There are many
myths about
vampires - the whole
garlic thing,
crucifixes and
holy water, and of course the whole matter of
reflections.
According to many tales a vampire will cast no reflection when in front of a mirror; in addition, a vampire's image can not be caught on film. So what then of digital cameras?
Before we tackle that question, we should first know why the myth exists in the first place. Mirrors were thought to show a person's soul. As a vampire has no soul (unless he is Angel) we must logically conclude that there will be no reflection. The same hold true for film and photographs - they too were thought to be creating an image of the soul. (Interestingly enough, some people were even afraid to have a picture taken of them, for fear of having their soul stolen!)
Based on these assumptions we must then conclude that a vampire would not show up in a picture taken by a digital camera for any mechanical device that reproduces and image of a being is actually only capturing their essence or soul.
But wait! The story of the nosferatu extends further back than the history of film - so why then was photography adapted to the tale?
Early cameras relied heavily on mirrors to capture the subject, and then burn it into the film. (Pardon my basic knowledge - if I am wrong please feel free to let me know!) Therefore it would be impossible to photograph a vampire because his lack of reflection would assure that nothing got put onto the film.
But now back to the original question - Could one photograph a vampire with a digital camera? To my knowledge no mirrors are used within them (though I have no to play with or dissect - donations are accepted!) and thus the concern over reflections is moot.
What does this all mean? I don't know. It was just a random thought that occured to me recently.
Who knows, maybe someday see a legitimate, non-porn, non-angst-ridden-goth VampireCam.com!