The double exposure projects are a collaboration between two photographers, a roll is initially shot and rewound back into the can, then sent/given to the next photographer who then shoots over the top of the whole film, giving a random multi coloured collage effect.
To start the process, you begin to load your camera in the normal way.
Post the film leader through the take-up spindle and make a turn to make sure the film is anchored securely.
Next, take a permanent market and mark off both sides of the first frame.
To allow your film enough "exposure" latitude to allow the second shooter to get some good exposures you will need to be shot with a shorter exposure time on the first round. The easiest way is with a LC-A, by just dialing in a higher ISO value.
If you are using 100 speed film, set the ASA dial on your LC-A to 200 ISO, this will give you half the exposure time of the correct setting, 400 will give you a quarter of the time, maybe this is better if you are shooting the entire first roll in very bright sunlight or with a flash.
I think the best option is to vary the conditions that you shoot, possibly changing the ISO dial between frames to get a varied range of exposures.
Go shoot!
After you have reached the final shot on the roll, carefully rewind the film back into the can. When you reach the end of the leader, you should feel the rewind reel go slack. STOP there and open your camera.
You should be left, with an small piece of film (the leader) protuding from the film can. If however you got a little excited and wound the whole length of the film back into the can, no problem, just purchase a "film picker" or "leader retriever" from ebay for a couple of pounds or ask your local lab to retrieve it for you, they have a machine which does the job.
At this stage, you can either choose to shoot the whole roll again in your camera, or find one of your flickr buddies to take part in the second run.
When you load for the second time, you will need to repeat the loading process from the first stage.
Load the film onto the take up, wind it a little way, but keep on looking for the first frame, indicated by the permanent marker lines. In an ideal world, the first frame should appear, but dont worry it it doesnt line up at first.
If the first frame doesnt line up, easy, just press the rewind button on the bottom of your LC-A, hold the film tight in line your cameras frame with the marks on the film, place with your thumb, and wind the film winder (without moving the film) until the shutter cocks.
Its important that you get the first frame in line because as the film advances the images will come out of sync with each other and will end up with half images over different frames (see note 12)
Shut the back, and your ready to continue with the project.
This round, set the ISO dial to the correct setting for the film and shoot away and take the finished roll to your lab for processing.
It may be advisable to mention to the lab that its a double, and to check the negatives before cutting them up, as sometimes the frames do come out of sync, giving a chaotic effect.
A few ideas and tips to help you along ..
1. You might wanna keep to some ground rules such as 1st shooter takes textures, sky, etc whilst the second searches for detail.
Keeping the camera in the same orientation for the run of the roll .. i.e Take all of your shots keeping the camera horizontal. Images with a double axis looks very distracting. But it would be a great idea to run a whole roll of "vertical orientation".
2. Try not to shoot all your shots in a conventional manner, such as centering the subject in the viewfinder, remember 2 people have got to use that film.
3. Bright lights, lens flares, neon lights are all cool, but you are giving the film a little bit of a push into overexposure, which is nothing to worry about, as it adds to the effect, but can often make the second exposure a bit dull.
If you do see a cool lens flare coming off the side of a building, its a good idea to maybe catch the flare on the side of the viewfinder, instead of centering it in the middle of the shot.
Same for neons, backlit signs and computer screens. However, on the second time around it makes a lot of sense to use all the light that you have available to give your exposure a bit of "oomph".
4. Shoot everthing, some good doubles come from mundane shots, such as kitchen sinks or a poster on a wall. Dont think too hard, a perfect compostition maybe exposed away on the second round.
5. One thing i always look for now, is big posters on walls ..
6. Plain blue skies are boring, look for sunsets, landscapes, flower beds or heavy cloud detail .. especially on the first round, they will look good when shot over. Even to shoot a few frames of clouds is great for the second shooter to expose over.
7. If you see something you like .. Keep on shooting .. Remember you are relying on a lot of luck to get the right combination, so why not increase the odds by repeating the best images from your part.
If i find an point of interest such as a heavily spray-can graffitied area, i will run off 36 shots at random within 10 mins and then keep the film for the right day to run again.
8. Vary the content, take images of small detail to landscapes from people pulling funny faces to posters of your favourite boy band.
9. Create a trademark, or a style. I achieve this by walking the same route around town, discovering new images and adding those to my regular images.
BUT An image doesnt have to something you have discovered on a walk about or images of your buddies at a party.
Images from the TV, text on your computer screen or a black and white print on a clear acetate from your printer are all cool things.
Many people would call her the queen of the double exposure .. Maya Newman .. Look at Maya's creations, she combines the first shoot with a second shoot in her own unique style, combining printed graphics, landcapes with self portraits.
10. Texture is always good, especially on the first run.
11. Coloursplash flash and coloured gels can all be used creativly, especially in the second stage. Remember it doesnt have to be dark to use a flash, using a fill flash in the day time will give a nice "aura" and warp the colours.
12. "The Chaos Method" .. Dont bother to mark up your first frame, load and shoot,after taking a shot, press the rewind button on the bottom of the camera and wind the film back a little way (1 quarter turn to 1 full turn) then pass to someone else. The frames may end up out of sync, but thats the point. Let the person shoot over the top, maybe they will add to the chaos, by rewinding the film from time to time too.
NB: Helpful if you have your own scanner, As lab techs dont know what to scan. Ask the lab not to chop your negatives.
13. Dont have a LC-A, then use a XA2 it also has ISO control. Dont have either, get someone to run the first shoot in a LC-A or XA2, then shoot over the top with your favourite plastic toy.
14. Start with an easy film such as AGFA Precisa or Lomo Society X-Pro film. Fuji takes a little bit more thought, and a lot of images come looking like a bag of thames mud, but well worth the effort when you got your technique down.
15.Ignore every point of the above .. Someimes double axis shots do work, small detail such as lettering, its just when you have 2 horizons it looks distracting.
Flickr film swap group
Some of my favourite film swappers / double exposure photographers
(When the photographer doesnt have a doubles collection, i have provided a tag search)
Simon Tomlinson, UK .. Pushing the limits of double exposures to the max.
Fiona, Australia .. Awsome use of Fuji films and multi-lens cameras.
Twiggy, Taiwan
Maya Newman, UK
Toey, Thailand .. SMENA Double exposures
Me!!, Somewhere
Jaypeg, UK .. Great triple exposures, with some handy hints too
Dreifachzucker, Switzerland .. Mr. Prolific
Mr. Trona .. USA .. Insane doubles & swaps, obscure angles, insane shots.
Cherie, Taiwan
Darlene, USA .. Great Textures, Movie stills and clever stuff on a variety of cameras
Have fun!
