Project One: Core Skills Seeing Double

Mike Harris shows you how to capture an ethereal double exposure of a beautiful blossom in-camera

- Mike Harris

The Mission – Set up your Nikon to capture a floral double exposure in-camera

Time – 20 minutes

Skill level – Beginner

Kit needed

– Nikon camera with multiple exposure mode

– Close-focusing lens

– Tripod

A multiple exposure is two or more photos overlaid on top of one another to form a single image. This technique dates back to the Victorian period and could be achieved easily using a film camera by repeatedly exposing the same piece of film (leading to plenty of accidental multiple exposures if you forgot to wind the film on…).

Today you can make a multiple exposure in post-production, but many digital Nikons still allow you to replicate this age-old form of image manipulation in-camera with dedicated multiple exposure modes. Part of the charm of working this way is that you never quite know what you’re going to get until the camera processes the final image. From moving the camera in tiny increments to spinning it around the same focal point, there’s a huge number of techniques to capture creative multiple exposures and experimentation is key.