One-Minute Reads about Film Photography

Experiments in double-exposure hand-held photography.

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This was an experimental shot that has an interesting vibe to it. Shaky yet sharp. Chicago Chicago.

This effect is a simple double exposure, handheld camera.. The scene was quite bright with the streetlights and theater marque, so getting a suitably fast shutter speed was easy enough.

To get this double exposure:

1. I set the Mamiya 645Pro to “M” multi-exposure. In this mode, the wind crank only resets the shutter without advancing the film.
2. I took the first exposure at normal shutter and aperture as indicated by the built-in viewfinder meter.
3. Holding the camera as steady as I could, trying to keep the subject framed as in the original exposure, I closed the aperture by one stop and carefully wound the crank to reset the shutter.
4. The next step is crucial for this effect: I shifted the focus to give the image additional depth.
5. I waited for some people to walk in front of me, and took the second exposure.

I knew the images would not be perfectly aligned, but that was not my objective. I wanted to show some abstraction of movement in the image. The Cinestill 800T stock introduces a natural red halation on some of the bright lights for added texture.

• gregory gammon / www.vinylfye.com