We encourage a variety of styles and techniques during our workshops. Photographers all have an area that they do really well…maybe it is macro, or portraits, or wildlife…or forced perspective landscapes. But to expand your horizons and grow creatively, you need to try new techniques and styles. It really doesn’t matter if you get good images or not, what is important is the process, not the end result. Experimentation leads to discovery and new vision. For example, trying to take your first street portrait, even if you don’t like people photography, will help you with your overall photo skills and vision.
We were just in Ouray Colorado and the fall aspens were incredible this year. In 20 years of teaching workshops there I have never seen so much red and orange, just an amazing year. We tried every angle, perspective and technique we could come up with, which led to a great session of intentional camera movement (ICM). Many photographers think of shaking the camera up and down at tree trunks as the go to ICM technique…it does produce really cool images (image above).
But we also tried another technique. Instead of a one frame shot at a long exposure of around 1 second, we did multiple exposure images using up to 9 frames and having the camera combine them to create the final image. Many cameras will allow multiple exposure shooting; above is the menu on the back of a Nikon Z9. Basically you choose the number of images, check the box to keep originals (you might want them), and choose what overlay mode you want. Average will just blend the images evenly, while Light blends more highlights and Dark focuses on blending more dark tones. The image at the top of this post was done shooting 9 images using an overlay mode of Light for a high key effect. If you check the box Overlay Shooting you can actually see in the viewfinder each image as you take it….this allows you to line up certain features and perfectly combine subjects. I used this feature to line up the aspen tree trunks in the image at top.
From recording people walking on the street to ICM blended shots, multiple exposure opens up new creative possibilities. The next time you are out shooting, give multiple exposure a try, you might just be surprised what you create.