Rediscovering the Magic of Double and Long Exposures

Lately, I’ve been falling back in love with the creative side of photography—specifically, experimenting with double exposures and long exposures to tell a story. These were techniques I first learned in my Photography 101 class, but somewhere along the way—amid the push for crisp, high-resolution images and perfectly lit advertising shots—I let them slip out of my routine.

Over the past few months, though, I’ve been revisiting those early lessons. I’ve started incorporating long and double exposures into my shoots again, testing their limits and trying to figure out when they truly work—and, just as importantly, how to perfect them.

My first real experiment was with capturing the movement of water. I packed up my tripod, grabbed my 8-stop ND filter, and headed out to a local creek in early spring, when the meltwater was rushing and alive. The sound of the current was deafening, the light was harsh, and it felt like the perfect setting to slow time down.

With my shutter speed set around 20 to 30 seconds, I started getting exactly the kind of movement I was hoping for—the water smoothed out into elegant, ghostly ribbons, while the rocks and branches stayed tack-sharp. Watching those long exposures render time into texture reminded me why I fell in love with photography in the first place.

Then I brought Julia into the studio for some yoga poses that I could overlay into nature shots. This particular image ended up being a triple exposure, shot entirely in-camera. Combining calm, meditative movement with organic outdoor textures created something that felt both grounded and ethereal—almost like a visual poem.

A few weeks later, I was photographing an event featuring the Skyline Drumline, and I wanted to capture the intensity of their performance. My first few shots, taken at 1/160 of a second, were fine—technically clean—but they lacked the energy and charisma these performers were radiating. So I slowed my shutter down to 1/13 of a second, kept my flash on TTL, and started zooming in and out while clicking the shutter. The result? Images that were alive with motion and rhythm—far more visually stimulating than the static shots I’d started with.

Lately, I’ve also been enjoying in-camera double exposures for portraits, layering faces with natural textures, patterns, and light to tell deeper stories about my subjects. And for something a little different, I even tried it while kayak fishing with friends for an upcoming travel story—experimenting with reflections, water ripples, and candid moments to see how the technique translates outside the studio.

All of this experimentation has reminded me that photography doesn’t have to be perfect to be powerful. Sometimes the magic happens in the blur—the movement, the overlap, the imperfections that make an image feel alive. These techniques aren’t just about exposure; they’re about expression. And for me, that’s what makes picking up a camera so endlessly rewarding.

I hope you enjoyed this post.

For more of my work you can go to www.doskophoto.com

Thanks!

Dustin