Strange Artifacts by LunarSight
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
I very puzzled by how this picture turned out. It was a long exposure shot. The only changing light during the exposure was a car that happened to be turning the corner onto the road as I was shooting.
What perplexes me is that reddish glow coming from one of the manhole covers. I cannot think of any light source that can account for it.
I have three theories:
1) The car that was turning the corner perhaps may have used a turn signal which created that glow. The only drawback to this theory is why would the glow appear exclusively on the manhole cover and nothing else?
2) Underground gases or power cables may have flared up. (The former may sound crazy, but we've had cases where underground gas pressure has knocked manhole covers out of place. In some cases it can be pretty potent. A local one got hurled into the air, taking out a lot of the asphalt surrounding it.)
3) I captured a ghost or a demon or something. One that has nothing better to do with its time than hang around in manholes on underutilized sidestreets.

Comments (15)
Definitely number 3, duh! Really, it is a lovely night time shot.
The truth IS out there.
The TRUTH? You can't HANDLE the truth!! =)
The glare comes from the street lamp. Check out the lamp glare and the dog colors that you got from it. Excellent night capture. Next time try using one step higher on your ISO setting. Picture might be a little grainnier but glares will be down. (Just a tought).
Yep, third choice is a charm... have you considered the fourth? Were you using a multi-dimensional camera by any chance?????? heh, sorry. Cool Pic tho!!!
Hm.. See, the thing with the street lamp is its giving off an orange glare. What I'm puzzled about is the red glow that's coming out of the closest manhole cover. I have another theory. I'm wondering if a car in the adjacent driveway had its brake lights on momentarily. That would explain the red glow without having to bring ghosts, demons, or multi-dimensional cameras into the mix..
Since you brought in a mystery here, it is now your duty to sit out there all night tomorrow evening, and capture any other weird things that are going on with this street. :o) Are you up to it? ...hehe
They do come here you know.You caught them off guard.I love it.Could spend endless time thinking about what it is.Imagination.
I am pretty sure that the manhole glow is from the car and or a combination of the other light sources...but lets just pretend it's a demon. :)
That blue light in the air creeps me too, I will never visit your place :)
Okay - the blue light is actually explainable - that was just the (nearly) full moon. =)
Must be reflecting light from the carlights...
Simple... the red glare is lens flare from the on coming headlight. It is in six places in this shot, the right manhole cover in red, the center manhole cover in blue, and the cornice of the building in red, and you can find the other three. BTW excellent shot.
I'm gonna go with the ghost theory on this one.
The headlights are angled at the parked cars away from the manhole cover. The manhole cover is recessed into the asphalt so it's not coming from beneath the plate but from the side. Other than it being added in postwork the only other question would be: what are those streaks eminating from the right that would catch the edge of the sunken plate from that direction?