I first started my Impressions of Light series because I was inspired by some of my BetterPhoto.com students. I began my making single frame exposures with camera motion. That was many years ago. This fall, I am teaching a very talented group of students, and several are using Multiple Exposure techniques with excellent results. So I had to see what I could do. Never really liked the more “nervous” look of most ME imagery, but I had to push myself to experiment.
Here is my first attempt. These trees are right across the street from my house but this was the first time I’ve photographed them. Good color this fall. I used nine exposures blended in Photoshop in very unformulated and random capacities on each layer. Just tried to make it look good. Later, I learned that there was a “proper” formula but I didn’t like the results as much.
I liked the results, but still wasn’t sure that the image was finished. Then, one of my current BetterPhoto students reminded me of the Orton Technique. This version uses this technique, which I feel “completes” the image. Dark and moody tones reflect the emotion of the rainy day scene to me, but the blur softens the overall mood and the edginess of the ME technique.
Enjoy, Bill

January 4, 2010 at 1:11 PM
Hi Rick. I knew Ansel and one of the main things he taught me and thousands of others was to push oneself creatively to find unique points of view. He never wanted his students to make “landscapes Ansel would be happy with.”
BTW, I have used 35mm all of my career, and currently use High res 35mm digital for all of my work.
This link might interest you:
http://www.williamneill.com/blog/index.php/2009/09/ansel-influences/
Cheers, Bill
January 4, 2010 at 12:42 AM
William, get back to shooting your amazing landscapes Ansel would be happy with. Leave this to the 35 ers that cant create what you can.
December 6, 2009 at 10:42 AM
Rose, Thanks for this feedback. We’ll have to download Opera to test since we’ve never used it.
Bill
December 6, 2009 at 7:04 AM
I am experiencing some trouble with seeing your site layout through the latest version of Opera. It is fine in IE6 and Firefox however.Have a really great day.
December 3, 2009 at 3:41 PM
That ME script is fabulous. As a Canon shooter, I stayed away from ME. Just too much work in PS. The script turned me into a ME shooter overnight!
December 2, 2009 at 3:37 PM
Thanks Ed and Brenda. Brenda, did you see Tony’s post for the ME script above? Never did do a film “sandwich!” Slow learner!
December 1, 2009 at 10:14 PM
Hi Bill – Nice result for a first attempt! I like the blend of the Orton Effect on it – have used it myself to soften the stippled effect. It’s a bit of work for us Canon Photographers to create multiples, but I like that we CAN do it, having done this for years with film…
December 1, 2009 at 7:11 PM
Intriguing image. I am fascinated by the dappled effect that you obtained here. Makes for a very different feeling and look than I get from my multiple exposures which tend toward being more linear in nature. Always open to learning new things.
December 1, 2009 at 10:06 AM
Thanks Jay and Rhoda,
Jay, Saw the post last week and have used the script. Thanks for sharing the links. Good to have this option from Uwe. He has lots of helpful info on his Digital Outback site. And thanks to Tony for letting us know about it!
December 1, 2009 at 9:00 AM
This will be a great technique to practice this winter! Thanks for sharing this concept.
December 1, 2009 at 12:19 AM
Hey Bill,
Tony Sweet just made a post. He has a friend (Uwe Steinmueller) who just created a free Photoshop action to do this. You should check it out. Here is the link….Hope you had a great holiday weekend.
Tony’s blog post-
http://web.me.com/tonysweetphoto/tonysweet_blog/Blog/Entries/2009/11/24_Texture_Blending_and_more_Viveza_2.html
And the link to Uwe’s site-
http://handbook.outbackphoto.com/section_photo_tuning_filters/index.html
Look towards the bottom of the page for “Free Scripts”
Best regards,
Jay