Left – Bisbee, AZ street scene / Right – A private security contractor patrolling an area of the border fence under construction in New Mexico.
I recently shot two rolls of Ektachrome with my double exposure technique. They were shot in the American southwest whilst shooting two very different assignments for the Financial Times and The Economist. (I shot the actual jobs on my usual film, Kodak Portra 400). One job was a travel story around Lake Powell and some other towns in AZ, and the other assignment was much more reportage in nature, having to do with the border wall.
I have increased the contrast in the results slightly here, but it’s important to note that I was using my Leica M3 with an uncoated 50mm Summitar lens from 1942 with the addition of a three or six stop ND filter for most of the shots, so the characteristics of that unique lens are probably just as apparent in the images as the nature of the film itself.
Thus far I’ve been impressed with the new film. It seems to have quite accurate colors, strong contrast and very fine grain, and would probably manage large prints very well. Being a positive film, it doesn’t have the exposure latitude of negative film, and it does require careful and accurate metering. Although I’ve only shot very little of the new Ektachrome, I can tell that t’s certainly a very different type of look then my usual Portra 400.
I haven’t shot positive since about ’02 or ’03, so it’s bit of a revelation to see these sorts of colors on a light table again. I plan to shoot some more double exposures with Ektachrome, but I may switch to a more modern lens to really let the sharpness and saturated colors come through.
Thanks, Michael
My website – michaelturek.com
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I like the pictures themselves, were the double exposures done in camera? Or in post? The linkage of the subjects is interesting, and context is important, so thank you for that. I really like the 5th with the wall bordering the lake.
I think it is irrelevant that you used Ektachrome, but I’m not faulting for that.
If I had a roll or two this early in the new game, I suppose I would take subjects that maximize the color saturation or something, a test, if you will. I haven’t shot slides since 70’s, Kodachrome, being a B&W man, but I am interested in new stuff, so will at least give it a try and probably pay at the top of the early rush, before going back to neg.
Thanks!
How do you do double exposures from an M3?
My technique is to mask half of the lens, shoot through the entire roll, rewind, reload, then shoot through the roll once again, exposing the opposite side of each frame.
Ah ok, i will try it.
I’m not sure how these compositions strike me. I’m an old timey shooter where a proper exposure is tantamount to a good shot. I inadvertently shot one roll of Fuji 50 slide film with the entire roll being double exposed. I always leave the leader out while rewinding. This time I stuffed the roll in a canister, grabbed it from my bag and loaded it back into another camera. The results were unusual to say the least. I guess if this works for you……………..
These are some of the best double exposures I have ever seen. I am also very curious if this was done in camera or later. Again, these really great!!!!
Thanks Steve, yes, these were made in camera.
Great post Michael and thanks for sharing the technique. I’ve tried this with my X100s digital camera and it works well. I found if I mask about 1/3 of the lens on each side I get that nice transition in the middle especially if the lighting is similar in each exposure. I’ll have to give this a try on my Nikon FM2 and hopefully Ektachrome will be available to all of us soon.