the option to include more elements in a photograph than what's available in a single scene. For example, you could create an image that shows the sun and the moon at one time. Your ability to control your message is maximized with this technique.
Photo-editing software has taken the idea of multiple exposures and collages to a level of perfection that gives you 100 percent control. Taking two separate images and placing them together in postproduction provides far more precise results than trying to do so in camera.
In this section, you discover the concept of creating multiple exposure look-alikes and collages. See Chapter 18 for further details on postproduction improvements and techniques.
Mimicking a made-up scene With multiple exposures
Sometimes a single scene doesn't provide enough information for your photograph's intended message. Perhaps you like the subject but would prefer a background that was more supportive of the way you perceive that subject. To provide such a background, photographers often use multiple images and composite one on top of the other during postproduction.
When you create a multiple exposure on film, the separate images stand out based on how they were exposed in comparison with each other. The process is technical and requires proper planning — or luck. When creating multiple exposures in digital photography, however, you can simply shoot each
image as its own photograph and then combine them with photoediting software. Combining photos with computer software gives you more control over how much visual impact each photograph has in your final image. It also enables you to position everything with precise detail.
When combining images, think of the final image as a puzzle. The elements of each image combine to create one composition and one message. Fit the various elements into your frame according to the rules and ideas that I discuss in Chapter 5 and throughout this book. If you want to know more about the technical process of exposure, check out
Some concepts that photographers commonly apply when combining multiple images include the following:
You need a camera that shoots very fast in order to capture a fast-moving subject in this way. Ten frames per second usually gives you enough frames to work with, but anything less than that may not be quick enough to provide a complete sequence. After all, if the action only lasts for a second and your camera can only shoot three frames per second, you'll only have three images to use in the final image. And that number of images wouldn't be very descriptive as to what happened in the one second.
around town, you would convey the message that you can find a lot of places to get a drink in the city.
Suggestive backgrounds or supported elements: If your subject is not supported sufficiently by its environment, you can add details by creating a multiple exposure, like the example in Figure 17- 5.
I came across the bird in Figure 17-5 in my backyard one morning. It was lying on a piece of wood and seemed so peaceful, as if it randomly fell out of the sky in the middle of a pleasant thought. I didn't want to move the bird to a different location, but the wood bench it was positioned on was too harsh to tell its story alone. By compositing an image of the sky onto the scene of the bird, I was able to give a sense of the bird's more natural environment, which contrasts with the wood. Without the sky, this image would be a literal depiction of a bird that has fallen onto a hard, wooden surface. With the inclusion of the sky, this image is more of a tribute to the life of the bird.
Figure 17-5: Composite images help to say more about a subject by including multiple descriptive backgrounds.
Creating collages
Before digital photography, if you wanted to make a collage you had to cut out images from your photographs and paste them onto a board to create a compilation that conveyed your message. The collage could showcase your childhood, your summer at camp, your trip to Arizona, fashion, or whatever. However, with the advent of digital photography and photo-editing software, you no longer need scissors or paste to create a collage. Even better, you don't have to destroy any photographs. Plus, you can alter the sizes of different elements in the collage very easily. Chapter 18 gives you the technical details you need to use computer software in this way.
You can approach composing a collage from various angles. You can either create a clean composition that has a clear purpose, or you can create one with many different messages. I explain each approach in the following sections.
To create a clean composition that conveys only one message, you place the important elements in areas of strong compositional relevance based on the rule of thirds (see Chapter 5 for details). You choose to include elements because they have a clear purpose and work together to provide a cohesive message.
For example, you may create such a collage as a flyer to advertise an event or show, as pop art (like Andy Warhol's popular reproductions of Marilyn Monroe), or for a model's comp card. A
Figure 17-6: The back of a model's comp card.
Another type of collage is one that's chaotic and serves the purpose of many messages at once. You would most likely find this type of collage on the wall of a high school student or in someone's scrapbook. The design can be free and doesn't have to follow any rules of composition. However, if you're experienced with creating good compositions, you most likely apply certain design principles to this type of image without even thinking about it.
When putting together chaotic compositions, arrange the elements so they fit together and have a sense of flow. Try to make a balance between the various elements in your collage based on the ideas discussed in Chapter 12 on creating harmony out of chaos.
