. Then again arrive approximately 30 mins before sunset to also get a feel for the land and to make sure nothing has changes since your last visit. Example would be a new grave that you could trip on. Also remember to have the utmost respect for the grave sites and not to disturb anything. Also if there are mourners around a grave site placing flowers or anything, please move away from that location and give them the privacy they deserve. Not only this, our presence could offend mourners, so please be discreet and avoid your investigation in front of them, even if you have permission. Ghost Hunters reputation is very important, so please make sure you have the utmost respect and consideration. Now, Spirit Energy comes in many forms. Orbs being the most common. It is believed by M.G.H.S. and other ghost hunters that the Orb is the lowest spirit energy level manifestation and total manifestation being the highest level of spirit energy. There are others in between, such as vortex, Spirit Energy in the form of mist or fog, all of these varying in colors and shape. Now if you don't have an EMF (Electro magnetic Field meter) then a common compass is said to spin when a spirit energy is present and if you follow the arrow you will be following the spirit energy. What ever you use and what ever your goals are (Ghost Hunting or investigating) then you can use tools or not and start your photographing. Digital Camera vs. 35 mm? There are many factors in choosing which camera is for you. Here at M.G.H.S. we use both. But, I tend to lean toward the Digital Camera more then the 35 mm. The digital has many benefits over the 35 mm. Some being that you can view your results right away and if you have captured spirit energy, you know where they are and you can continue photographing at that spot. Also with the digital camera you can process the photo's when you get home on the computer and there is no high cost of film developing. Now one major downfall of the digital camera. You have no negative. But with today's equipment like the EMF meter. These can be used to back up your digital photos. But, without the negative you have nothing for comparison. There is a work around, not as good, but it is supporting. When you capture a spirit energy in the digital camera and you see what location you captured the photo, you change angles and take some more photos. This will continue to support your first spirit energy photo. Make Sense? Many of the Ghost Hunters that has been around before the Digital Camera swear against them. They think it is a lazy way to gather photographic evidence, and not reliable. Now I disagree with that. Most Ghost Hunters are not well funded and do this with their own funds and if a breakthrough in science gives us tools like this, then it is an advancement in science, not a fall back like others believe the digital camera to be. More and more the digital camera is becoming popular. You see it being used more and now the numbers of ghost hunters using them out number those that oppose and don't use them. The Digital Camera is also just as reliable as the 35 mm if not more. Today the digital camera is becoming faster and clearer. So make sure you look into all the models and get what's best for you. So the choice is up to you. (Digital or 35 mm) Now you have to carry some standards with your photographing. You can view just about every Ghost Hunters standards on their web sites. Most of them pretty much have the same standards. You can view M.G.H.S. standards here on our site. These standard help maintain our reputation and answer the most common questions asked about our photographs by examiners of the photos. Example would be "Was anyone smoking, that caused this fog?", well the standards state that we do not smoke during our investigation. So it is very important to have these standards and maintain them. It is your number one priority. If you do not have any standards your photos will be useless, for most, if not all other ghost hunters will not accept your photos if you did not have or use these standards. I will not get into what every standard is. They are at just about every ghost hunter site you see out on the web. So just go to some of these sites and print them off and compare with the others and you will see a pretty close match to all of them. But please go to a reputable Ghost hunters site. There are some out there that are in left field, if you know what I mean. You have done research and a little history, then you choose a location and obtained permission and such. You went out early and conducted a walk through of the area. Finally you went out at dusk and you took your photos, Evp's and all other readings. You are now at home and you have your photos on computer (If Digital camera) or you are ready to send in your 35 mm film for processing. If you have a Digital camera and you are now ready to view them on the computer. I would recommend turning off the back light in your computer room, this will take the glare off the computer screen. Examine each photo very carefully and when you think you have examined it enough, examine it more. Every detail has to be looked at. Now if you have something in a photo, then you must go through and eliminate every possible man made, natural explanations, and photo errors or processing errors if 35 mm. Even if this means going out the next day in daylight and checking the photo location to make sure there was no man made or natural explanation that could have caused it. Don't forget about photo errors as well. There are some sites out there that you can compare your photo with photos of processing or photo errors on them. After you have weeded out the photos that have no paranormal anomalies. Then it is time to go through the ones that do again and really rule out any thing other then paranormal. This is very important. Nothing worse then posting a photo and calling it paranormal and someone else has an explanation that you cannot defend against. You have to be positive that what you have is paranormal. Most Ghost hunters that have been doing this allot can spot man made or natural explanations in a second. This is where other equipment becomes supportive. Like a spike reading in the EMF at the same location as your photo. Even if you felt something or seen something, and if you sensed that you were being watched. All of these goes to support your photo. Another good supportive feature is a before and after photo. Most ghost hunters are prepared to shot 100's of photos. Several in just one spot, so they have these before and after photos. So make sure you have plenty of batteries, film and memory chips. You also would follow this same rule with the 35 mm photos when you get them back from processing. You have to study each photo over and over and rule out man made first. You can have other ghost hunters examine your photo if you believe it to be paranormal. As soon as you take that picture, the copyright is yours. Again, make sure it is a reputable Ghost Hunter that you have examine your photo. If you have a 35 mm that you are using. Tell the processor of the film that you want back every print now matter what they find on it. Most film developers will toss the processing errors and give you just the ones they think turned out. Well there are allot of paranormal photos in the trash because of this practice. So instruct them that you need every print. You then have to decide if it is processing errors in your photos or paranormal. There are some sites out there that have comparison photos of processing errors and photo errors for you to compare your paranormal photo with. If you find an error that is on your "believed to be paranormal photo", then chances are it is processing or photo errors. If you do narrow everything down to the paranormal, this is where your history and reported haunts help support not only that you could have a haunted location, but also whom might be doing the haunting.
VERY IMPORTANT!!!!
If you are a ghost hunter and only a ghost hunter and you want to post your photos on the Internet. Please state that you are a Ghost Hunter and that you have no equipment, history or reported haunts to support your photographs and that you are not an investigator or researcher. So many sites are out there that state they are Ghost Hunters and they have nothing to support their photos. So with this, bad reputations come out against all Ghost Hunters. There is nothing wrong against just being a Ghost Hunter. It is fun and you can capture some pretty good photos. But you must tell the public this on your site. You are doing this for entertainment with no supportive equipment, history or reported haunts. Lets keep our reputation a priority.
SAFETY NOTE!!!
No photo is worth your life or safety. After all you don't want to end up what you are trying to photograph. So please make sure that you follow some guidelines. Never go on a hunt alone. It is best to have at least 4 in your group, although that is not always possible. A minimum of 2 is recommended. Don't break the law. Get permission to investigate or photo the site you have in mind. Always carry an ID. In some states it is something that a police officer can bring you in on, and attempt to identify you. Respect all properties that you are on, don't disturb anything and don't leave your trash, like empty battery packages, wrappers, etc. on the ground. Let someone that is not going with you, know where you are going and what time you are expected back. This will have an interested party that is not present on the hunt with you and can call for assistance if you don't return at the time indicated. Please, make sure you call them back upon your return.
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