Multiplicity Photography

Digital cameras open up a whole new world of post-processing options, such  as the above example of what is considered "multiplicity photography."  For a brief how-to and a link to some spectacular examples click below.

Multiplicity photography is something I've enjoyed ever since my family got its first point-and-shoot 2 mega-pixel camera years ago.  Multi-exposure images like this have been around for longer than Photoshop, but the ease with which you can manipulate images digitally makes multiplicity shots available to the masses.  All you need is a digital camera, a tripod (or some way to lock your camera into a fixed position), and some image processing software.

The mechanics of taking these pictures aren't any different than what you would normally employ for any type of photography.  It is important to note, however, that two things are slightly more important for a multiplicity: exposure, and camera position.  Obviously if you're planning on a multiplicity you need to ensure that your camera doesn't move from shot-to-shot.  Grab a decent tripod and you should be fine.  Theoretically a multiplicity can be composed of as many images as you fancy, so making sure that each shot is at the same exposure is highly important.  Staying on top of this can both make your end result more believable and make putting the shot together in Photoshop much simpler.  Composing your shot outside makes this more apparent since naturally occurring changes in light levels will happen.

Once you have compiled a series of images the next and final step is combining them.  I use Photoshop, but any image processing software should do the job. Combining your shots can be done a few ways.  Probably the simplest involves copying one image, pasting it over the other, and using an eraser tool on the top layer so that the multiplicity is visible.  Using actual layers and/or layer masks adds complication but lets you have more control over the final product.  If your shot is complex and uses, say, more than 4 images, I would recommend the layers method.  For users unfamiliar with layers in Photoshop, here is a useful link:
Understanding Layers:

One great thing about multiplicity photographs is that you don't need an ultra fancy setup.  As long as you have the camera, tripod, and software, you're good to go. Give it a try, and have fun!

Check out this link for more examples!