The blue light around the fingertips is a photograph of the electrical discharges due to the conductivity of high voltage, high frequency electricity. The frequency excites the electrons to such a state that they ionize the air. The light from this ionization can be capured on film, as it is compsed of visible light. Metals and semi-conductors also produce discharges. A non-conducting, dry object, such as a piece of cardboard a shell, or hair will not produce any discharge.

Humans are sort of a walking semi-conductor. We are full of electrolytes that permit the travel of electrical impulses that take specific paths in our bodies, called meridians.  Because of this, the corona naturally discharges from the terminating points of those paths. A good example of this is a leaf. When you observe a discharge from a leaf, the corona emanates from the veins of the leaf, the bulk of which can be seen emerging from the ends of those veins around the edge of the leaf. In the same fashion, in humans, the discharge is most intense at the tips of the extremities. Humans have accupuncture meridians that connect the organs of the body to all of the fingertips. that is why fingertips are always used in Kirlian Photography.

The relationship of our electrolyte-filled body to Earth, in the same sense as the electrical earth, or ground, makes us the opposite polarity of the electricity produced by the apparatus. Ground attracts and absorbs electricity. Because of our mass and proximity to the Earth, our electrolytes conduct the electical charge of the Earth, through normal induction, making us the same polarity as the Earth.

If you put the fingertips of one hand on a plate charged with high frequency electricity, you may get a bright discharge. However, if you lay your hands down,  exposing more and more of your fingers and palms to the plate, you will see the image dim accordingly, because there is more surface area for the same amount of ions produced. If you increase the voltage, the brightness will also increase. The more surface area of the subject exposed, the longer the exposure time needs to be to make a photograph, thus, fingertip photos require much less exposure time than a full hand.

Small objects, without much mass, such as a leaf, must be grounded to produce a coronal discharge when laid on the plate. They don't have enough mass to effectively induct the electrical polarity of the Earth, and take on the charge of the Earth. Small. ungrounded objects will assume the polarity of the overpowering high frequency charge when laid upon the plate, and will not cause any coronal discharge. The discharge is only the result of the high frequency electricity reacting with, or in a way, jumping to the opposite polarity.

Can one diagnose illnesses by observing coronal discharge?  The coronal discharge apparatus can be compared to an X-RAY machine, in that it is only a tool. All the software in the world cannot diagnose cancer with an X-RAY, nor can it extract more information than is contained in a coronal discharge image. However, many people have found that coronal discharge imagry is useful in revealing the general health of an individual. While an X-RAY can display the general condition of bone and solid tissues, the coronal discharge apparatus also displays the genaral condition of each of the meridians of the body that conveniently all terminate at the fingers and toes.

Whether this coronal discharge has anything to do with the so-called human "aura" I cannot speculate, since the human "aura" has only been seen by psychics, and no instrument that we know of at this time can measure it scientifically. So, forget about trying to see an aura, unless you're psychic.

It takes 30,000 volts just to get a decent image of a palm, just imagine what amount of voltage it would take to illuminate a whole human body. As for creating a coronal discharge from a whole human body, you would need the power of at least a 25 foot tall tesla coil, and have a friend who will do anything. The 10 million volts or so that would be required to do the job prohibits anybody from trying it so far.

The voltage for the photos in this series was supplied by a 250 KV Tesla Coil - adjusted to only put out approximately 30 KV, constructed by the author. This definitely was overkill for the job, but it's all I had at the time. Please be very careful if using a tesla coil for kirlian photography.

Film used was 600 Polaroid instant film. This film has a clear plastic layer on it that acts like a dielectric, insulating the subject from direct contact with the live voltage. IF YOU TRY THIS WITH REGULAR PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPER BE SURE TO PLACE AT LEAST A THIN PIECE OF MYLAR ON THE PAPER. Film  was laid upon an aluminum plate, which was connected to the output of the coil. Fingers were placed directly on the film WHILE THE SUBJECT WAS ISOLATED FROM ALL GROUNDING SOURCES.

Photos taken in September of 1995. Please ask permission from me if you wish to use them for anything. As long as I'm credited with a complimentary link, I generally don't mind sharing my work, but I do request that you ask me first. My email is KirLab@cebunet.com

Very bright areas near the edge of some photos are caused by undesired arcing to the bothersome metallic edge of the polaroid film, and should be ignored. This was the problem I found with using high powered equipment as opposed to the safer and more practical low powered machines.