
How to Make a Double Exposure Photo in Photoshop
In the past, double exposing film was one of the most popular special effects used in photography, and often could be hit or miss. The idea was to combine two (or more) photos into the same image.
In the past, double exposing film was one of the most popular special effects used in photography, and often could be hit or miss. The idea was to combine two (or more) photos into the same image.
The resurgence of interest in film photography is astonishing. Newcomers revel in the challenge of having only a limited number of photos per roll. They enjoy the suspense of waiting a lengthy period for the film to be processed before they see whether their photos have turned out.
Polaroid has announced the Polaroid Now+, a new camera that packs in a ton of new features, but only allows access to them through the company's smartphone app.
Lomography sells a neat accessory for its Lomo'Instant camera called the Splitzer that lets you split your shots with multiple exposures. If you use the popular Fujifilm Instax Mini 90, there's now a "Splitzer" for you.
Our minds are so rarely silent. For those of us with anxiety disorders, the noise is constant. From what we’ll cook for dinner to the specifics of how our lives will end, there’s no shortage of things to worry about. But how does the creative mind function amid all this static?
Belle Ame is an ongoing series by award-winning macro photographer Matt Doogue featuring macro double exposure photos of insects created in-camera.
Photographer Eric Floberg made this 10-minute video showing how he creates in-camera double-exposure photos using a tilt-shift lens, a technique he calls his "creative bread and butter."
Finnish photographer Christoffer Relander shot a mesmerizing and surreal series of photos in which he used multiple-exposure photography to blend views of Hong Kong cityscapes and Scandinavian nature. With a focus on neon signs, the project is titled, "Neonland: Urban Overload."
"Eyes" is a collection of multiple exposure photos by Leeds, UK-based photographer Ben Dauré. What's impressive about the surreal photos of human eyes is that they were created entirely in-camera rather than with Photoshop.
One of the many marvelous photography techniques provided by analog photography is the double (or multiple) exposure of film directly on camera. I've always been fascinated by the possibility of handling the negative from the moment of shooting, and this factor was the key one for me when it came the time to chose a camera.
Tim Gamble is a Manchester, UK-based photographer who uses light-painting techniques to create surreal and abstract artworks. His photos are almost entirely created in-camera, so imagine Gamble's surprise when 500px unexpectedly deleted his account for "posting non-photographic content."
Several years ago I developed a technique that I use for light painting in which I take a king size bed sheet and light paint through it to create my images. I recently created this 10-minute video tutorial explaining in detail how to achieve this creative effect.
I recently shot a series of double exposure photos of the band I Don’t Know How But They Found Me at The Knitting Factory, and they've received a great response. So, I thought it would be worth explaining how I took them!
The artistic effect created by compositing images in a double exposure is certainly nothing new, but the masking techniques learned in constructing this kind of image in Photoshop are valuable in all sorts of post-production. This 9-minute video from Eye Stocker will show you how to combine a portrait of a woman with a photo of pine trees.
If you have a film or digital camera that can shoot double exposures, there's a free do-it-yourself accessory you can use to get creative with the technique: it's the half lens cap.
We love a good in-camera double exposure; done right, they can look as surreal as anything we can create in post. But if you don't have the skills, expertise, or interest in doing it in-camera, this quick tutorial shows you exactly how to fake the 'double exposure effect' in Photoshop.
Photographer Christoffer Relander collects landscapes... literally. Using medium format film, he's capturing some of his favorite landscapes inside mason jars using in-camera double exposures.
We've seen some pretty interesting and quirky photography-themed tattoos in the past—from lens diagrams to a Canon "L" red ring tattoo. But tattoo artist Andrey Lukovnikov's work isn't photography-themed, it's photography-inspired... double exposure photography-inspired to be exact.
My name is Cooper Neill, and I'm a freelance photographer based in Dallas, Texas. I've found that sports photography can be an extremely challenging creative endeavor. At every game, there are several photographers, all with the same equipment, sitting in the same spots along the sidelines. When you're sitting in those same seats in the same arenas several times a week for a few years, it can make work very repetitive.
As a photographer I started seeing the games the same way night after night getting my standard images and nothing else. To get myself out of a creative funk, during blowouts, I started shooting 35mm film, then rewinding the film and shooting over it for a second time - creating double exposures.
My name is Piotr Skoczylas, and I am a surreal portrait photographer. I picked up a camera 3 years ago, and since that moment I knew I wanted my pictures to be something more than just the click of the shutter. I was experimenting for a really long time until I created something I really liked, and with which I could connect emotionally.
Here's a step-by-step look at how I created one of my best multiple exposure portraits using Photoshop.
Scouting the world to find the perfect shot is one of photography’s pure joys. You discover the perfect moment, carefully frame your viewfinder, and press the shutter button. Within a fraction of a second, the world is seemingly pulled in through your lens: striking your film or sensor to create an everlasting impression.
However, what would happen if you fired the shutter a second time and created another impression over the first? You would create a double exposure: two images combined within a single frame. Let’s take a look and see how these artful creations come to fruition through a bit of simple ingenuity.
This starry double exposure-style photograph was made using a single long exposure. Photographer Ted Schiele was 190 seconds into a long exposure photo of the night sky when he heard a car coming down the road. He then pointed his camera down towards the car and exposed the camera for another 13 seconds as it approached.
Florida-based photographer Brandon Kidwell has been working on a lifelong project called "Wisdom for My Children." It's a series of beautiful double exposure photos that resulted from real experiences Kidwell went through while raising his kids. Each of the images "is symbolic of some piece of advice that I gave them," he writes.
The photograph above is for the message: "Being free means having the courage to let go."
Photographer Eric Kunz has created a new iPhone app that makes it easy to create high-quality double exposure photographs using your phone. It's called LiveBlend, and Kunz claims that it's the only app currently in the App Store that does double exposure blending in real time.
In the world of analog photography, "film swapping" is an activity in which two photographers each shoot through the same roll of film, creating random -- and often beautiful -- double exposure photographs in each frame.
dubble is an app that wants to bring that same experience to the world of digital photography. It allows people from around the world to create random double exposure photos with each other.
Being forced to pull a loose, already-exposed roll of 35mm film out at a security checkpoint in a foreign country might seem like a disaster, and in most ways it is, but that's also the circumstance that led to this beautiful image by photographer Gavin Johnstone.
While double-exposure photography all started in-camera – most likely by accident – it’s since become an actual style and genre of photography all its own. And while it can still be done in-camera through film or a number of DSLRs that offer the capabilities, it can also be done in Photoshop. Here to show us how is wedding photographer Andrew Klokow, with a quick and efficient workflow for nailing double-exposures in post-production.
Inspired by the beautiful ink-in-water photography of Alberto Seveso -- who, by the way, we've featured many times on PetaPixel, so definitely check that out -- South African artist and photographer Chris Slabber recently put a spin on ink photography the likes of which we've not seen before.
Using his skills as a digital artist, he combined the genres of ink photography and double exposure portraits to create something that, in the interest of avoiding photography word inflation, is both good and beautiful (but not 'stunning' or 'brain paralyzing').
After sharing Paul Trillo's double exposure-inspired music video for "Be Around" by the folk duo The Peach Kings, several commenters here and on Facebook pointed out that the opening titles for the HBO show True Detective make use of the same technique.
And so we checked them out, and were blown away by the execution on this awesome video. We can see why one reader said that it's the only show she doesn't skip over the titles on.
From NYC-based filmmaker Paul Trillo, whose work we've featured a couple of times before here on PetaPixel, comes a new visual journey in collaboration with Los Angeles-based soul-folk duo The Peach Kings.