Stephen D. Smith look at Robert Duffy photo
Another photograph that I've taken the liberty of looking at in more detail
is the one submitted by Robert Duffy. . . . It is a most interesting picture which, apparently, shows a face looking
peering from between a pair of tombstones. Indeed, the eyes, nose, etc. of
the "face" are almost clearly discernible. Sadly, however, the picture
doesn't stand up to scrutiny. I zoomed-in very close to this "face", whilst
compensating for the loss of picture quality that "zooming" brings about.
As you can see from the image I have produced, the details of the "face"
(e.g. eyes, nose, even the shape of the head) almost completely disappear at
close quarters whilst, at the same time, the outline of the tombstones
remains very clear and distinctive. Also, it can be seen that there are
twigs or branches in front of the "face", meaning that it's not behind the
tombstones at all but probably further back in the picture, possible behind
bushes (and if it were behind bushes, you certainly wouldn't see its
features). Indeed, it may be the bushes that create this illusion.
If this "face" were really there, its details would remain visible, like the
outline of the tombstones remains visible. I'm sorry to say that the "face"
is just a trick of the light, etc. A bit like the moon has a "face" - and,
of course, the closer you get to the moon, the less it looks like it has a
face. The same is true of this picture. Try looking at it close up and then
pulling back to see the "face" come into focus!
With best wishes, as ever,
Stephen D. Smith
All photos submitted are unedited. Some have extraneous borders, which are cropped. The software used has a tendacy to "fuzz" pictures when reduced to fit computer screens, which necessitates using the "sharpen" option, but no retouching is done. (Vincent O'Neil)