Life's Double Exposure

The PSU duck pond

 On the way to engineering design,  I couldn't help but want to go to the famous duck pond on campus.  The first time I went it was... empty.  Not a single duck or duckling.  A week later when I brought my camera (,which must've acted as some sort of bird-magnet,) ducks were everywhere.  They all congregated toward the left side of the pool and almost looked like little stones themselves.  Notice the pillars' reflection in the top right corner of the pond, and, of course, the use of the rule of thirds.  Can you spot it?

So many ducks and I couldn't help but be reminded of a technique I've been trying to use with my instax camera.  Duckle Double exposure.  Simply put, it's taking two photos on one piece of film.  On older instant cameras, taking double exposures is a breeze since you have to manually pull out the film.  Just click the shutter button twice (or more) and then eject the film.  Easy.

Below is an example of one of my first double exposures back at my neighborhood at home, taken with my old accordion-style polaroid.  The standout piece is the sign that warns, "No Motorized Vehicles".  That first exposure was taken in front of a sidewalk with the signpost, while the second picture of the pier lays in the "background".  The old-school black and white film, along with some white "hot spots", gives this photo a particularly ghastly vibe.

"No Motorized Vehicles" Double Exposure

These shots are much more easily processed in older instant film cameras, but by no means is it easy to frame these shots correctly.  Unlike our smartphones and digital cameras of today, instant cameras use viewfinders or rangefinders that give an approximation of the frame of the photo you'd be taking.  Couple this with having to recall exactly where you framed your first exposure?  Double exposures can become tricky.

Flash over to the much more compact and recent Fujifilm Instax series cameras and your given an even worse approximation of your photo with the camera's off-center viewfinder.  Think—you frame a photo "perfectly" only to find that your friend standing on the left is missing his shoulder and half his face.

Moreover, Instax cameras eject film every time you click the shutter button so you have to pop the film cartridge slightly out of the camera then take a photo for you first exposure.  This misalignment ensures the film can't escape through the slot as usual, effectively trapping the film to be exposed once more.  To top it off, you have to use your left hand to hold the cartridge in perfect equilibrium.  Allow the film to pop back into place, and the photo will eject with a single exposure.  Hold the cartridge too loosely and watch all your film go to waste, painfully washed out by the surrounding ambient light.

Basically, you have to be a four-handed Tom Cruise.

Duck pond bridge with leaf overlay Double Exposure

And look at that!  It worked.  The second exposure is faint at best—the bridge and part of the pond in the "background", but I didn't care.  It worked!  For a first try, it's not bad and now I have another technique to experiment with in my arsenal.

Mixing two images is quite the endeavor.  Especially when you think of the endless combinations, it can even seem intimidating.  Uncovering the perfect two components to mold into one unified piece of art is much like finding your calling in life.  It's not easy by any means, but when you find your passion and a career that coincides with that passion, you're guaranteed an amazing result.

Call it life's double exposure.