You need some idea of what you are doing before you go off into that graveyard or haunted building. If you're the adventurous type like me, here are a few tips that will help you. They are pretty common and are pretty much common sense items. You'll find much the same information on other sites related to paranormal investigation.

What To Expect:

There are generally 2 primary types of hauntings. The "Intelligent" Haunting is due most likely to a link by the spirit to the area or the people who are living or working there. This entity or ghost may be described as A) The personality of someone who perhaps lived or worked in the locale themselves, and has remained for some reason. Possibly a murder, a very traumatic experience, an extreme emotion like anger or even love or maybe just unfinished business or sudden, unexpected death binds them to that particular location; or; B) A Non-Human, possibly demonic entity. An Intelligent Haunting may present itself in some dramatic ways, such as the slamming, opening or even unlocking doors or windows, physically moving articles, eerie sounds or voices, "cold" spots, strong or sometimes foul odors, or an imposing presence. Generally there is an intelligent purpose to this type of haunting.

The "Residual" Haunting is probably the most common type of haunting. I think the best way to describe residual haunting is to simply state that it's like a movie stuck in a continuous loop. Playing the same scenario or picture over and over again. It may not always be visual. It may come in the form of noises that have no explainable source. As with an Intelligent Haunting, traumatic events can play a role in the manifestation. This could be the reason that battlefields are a good place to witness this type of haunting.

General Information

Check out the area during the day so you are familiar with the area. Look for dangerous places and obstacles that you might not be able to see in the dark. Look for No Trespassing signs. If you are on private property without permission you could be cited or arrested. Try to get permission from the owners. Consider notifying the Police that you will be in a graveyard "taking pictures". If you are asked to leave do so. Make sure you bring some kind of ID, drivers license, etc. NEVER GO ALONE! The best times to go are from 9pm to 6am, the psychic hours, with Witch’s Hour at 12:00am, believed to be the hour when witch’s conjure and perform their dark magick, and Devils Hour at 3:00am, the common belief in some quarters being that demons are the most active at this time as a direct affront to the Trinity. I personally have never run across this type of activity, but there are those who claim to have seen or experienced a demonic "attack". I will reserve judgement and make little comment at this time. "Negative" spirits, or a spirit with a bad attitude I believe are more common. These are usually the spirits who were angry or bitter in life, and have carried that same attitude into the spirit world.

Equipment

Camera - A 35MM with at least 400 speed film. You might even try a roll or two of black and white. If you are more experienced photographer try infrared film. One-step and digital cameras don't really have the best quality or have a long way to go before I would use one. Open your film and load your camera after walking around the location for a few minutes. Make sure you write down any other lights in the area so when you look at your developed pictures you won't think a street light is an orb. Clean your camera's lens regularly. Don't smoke at the site, cigarette smoke appears like a "mist" on the pictures. Take your camera straps off so you don't take a picture of it. It looks like a vortex when photographed. Keep an eye out for reflective surfaces. The flash reflected off shiny surfaces like windows, tombstones, etc. can look light an orb or other manifestation. When you develop the film a drug store or a department store is fine. Just tell them know you want ALL of the pictures developed so that you get the pictures that they might think are bad ones. Flashlight - Remember to bring spare batteries for everything.  Spirit activity can cause batteries to run down very fast. First aid kit - just in case! Also, some "common sense" items - Notebook w/ pens and pencils, thermometer (to detect rapid temperature drops), Baggies and/or clear containers for evidence and a watch to record the times of any manifestations you may be witness to.

Some of the more advanced investigators also use the following equipment:

Video cameras, tape recorders with an external microphone and high grade tapes. Load the tapes when you are loading the film into the cameras. A cellular phone in case of an emergency (don't forget the spare battery!). Walkie Talkies, motion detectors and a thermometer or thermal scanner.

AND ABOVE ALL - DON'T FORGET YOUR COPY OF THESE EXCELLENT REFERENCES!!!!!