The Houston Photograph: Difference between revisions

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==A Better Explanation?==
==A Better Explanation?==


The picture on the right is from the Sam Houston Coliseum in 1969. At right is Willie Somerset (#12) of ABA's Houston Mavericks basketball team.  Note the "pillar of fire" type light by the player's hand.  If we zoom into the light by the players hand (see photo on left), we see something that is not that dissimilar to that of the picture of the "pillar of fire" that was photographed over William Branham's head.
The picture immediately above on the right was taken in the Sam Houston Coliseum in 1969. At right is Willie Somerset (#12) of ABA's Houston Mavericks basketball team.  Note the "pillar of fire" type light by the player's hand.  If we zoom into the light by the players hand (see photo on left), we see something that is not that dissimilar to that of the picture of the "pillar of fire" that was photographed over William Branham's head.


And this also lines up with the argument that the light passed through the lens of the camera.
And this also lines up with the argument that the light passed through the lens of the camera and showed up on the negative.  Because of the principle of "depth of field", a picture taken with a telephoto lens would tend to cause anything in the background to be out of focus.  And given the poor dynamic range of film in the 1950's, a bright light source such as a rack of flood lights, would look "blown out" or overexposed in the photograph, just as the "pillar of fire" appears to be completely white.


==The Light Struck the Lens==
==The Light Struck the Lens==


If, as George J. Lacy confirmed in his report on the photograph that light struck the negative, then it is hard to understand how no one else in the auditorium saw the light above William Branham's head.  But if the light was, in fact, a bank of floodlights then light did pass through the lens and did strike the negative.  The reason no one noticed the "pillar of fire" was that they all saw it for what it really was - one of the flood lights in the Sam Houston Coliseum.  It must also be appreciated that the picture of the basketball players is from 1969, almost 20 years after the photograph of William Branham was taken.  It is likely that the lighting for a church gathering would have been set up completely different from that of a basketball game and also likely that the light fixtures would have been completely different 20 years earlier.
[[File:WMB pillar edited by pencilsmudge.jpg|right|The picture on the right has been edited]]
 
If, as George J. Lacy confirmed in his report on the photograph that light struck the negative, then it is hard to understand how no one else in the auditorium saw the light above William Branham's head.  But if the light was, in fact, a bank of floodlights then light did pass through the lens and did strike the negative.  Was the actual reason that no one noticed the "pillar of fire" was that they all saw it for what it really was - one of the flood lights in the Sam Houston Coliseum.   
 
If the "pillar of fire" was an actual light source above William Branham's head that showed up on the negative, why doesn't the photo look more like the edited version the right?
 
It must also be appreciated that the picture of the basketball players is from 1969, almost 20 years after the photograph of William Branham was taken.  It is likely that the lighting for a church gathering would have been set up completely different from that of a basketball game and also likely that the light fixtures would have been completely different 20 years earlier.


=Report by George J. Lacy=
=Report by George J. Lacy=