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July 4, 2005

Holga Double Exposures

Double Exposures are a fun and simple way to get artistic and abstract photos. I have been experimenting with taking double exposures with my Holga. It is easy to take multiple exposures with a Holga, you just don't advance the film. The fun thing is you never know what you are going to get. There are a couple things you can do to improve your odds of getting a good image:

1. Try to find high contrast images.
An overall gray exposure sandwiched on top of another gray exposure is going to be twice as muddy. High contrast images will give you stronger detail in the final negative.

2. The image from your second exposure will show up best in the dark areas of your first exposure.
Think about how the light affects the film. For example, consider what would happen if you are shooting a scene of snow with a dark house in the middle for your first exposure. The light from the snow is going to burn out the film almost completely, so when you take your next exposure, no detail will appear in the snow. Since there isn't any light coming from the house, the film will be unexposed there. This is where the image from the second exposure will appear.

3. Choose simpe subject matter
Two exposures means twice as much information on the negative. That means there is a good chance you won't know what you are looking at. If you choose simple subjects, you increase the chance of having a understandable final negative.

I hope these tips help some of you out. Remember to have fun with double exposures. Some times you will get good results and sometimes you won't get anything. Take a bunch of photos to increase your chances of getting some good negatives.

Posted by Adrian at July 4, 2005 3:38 PM