Experiments

Blogger is finally working again! Now I can fill you in on the news. Lately I've been diving into a new experiment of mine - digitally "sandwiching negatives". For those unfamiliar with the term, sandwiching negatives is a tecnique used in film photography. Basically two negatives are laid one on top of the other and light is shone through both of them - so both images appear in the same print. The negatives have to be exposed properly so that enough light gets through both of them to make a decent print.

I've been trying to recreate this technique digitally by laying one image over another and adjusting the transparency of the images to my liking. It's a bit different working with positive images rather than film negatives. After I get the transparency the way I want it, I adjust the brightness and contrast to enhance the image. I believe this technique falls into the category of compositing photographs, however I do not use a single element from one photograph and insert it into another, I overlay both images in their entirety, just as if they were two negatives in an enlarger.

I'm sure I'm not the first digital camera user to try replicating the "sandwiched negatives" look, but I am having a lot of fun experimenting with it. I couldn't fall asleep the night I thought of doing this, I was so excited about it.

Many works are still in progress, but you can check out some of my best initial attempts here.