Copyright © 2006-2010
Raymond H. von Bober
All rights reserved.
Please report any broken links to:
webmaster@summerwindmansion.net
Raymond H. von Bober
All rights reserved.
Please report any broken links to:
webmaster@summerwindmansion.net
One of the strange, some would say "paranormal" phenomena at Summerwind Mansion is the effect is has on cameras and other recording devices. This seems to have been true since at least the 1970's when numerous rolls of film were developed, many of which came out totally blank or seriously over or under exposed! These effects, from cameras that worked flawlessly everywhere else!
Now, many could remark that photos can be "doctored" in many ways, especially in this age of digital photography and computer enhancement. But at the time most were just amateurs trying to record what they saw. This was especially true of my family, which used a variety of camera types, from Instamatics to Polaroids. All we wanted to do was take pictures of Summerwind Mansion!
Color photos were at times the most dramatic, as the colors were so contrary to what we had seen. Also there were strange out of focus photos and some with unusual double exposures. Again, these were from simple cameras that were pretty idiot proof for their day. Pretty much just point and click!
Now, many could remark that photos can be "doctored" in many ways, especially in this age of digital photography and computer enhancement. But at the time most were just amateurs trying to record what they saw. This was especially true of my family, which used a variety of camera types, from Instamatics to Polaroids. All we wanted to do was take pictures of Summerwind Mansion!
Color photos were at times the most dramatic, as the colors were so contrary to what we had seen. Also there were strange out of focus photos and some with unusual double exposures. Again, these were from simple cameras that were pretty idiot proof for their day. Pretty much just point and click!
The above photos are interesting in the fact that the desk seen in the left photo, taken when my sister first purchased the property in 1970, was burned in the fireplace for heat in the winter of that same year when the boiler broke down.
The picture on the right, a strange double exposure, taken in 1973, one and a half years after my father purchased Summerwind, shows a ghostly image of the same desk, even though it was not there! My sister later verified that the desk had indeed been burned!
The significance of the desk and why it showed up in the photo is another one of the "haunted item mysteries!" Could this desk have once contained Jonathan Carver's lost Land Grant papers? Unfortunately, we will never know for sure.
The picture on the right, a strange double exposure, taken in 1973, one and a half years after my father purchased Summerwind, shows a ghostly image of the same desk, even though it was not there! My sister later verified that the desk had indeed been burned!
The significance of the desk and why it showed up in the photo is another one of the "haunted item mysteries!" Could this desk have once contained Jonathan Carver's lost Land Grant papers? Unfortunately, we will never know for sure.
The photo above, submitted by Alan S. shows the center of the terrace strangely out of focus while both the nearer and further sections of the terrace are quite clear. This is quite unusual, as either the nearer or farther objects are out of focus in a typical photograph due to the fact that the center of the lens is the focal point.
The above photo, a Polaroid taken in 1984, shows a distinct misty form. To me it looks like a man on horseback. It was not visible with the naked eye when the photo was taken and does not appear to be a flaw in the film on the original.
