The Christmas Tree's Light Transformed by the Light Metamorphosis

Photo date: January 14, 2016. Photographer: Mark Mahin.

In this post and this post I showed some spectacular photos showing a strange mysterious effect I call the light metamorphosis, an effect in which light seems to drift away from a light source like rising smoke.  Below is another example of this bizarre anomaly, one involving a Christmas tree.  The photo was taken at a public place where they have been in no hurry to remove Christmas decorations.

Below is a photo showing the effect.  The camera was not moving, as you can see from the three background wires, which look normal.

The first photo I took at the spot looked normal.

But then the weirdness started.  You can tell from the normal-looking trees on the right that the camera is not moving. If the camera had been moving violently, the trees on the right would look all streaky.

Another photo showed the same thing. The trees on the right looked normal, but the light from the tree was rising up mysteriously.

Another photo showed the same thing. The trees on the right looked normal, but the light from the tree was rising up mysteriously.

The photos were flash photos with an exposure time of 1/30 of a second, using normal camera settings (no "Night picture" setting).