An old photo I've kept close for a long time
by doppelclaus, reddit.com
Basic context: This is a photo of my cousin's daughter when she was a toddler. It was taken around 2002. Her mother took (exposed) the photo, and her father is holding her hand there on the left. In the background of photo is the kitchen, separated by the visible wall behind the girl.
How I got it: My cousin contacted me after they had the film developed (still in 2002) and he seemed really creeped out. He's a big, heavy-lifting railroad guy and doesn't scare easily. He knew I "knew computers" and I told him I would scan it and play with the image in photoshop. The original is quite dark in the background, although the form of a person is easily suggested back behind the dividing wall (on the right).
Regrets: At one time I had the original negative, but I sadly no longer do.
The meat:
This is the original scan. The photo was folded in half when given to me, that's the horizontal crease across the middle.
and
are two of the marginally-successful enchanced versions I produced way back in the days of photoshop 6.
How it went: I showed them--them being my cousin, his wife, and my aunt and uncle--the photoshopped versions and they lost it. Cousin, wife and daughter moved out almost immediately, no lie.
Here's the kicker. They had only lived there about six months, and had bought the place. The guy they bought it from was the nearest neighbor, and his father had originally lived in cousin's house. Because he built it. He built the house probably in the 1970s-80s. He lived there half his life and died naturally. He willed the house to his son, who later sold the place to my cousin. He had been dead for more than ten years by the time this photo was taken.
My cousin confronted the neighbor with various 'enhanced' versions I printed out for him. The neighbor positively identified the man in the photo as his dead father, wearing the outfit he was buried in.
This crap still gives me the willies. Feel free to exercise your photoshop skills on the original.