Ghosts

I liked many aspects of this image (eg, the muted palette, the grain and the dutch tilt), but felt it would have been stronger with just one ghostly image. A more prominent, motion-blurred figure in the chair (trying to free itself?) at such a focal point in the frame, for example, would have worked really well.

This is a nice image. I very much like the composition and light/exposure and textures, but I find it hard to believe in bright blue daylight ghosts. A moody monochrome conversion of this may well have made it into my top 10.

The submitter of this, my winning image, hits the nail on the head in their image notes. Ghosts shouldn't be in the bright places, they should be on the edge, in darkness and shadows, in mirrors and dirty windows, in old houses and abandoned places. This image wins because it has it all: the old house, the casting of shadows, the reflection of something in the mirror that isn't there. And if you look again closely, to the left of the mirror at the light playing on the right-hand wardrobe door, is that a woman's face? Is it another subtle trick by the photographer? Or has she always been there...?

Merry Christmas. Sleep tight.

Woman in a white dress. Spirit leaving the body. 70's Hammer Horror-style surroundings and colour treatment. The whole concept works very well and was quite different to the other entries. It's hard to get an effective daylight ghost shot, but this is a success.

What would a haunted house look like? Well, it would look like this. I'll be honest and say I don't find the Silk Lady particularly scary, but I like the idea behind it and the fact that, unlike in many of the composite entries, you haven't overdone it. A ghost should be something you glimpse in your peripheral vision not plastered all over the image.

Another image (a wider, colour shot of this scene) was entered under a different account. It is clearly the same setup, suggesting it was not solely the work of the submitting photographer(s) - perhaps it is a museum exhibit or similar. Unfortunately, the image description doesn't mention or clarify this, instead taking credit for the concept by omission. Of course, there are other possible explanations. Because of this, despite being very popular in this and previous contests, I didn't feel a judge's commendation or placing was appropriate.

Let's face it, if you were in the shower and you saw that on the other side of the glass, well ... you'd need another shower, to say the least. More reminiscent of J- or K-horror than most of the entries, it earns a top-10 place for standing out, being well executed and commendably disturbing.

Are those dead kids from the estate making a nuisance of themselves again? This shot falls firmly into the realm of the genuinely sinister. There were a lot of motion blur or composite ghosts entered that didn't work because you could see that's exactly what they were. This succeeds because you are not quite sure what you are looking at: the essence of a good ghost shot. The roundabout isn't spinning, so it isn't blur. Surely it's too far away to be a reflection from inside the room. So what is it...?

A deceptively simple, but effective photograph. I'm guessing the person casting the other shadow is further back and out of shot. It's a shame there is a shadow on the little girl's raised hand that kind of gives the game away and could easily be dodged out. Even so, I don't recall any other entries using this technique to hit the brief, so well done on the idea.

This is one of those images that makes you go "WTF?!" when you first see it. It's clearly a scary floating shadow-boy, probably a poltergeist. But even when you calm down and study it further, it's hard to work out quite what the reality was, partly because of the disorienting upside-down approach and the lack of clear reference points. Terrific composition and use of light.

OK, so this is a real ghost, luckily captured on a phone at a haunted location, and not a smudge created by motion blur or burning in later. Now some of you won't agree, but I am not in a position to challenge anyone's beliefs in what is, after all, just a bit of fun. I'd prefer it without the annoying copyright notice (I know, change the record), but it gets a commendation for being either: a) a photo of a real ghost, or b) so understated and 'ordinary' in its presentation that it presents an image that some could believe is of a real ghost.