How do we show in a photograph the feeling of being in a carnival, an open market or a busy train station? Visions flash in our memories and merge with one another. Perhaps we could let the same happen to our photos and create a multiple exposure image…

This is just what I was thinking a few weeks ago during a trip to Europe and decided to look for a way of doing it in the field, before the sensations of the moment went away. Double exposures in my dSLR camera wouldn’t be enough… Capturing the feeling of excitement of being in a vibrant, colorful place would need merging six or more exposures.

I did a quick search and found OverCam, an App by Studio-307 that can merge up to 10 exposures in real-time, taken while we move the iPhone camera. After a couple of tests I decided it was just what I needed.

My first trial was in the colorful Games Room of a Hotel in Switzerland.  I turned on OverCam on my iPhone… and was immediately amazed by the magic that showed on my screen. I tried panning, shaking and moving the camera in and out. You can see here my first tests.

After a while I thought: what if I merge different multiple exposure images? I added the OverCam images to Filterstorm, an app that can do image overlays… and the images that resulted had an ethereal quality that reminded me of Impressionist paintings or artist’s sketches.

Now I have ways of making two types of multiple exposures: one with more defined shapes, and the other with subtle ones.

I decided to call them “Multiple Impressions” as this is what they make me feel of. I am uploading them to my Instagram account (cropped to a square of course) and people seem to like them a lot.

If you try it, let me know. I’m sure you will come up with some really cool stuff.