double exposure

A Lucky Roll – An Accidentally Double-Exposed Roll

By Alexandre Kreisman

If, like me you are shooting film and shooting film at an event, well as you might know, sometimes you make mistakes.

I recently bought a camera, a SLR and added a motor drive on to it, not really to use it, but just because it had bigger batteries. I ended up using it primarily to rewind the film. The only thing with that method, is that the camera left a small portion of the exposed film outside it’s canister, and in in the rush (and alcohol) I didn’t pay enough attention to what I was doing and ended up shooting the same roll of film back through another camera, thus making a roll of double exposures. As you might know, quite often this ends up badly. At least, that’s what usually happens.

I’m also the kind of person who loves sitting on film not developing it, sometimes for months (unless it’s for a job) and hating the process too. I do it by 8 rolls at the time. So you can imagine my surprise when I scanned this one… …

No, no, no, no, WTF!

Yes, my dear friends, this film is a gold mine of missed opportunities… but, to my happy surprise, it is also one of a few solid keepers.

I am sure not everyone will like them, but some of you might. That aside thought, I also wanted to speak about my routine when shooting, as more often than not, this helps me stay out of trouble. Usually, I have new films in a right pocket of my cargos, and when reloading one of my cameras, I put the used film in the left pocket, thus rendering the possibility of making double exposures by accident nigh on zero.

Except, of course, for this roll…

So, I will let you judge the results, but for my taste, I think was extremely lucky! Please feel free to let me know if you agree, or otherwise!

And… the best for last:

I hope you enjoyed the shots!

Share this post:

Find more similar content on 35mmc

Use the tags below to search for more posts on related topics:

Donate to the upkeep, or contribute to 35mmc for an ad-free experience.

There are two ways to contribute to 35mmc and experience it without the adverts:

Paid Subscription – £2.99 per month and you’ll never see an advert again! (Free 3-day trial).
If you think £2.99 a month is too little, then please subscribe and I can manually edit the subscription value for you – thank you very much in advance if this is what you would like to do!

Subscribe here.

Content contributor – become a part of the world’s biggest film and alternative photography community blog. All our Contributors have an ad-free experience for life.

Sign up here.

Make a donation – If you would simply like to support Hamish Gill and 35mmc financially, you can also do so via ko-fi

Donate to 35mmc here.

Comments

Steve Harper on A Lucky Roll – An Accidentally Double-Exposed Roll

Comment posted: 24/08/2025

Bloody marvelous!
Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Steven Van Worth replied:

Comment posted: 24/08/2025

Very nice accident, I love it

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Alexandre Kreisman replied:

Comment posted: 24/08/2025

Thank you guys!

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Jeffery Luhn on A Lucky Roll – An Accidentally Double-Exposed Roll

Comment posted: 24/08/2025

Alex,

There were some good ones in there!
Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Alexandre Kreisman replied:

Comment posted: 24/08/2025

Hey Jeffery, I'd like to think so too ;o) Thank you for your comment! Cheers Alex

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Gary Smith on A Lucky Roll – An Accidentally Double-Exposed Roll

Comment posted: 24/08/2025

How come my accidents always end up sad?

If only we could plan our accidents...
...of course, then they wouldn't be accidents.

My all of your accidents be good ones Alexandre!
Looking forward to your next post!
Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Alexandre Kreisman replied:

Comment posted: 24/08/2025

Thank you Gary! Sometimes my accidents also are disastrous ....

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Curtis Heikkinen on A Lucky Roll – An Accidentally Double-Exposed Roll

Comment posted: 24/08/2025

I like the results of your accident! These are very interesting. Thanks for posting this!
Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Alexandre Kreisman replied:

Comment posted: 24/08/2025

Thank you Curtis!

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Neal A Wellons on A Lucky Roll – An Accidentally Double-Exposed Roll

Comment posted: 24/08/2025

Yours turned out nicely. I have a fail safe way to mark film as I never rewind the end into the canister. I do it that way so I can retrieve it for loading in a developing tank. When I unload a roll, I bend the leader sharply two or three times to put creases in it. Then, at a glance or even by feel, I know it has been used.
Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Alexandre Kreisman replied:

Comment posted: 24/08/2025

Hey neal, Nice trick, however as i extract with an old ilford excrtactor the film i cannot really use your trick. i just need to be more coutious! Cheers Alex

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Geoff Chaplin on A Lucky Roll – An Accidentally Double-Exposed Roll

Comment posted: 25/08/2025

Some very amusing images! After I finish a film I fold the leader over so its clear that it used.
Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Alexandre Kreisman replied:

Comment posted: 25/08/2025

Hey Geoff I used to do that, however it is difficult with m cameras to feel it, and in the rush you do not feel it at all. Good trick though Cheers Alex

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Erik Brammer on A Lucky Roll – An Accidentally Double-Exposed Roll

Comment posted: 25/08/2025

Fabulous!!
Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Alexandre Kreisman replied:

Comment posted: 25/08/2025

Thank you!

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Michael Flory on A Lucky Roll – An Accidentally Double-Exposed Roll

Comment posted: 25/08/2025

Wonderful results! A friend once talked me into trying a procedure he'd heard about: (1) shoot a roll of film; (2) pass the camera to someone else, who then re-exposes the same roll. I suppose (3) would be to add more people to the chain, but we generated sufficient chaos with just two runs through the roll.
Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Alexandre Kreisman replied:

Comment posted: 25/08/2025

Hi Micheal, How did it turns out ? did you had some good ones ? I read an article here a few month ago about someone shooting leaves and then reshooting the film purposely, i thought that the photos were beautiful! Cheers Alex

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *