CameraCrazy

I saw this effect in Nature Photography (written by Tim Fitzharris) and had to try it for myself. To get this eerie/surreal effect is actually pretty simple, it’s just multiple exposures. There are two ways that I know of to make a multiple exposure.

The First Way: Overlay/Opacity Method

This method tends to darken all whole scene of the multiple exposure.

Camera Work:

Using a tripod or some other way of keeping the camera in a static position, you need to take two pictures (if using a DSLR) or perform a multiple exposure if using film. The first picture should be a clear, crisp picture, however for the second picture taken with identical settings should be slightly out of focus. I like to take a shot of my hand before and after taking the series of photos to make sure I don’t accidently erase the blurred photo, thinking it was just a bad picture (after all digital is free!).

Post Processing:

If your using a DSLR, overlay each photo in Photoshop or whatever graphic program you use. Then all you need to do is play around with the opacity of the layer until you get the desired effect you’re looking for. Flatten the image once you’re happy and Enjoy!

The Second Way: Blending Method

This method tends to lighten up the exposure with the more exposures added.

Camera Work:

This is likely the more authentic way of performing a multiple exposure using a digital camera. The first thing that needs to be done is decide how many exposures you want in your multiple exposure.

Exposure	Stops
2	1
3	1.6
4	2
5	2.3
6	2.6
7	2.8
8	3

This will dictate how much each picture should be underexposed. The table within the article is a great guideline.

Photoshop Steps:

Open the image in Photoshop and add all the images to one file and arrange them appropriately. With all the images now in one document, change the blend mode on all but the bottom most layer to screen mode. This tells Photoshop to blend all the images into each other. Do what ever fine tuning is required and there you go.