Beyond the Limits of Reason

 

 

 

 Six exposure in-camera multiple-exposure. Flower of the pumpkin vine.

This image originated as an in-camera double-exposure, that I immediately cropped, duplicated, horizontally rotated, and then paired flush to the original.

 

 Ten in-camera multiple exposures on a single file. Camera rotated 360 degrees during sequence of exposures. 

 

 

Both of these images was created with a Nikon D810 and a 105 njkkor macro, utilizing the in-camera flash as a fill-in to lighten the shadows and cunteract camera movement. The lens also has a vibration-reduction setting, which I used during these hand-held exposures in the late afternoon.

 

This is an in-camera, quadruple exposure. Photographed May 3, 2025.

A strange realization that this image resembles an interior 'vision' I had days earlier washed over me when I stared at my computer monitor screen, having clicked "save image" hours earlier. I believe I encountered this image in a remarkably specific and visually-particular daydream a few days before I made the in-camera quadruple-exposure that served as the source image of this final version. 

These are a few images which are emerging from a small group of multiple-exposures I made during two short photography sessions over two days. During late afternoon, in open shade, I used a full-frame dslr with a 105mm macro, at F8. The camera I use has a built-in flash that I find extremely valuable in situations like this. Handheld, at shutter speeds between 1/200 and 1/60, using the TTL flash and sometimes the lens' vibration-dampening ('VR') setting, about fifteen exposures were made in total. All the images were of the exact same dandelion. Each image is actually an in-camera multiple exposure: the first day's images were triple-exposures, while day two switched the setting to quadruple-exposures. This image is from day two. It is an in-camera quadruple-exposure.  The shadows in this photo have been toned a slight orange-red, while the highlights and midtones are a considerably warmer yellow/ivory "gray". More images to follow.

 

 Candy cigarettes came to mind as I stared at these two works on my computer screen.Nikon D810 w/ 85mm Nikkor PC. Lit with LED lightbar through diffusion screen, 6 sec exposure.

 

 

After having finished editing these two photos, I've come to the conclusion that they remind me of the way that a specific memory changes over time, just as the historical record changes as years go by,  and that things which once originally seem ideal and solid  inevitably become abstract and faded. or perhaps more gently and elegantly stated,  MY INEVITABLE REFLECTIONS UPON THE PARADE OF ENTROPY. Both images were created using a +10 year old Nikon D7100 dslr (35mm 'cropped-format' or 'dx') and a 24mm lens of even earlier vintage. The top image, in black-and-white with its' magnificent  doubravatone finish, is a seemingly 'simple' in-camera, traditional, multiple (triple) exposure. The color image below is an in-camera 'image-overlay' of an in-camera triple exposure and an in-camera double -exposure. The D7100 produces 24 mb RAW files.These reproductions here of course are much smaller jpegs, by necessity.

These multiple-exposure photographs were made with a full-frame 35mm dslr with an older 85mm pc lens. The front element of the lens was swung away from the "film-plane" to the maximum extent allowed. The lens was either wide open or just no smaller than f4.5. A small amount of grain has been digitally added, to increase the perceived sharpness.

The total number of exposures on each one of these images was either five, or six, depending on the photo. They were shot hand-held, using the multiple-exposure mode on my dslr, which allows one to shoot multiple exposures on the same digital file, in the camera, without mandatory post-production.

 

 

 

 These images are four exposures each. Same buildings. Top frame with 20mm on APS format, the bottom to images were made with 85mm PC on full-frame 35mm digital.

 

 This image began as a triple-exposure, which was then duplicated four times and arranged to complete the final work. 

 

In-camera double-exposures using 85mm p.c. lens on full-frame digital 35mm camera.