In camera AND out of camera Multiple Exposure…

This image has been created using two in camera multiple exposures combined out of camera. This would have been impossible to reproduce using just the camera settings or just using post production techniques.

I don’t believe that either in camera or out of camera are ‘better’ either technically or design wise but I do think that there is a large place in the genre for them to be used together. I love to be creative but I am also a bit of a perfectionist and this does tend to mean that I am designing for a long time on an image. I don’t think this is a problem, particularly as, for me, this is a particularly mindful activity - you can’t beat looking at images of the beautiful outdoors and not enjoy yourself! I think with this exploration I have found a number of instances where double exposures (or triple) have been particularly useful.

Firstly consider the above image. I had such fun in creating this one , and it really brought home why this technique works. My original image did not have enough colour, simple as that! The day visiting the wonderful Pavilion in Brighton was a dull day with really flat light as you can see below! I enjoyed the in camera trickery and the way that in camera produces that effect when overlapping subjects. By the way this was produced by taking one image and then turning the camera upside down and taking the second. In giving it colour I used another in camera multiple exposure of the sea at Brighton. Going through the blend modes out of camera (photoshop has 21!) there were plenty giving the image blues but ‘difference’ added in all these reds which I love!

Another reason to use this technique would be to increase the number of flowers or softness. This is one of my personal favourites, of the gorgeous water lilies at RHS Wisley in Sussex. As it happens there weren’t as many of the flowers as I thought there should be or for the image I wanted to produce. In order to get the softness and mixing up the leaves to create the texture of the image I needed the softness of the in camera multiple but I needed more flowers so by using 2 images combined gave me the look that I wanted.

I could go on and on and on about the benefits of using doubles in conjunction with other images but I shall settle on my last reason of being - taking you further in to the realm of fantasy. The base images for this creation were taken in a wander around the Shropshire countryside, in fact around a lake called Colemere. It’s a beautiful part of the world and even in early spring there are lots of subjects to photograph, not least of which is the beautiful carpet of wood anemones at this time of the year. There is no doubt that the whole image has been influenced by the photoshop blend mode (subtract) but the double exposure of the wood anemones adds to these fantasy woods. Oh, and I also rotated the whole image by 180 degrees!!

I hope this has made you think about using this technique and if you do then please do post, tag me and let let me know how you get on!