Work Diary - Multiple Exposure

Shoot Evaluation:

In today's lesson awe looked at the technique multiple exposure.  I personally really liked this technique and felt there was a lot it offer to me in my work.  I found the technique, though effective, easily went 'wrong'.  By this I mean, for example, if I took more than four photos for one final image the exposure had faded out so much you couldn't really see clearly (if at all) the subject you were photographing.  Another issue I had was keeping continuity in some of the shots.  If I moved myself or the camera or changed the zoom the background sometimes changed so much it made the final image unidentifiable and the subject got lost in amongst everything.

The positives I found in this technique though is the different effects the technique can offer.  I likes the element of movement it can add to a still photo and the way you could potentially photograph a series of events or an event happening in one shot.

Here are a couple of photos from my shoot today:

This is one of the photos I particularly liked.  I used a corridor and a friend from class to photograph her 'walking' down the corridor.  I positioned her in different areas of the corridor when taking the photo by i myself remained in the same place.  I like the way the photos fade out the closer you get toward the camera and the way it imitates the passing of time in the photo.

 This is another photo that I am not so fond of from today's shoot.  I like the idea that I had but it didn't quite go to plan and I think this is because of how I executed it.  The idea was meant to be photographing my friend from class sitting in one chair, and then in every shot after her moving one more chair along till she reached the last chair.  However, I think where I moved my hand during the shoot the photo became too 'blurred' together as the background is so similar everywhere in the image and you actually have lost my subject.  I think this shot would have worked better if i had have used a tripod.


To improve on this technique and experience its full potential I need to do some more experimenting with it.  I would quite like to do some work in the studio with this technique and have a look at combining more complex shoot ideas with this technique to show a more varied and professional finish to my final pieces.  I think using equipment such a tripod could help me to achieve a better standard of work and also able me to execute my ideas more accurately.


How I could apply this technique in my personal project:

I really liked the multiple exposure technique that I experimented with today.  I like the contemporary feel the technique gives and potential to create lots of different effects in one image.  For my personal project where I am looking at makeup I think this technique poses a good chance for me to create a really ultramodern piece of work with the influence of contemporary make-up art.  I am thinking of using materials such as powder paint which I could 'throw' over a model and capture.  The models face would be primed with sfx glue that the paint could stick to in certain areas and then I could proceed in the shoot by then photographing this.  I think capturing the movement of the paint would be a really nice way of using multiple imagery.

Another similar idea I had was using regular paint and powder paint a throw this over my subject in different colours and directions and capture each one in movement, then finishing with my model still covered in the paint.  This idea would definitely require me using a tripod to ensure the camera remained in the same place at all times and then model would need to do the same too.  I would want a sterile background so all that would be noticeable/the focal point of the photo would be the paint.

Technique Page - Multiple Exposure

How to do Multiple Exposure...

1. Set the camera to multiple exposure and make sure that the camera is set to 'P' exposure mode and not to 'auto'. Once you have done this, go to menu on the camera settings, select tab 2 and continue to the multiple exposure setting and turn it on.

2. Next hold down the +/- n button on the camera and scroll the wheel on the camera until you reach the minus numbers.

3. Now you can start by taking a picture. Options will appear at the bottom of the screen - press the next button and continue to take another picture (continue to do this until you have your desired amount of photos).  Once you have the desired amount of photos press 'OK' to record and save what you have done.

Image Bank - Multiple Exposure

The multiple exposure effect uses more that one image on top of each other to create different effects.  Some of these effects can include creating movement within the picture and the in turn can help to create erratic patterns and designs, giving a really artist and contemporary feel to the photo.  This kind of effect can be seen in the photo of the person juggling; this has made the composition of the shot more visually interesting.  I like some of the more contrast shots such as the last photo and the forth photo where parts of the body have been combined with nature shots.  I practically like the more 'action' photos in the ones that I have found as they show a small sequence of steps or moves like the sport and dancing images, or of the cat jumping.  This has made the photo more visually dynamic and given the viewer more to contemplate in the photo.

I really like the first photo that I found of the cat.  I think it looks very striking on the plain black background as the colours on the fur really stand out and the 'faded' effect you get with multiple exposure is very noticeable.  I think the shot looks modern and this is something that I want to achieve in my own work.  The ides and composition of the shot is so simple yet so effective.  I love simplicity in my work and I think this effect presents itself the perfect opportunity for me to work more in this way.

Another shot I really liked was the juggling photo.  I think it has turned out looking very weird-  this is something I like.  I again love the simplicity of the shot and it has inspired me to look at how I could adapt this idea to make it work for my own project e.g. applying makeup.  I really like how the different shots slowly fade away to nothing and this could demonstrate the change in the movement over a certain period of time.