{How To…} Double Exposures

Welcome to the first in my series of {How To….}! I often get asked, “how did you do that?” (although I often think the real question is “why did you do that?!” haha!) so my plan is to share with you exactly how I do those little in-camera tricks that I do and why. If I can answer those questions, introduce someone to something new, maybe encourage just one person step out of their comfort zone and unleash their inner creative monster, then I will have done what I set out to achieve.

I love to experiment with a variety of in-camera techniques and whilst I may not be a master, I know enough to get you started. If you’re anything like me, getting started is just the kick you need to unleash your creativity, and will lead you to something that is both new and unique.

When it comes to creative thinking and creating a unique photograph double exposures are, for me, where it is at. I love this technique almost as much as I love my children. Not quite, but almost! My style (or the style I aspire to) is dreamy, emotional and expressive. The techniques I use (freelensing, intentional camera movement, double exposures etc etc) are part of building that style and message: dream-like qualities that evoke nostalgia, a sense of calm and an emotional response.

Creating in-camera double exposures is super fun, super creative and super flexible. And to be clear, I am exclusively talking about IN-CAMERA double exposures. Creating the same effect in photoshop is possible, but it is cheating. OK, not really cheating per se, but it is a different discipline for another discussion. Side-tracked rant, sorry, ok…

Double exposures allow you to create anything from clean and crispy silhouettes filled with flowers to layer-upon-layer of texture, and when you combine it with other techniques, totally out-there abstract art. The key to controlling your finished piece is understanding the delicate balance between multiple exposures: using highlights and shadows to your advantage, and understanding how those affect the images as they are layered together.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First things, first.

Shooting in Manual for this technique is essential. I am not talking about manual focus, I’m talking about the M on the settings dial, controlling every element of your exposure triangle; if you’re not, you cannot effectively control how two (or more) images work together. If you’re not comfortable shooting in Manual I recommend you read Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. Otherwise, reach out, ask questions (and perhaps I’ll do a {How to…} post on that as well). Then come back!

Ok, let’s Switch It On:

This is how you need to adjust my camera’s make and model function settings to create these double exposures. The menu functions are very similar for Nikon (find “multiple exposure” in the shooting menu).

Menu > Multiple Exposure > Ok > Multiple Exposure > Ok >  On:Func/Ctrl > Ok

When you’re switched on and ready to go for a two-image multiple exposure, the menu screen will look like this:

If you want to create a stop-motion capture (of a golf swing or someone diving into a pool or…you get the idea) use the <On:ContShtng> option and a tripod. If you wish to layer more than 2 images together change the “no. of exposures”. You can also choose to save your source images, which means you can go back and recreate it in Photoshop if you’re not happy with the alignment (uh hum) or just use one of the single images if you prefer it. Once multiple exposures are enabled you can use “select image for multi. expo.” to re-use a base layer image, rather than taking your two images concurrently – a good friend and talented photographer showed me this trick fairly recently…I could’ve saved myself hours of heartache if I’d known about it sooner!

Now Shoot!

Ok, this is the nitty gritty: technically speaking, once your settings are ready as above, you’re going to take an image as you normally would. I say “technically speaking” because as you learn more about the balance between the layers your decisions might be different to taking a single image, but you go through the same motions. Then it gets interesting. If you’re not already using it, switch to live view mode. With live view switched on the screen shows you the first image laid over top of the new view so you can line up your frames exactly as you want them.  Have a play with your settings (N.B. you cannot change ISO at this point, only shutter speed and aperture) and watch as the screen shows you more or less of each layer. Once you’re happy with the balance, release the shutter and give the camera a few moments to process the image. Voilà! Congratulations, you’ve created your first double exposure!

But don’t stop there. Now you know the fundamentals you can get more control over the final product.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the key thing to look for is highlights and shadows. The more contrast you create in camera, the more distinct your layers will be.

Let’s look at some examples:

When areas of your base image are overexposed (or “blown out”), such as the background of a silhouette, the camera ignores those areas when it applies the second layer. The camera works the second image into the correctly exposed areas and shadows of the first. When doing this with film, which what your digital camera is trying to emulate, you would have burnt through the film by exposing it to the sun for too long, therefore it would be unusable for the second exposure. The second layer fills in the black/shadow areas of your first; the amount is does so depends on how much you under- or overexpose.

The background of this image was purposefully blown out; the boy’s face was in shadow but his skin was correctly exposed against the bright midday sky in the background. The second layer, the flower, was exposed enough to see the details of the plant but not so much that it hid the features of the boy.

Let’s look at an example that works in the opposite way. Here the first image is of the boy. One side of his face is in a pocket of bright light, I correctly exposed for his skin so the rest falls into deep shadow. The second layer is exposed in such a way as to show only the bright areas of the first layer. In essence, the more you exposure your second image, the more it takes over your first.

Many of my double exposures intentionally use a more even exposure across the two layers. In these examples the images are all about texture, colour and composition, the juxtaposition of the subject matter against itself, so I don’t want one layer to be more dominant than another; the only changes I made were very slight, to match the previous frame, accommodating for any change in the available light (these images were shot at dusk and the light was disappearing rapidly so I had to compensate for that with each exposure).

Here is another example of a fairly even exposure of the two layers. The first image was the beautiful pregnant mama, The dark areas of the first image were her chest and belly; the brightest was her hands. I positioned the brightest part of the second image in the same place as the shadows of the first so that we see her nurturing this tree, a tree of life (yeah, maybe it would’ve been better had the tree been full of leaves but it was the middle of winter and there was snow on the ground. The tree was resting preparing for a rebirth in the spring)!

You can also add other techniques to you layers! This image was taken from our deck. The first image is a simple view up into the trees; the second uses intentional camera movement: a long exposure where I zoomed out whilst the shutter was open (and the subject of my next {How to..} blog post).

I’ve even been known to switch lenses between exposures. Please note, I do not recommend leaving your camera switched on while you change lenses. Take the first image, switch the camera off to change your lens, go back into the multiple exposure menu to use the “select image of multi exp.” option.

And now it’s your turn! Go out and have fun. If you have any questions or comments, or you want to share your work with me, please do get in touch! Use the comments section below or send a message using Facebook.

Until next time,

~Ceri