A faint colored spot or duplicate light in a night photo may be an optical ghost related to a bright source in or near the frame. A removable filter can contribute. Check whether the artifact moves when the composition changes and compare a no-filter capture when practical. Do not classify every green point as a hot pixel or erase an actual distant light without checking the scene.
Compare the artifact with the bright source
Keep the unedited photograph. Mark the bright lamp, sign, or reflection and the suspicious shape on a duplicate used for notes. Look for a relationship across adjacent photographs: does the suspicious point change position when you reframe, or remain at the same image coordinates while the scene moves? Those observations guide diagnosis; color alone does not establish the cause.
Nikon's accessory documentation warns that filters can create ghosting when a bright light is in the frame or behind the subject and says filters may be removed if ghosting occurs. That provides a useful comparison, not a guarantee that removing a filter eliminates every flare. Lens optics and the light's position can still matter.
A small night-shoot comparison card
This is a reader test plan, not a test already run. Choose an ordinary nighttime scene with a fixed bright lamp, avoiding direct sun, lasers, and hazardous light sources. Use a stable position and record lens, focal length, exposure settings, and any front filter. Take a reference photograph with the filter fitted.
If the accessory can be safely removed according to its instructions, take a comparable no-filter frame without changing creative settings. Then slightly reframe and take one more. Log whether the suspect shape disappears, weakens, or moves relative to the lamp. Keep the complete frame as evidence; a crop containing only a green dot removes the very relationship you need to inspect.
Decide whether a local repair is honest
An optical ghost over empty sky may be a straightforward local cleanup. A ghost covering a face, sign, or product label is harder because the underlying detail may not be recorded clearly. Check another original frame or retake before asking an editor to recreate information that cannot be verified. Preserve real lamps and reflections that belong to the scene.
If the bright point remains at the same pixel location in otherwise unrelated captures, follow a sensor or hot-pixel diagnosis instead. If it appears only in one viewing application, inspect the rendering stage. The purpose of the comparison is to narrow the cause, not to give every luminous artifact the same name.
For an Imagild travel-photo transformation, select the least obstructed source and note any optical cleanup already performed. Judge both the transformed atmosphere and the factual anchors: buildings, signs, and the person's features. A cleaner night scene can be more useful as a reference without pretending that a reconstructed covered detail was present in the original.