Double Play

Here's one multiple exposure technique to have fun with, called Open Flash.

Megan Maher, 12, appears annoyed by her twin image in Chappaqua, N. Y. (© Michael Maher).



The Photo:
The Open Flash technique makes it easy to combine multiple images of the same subject, using outdoor or indoor darkness. Electing to shoot at night, I put my camera on a tripod, set the shutter to the manual setting B, and connected a cable release. After positioning my daughter Megan on one side of the viewfinder, I pressed the cable release to hold the shutter open in the dark, and fired the flash. While continuing to hold the cable release to keep the shutter open, I moved her to the other side of the frame and fired the flash again. I then released the shutter, and came away with a single photo of Megan’s multiple images. Megan helped make the photo much more interesting by appearing to react to her other image. You can enhance this type of photo further by changing the subject’s clothing or even adding a third image.

3 Tips:
1) Open flash is an easy use of outside or indoor darkness to create a multiple exposure photo.
2) Keep the camera still by putting it on a tripod and using a cable release.
3) Place your subject and fire the flash, then move the subject and fire the flash again, to create multiple images in the same frame.