Dark Photography School

In the old days, you could get a multiple exposure photo by opening and closing the shutter while not advancing the film. While I’ve heard that there does indeed exist a digital SLR that can do this, my ancient beast isn’t one of them. When looking up the topic when I first upgraded to digital, most examples I found were using post-production (Photoshop) to do this. I’m going to show you how to do this using a hand-held flash unit (Canon Speedlite 430EX was used in the examples below), some colored gels, and a tripod.

EXIF: 200 ISO, 30 sec., f/6.7, 17mm focal length, flash on

For this particular type of photography, you want to stay focused on the exposure time rather than the aperture. You will need at least 4 seconds to get a double exposure, as seen in the photo above. I tend to stay in the 15-20 second range, depending on the amount of available light. The camera setting I recommend most is Tv, or Shutter Priority. This mode allows you to change the exposure length while automatically adjusting the aperture. It’s a delicate balance trying to determine the proper length of time to leave the shutter open. You will need enough time to reposition the flash and/or wait for your subject to move. On the other hand, if you leave the shutter open too long, the subject may barely be visible, even if you popped them with the flash. It is also important to hand hold the flash unit. Not only does light from above look more appealing and real, but it’s more difficult to pop the flash twice during one exposure when mounted to the camera (with my setup, at least).

Taking simulated multiple exposures can be very tricky. If you are using your friends as subjects, they may soon tire of retaking 10-20 second exposures while you get the hang of the delicate balance of over versus underexposure. I would recommend starting with yourself first. The image below is a self-portrait inside of an abandoned electricity plant in West Virigina.

EXIF: 200 ISO, 20 sec., f/6.7, 27mm focal length, flash on

Once you get the hang of moving around or having your subject move around, you can experiment with using different colored gels covering the flash to paint the same subject in multiple colors in the same image.

EXIF: 800 ISO, 51 sec., f/6.7, 36mm focal length, flash on

This was taken with the camera on bulb mode, meaning that a remote release cable held the shutter open for an indefinite amount of time. I didn’t measure it in seconds (which is the right way to do it), I just winged it and happened to get lucky.
Many seasoned and experienced photographers will moan and groan at the “shotgun approach” where you essentially throw stuff at the wall until you find something that sticks. I call shenanigans on them all. The only way to learn new things and go places in photography that haven’t been seen a thousand times is to try weird things and keep trying until you find something that looks good.
That being said, I highly recommend knowing the basics (aperture/shutter speed/iso) before attempting to experiment with night photography. Digital pictures won’t cost you anything, but you will save yourself lots of time if you have them down.