4 Ways to Get Creative with Digital Double-Exposures

In-camera inspo for natural grain, mixed media & more.

Double-exposures with digital cameras are IMHO truly overlooked and underused. I’m always surprised when fellow Ricoh GR users — or Fuji, Sony, etc — haven’t used this feature yet on their cameras. I rarely edit photos and generally like to work straight-out-of-camera (SOOC), so double-exposures give me a great way to play and experiment in the moment.

Whenever I host or attend photowalks/meet-ups, I always find myself excitedly showing someone how to do this — and love to see people unleashed when they start playing with it.

Here are some of my favorite techniques for you to try:

Analog grain and texture.
Mixed media collage.
Graphical street photography.
Creative portraits.

All photos in this post were taken with my Ricoh GRIII.

#1 Analog grain and texture.

Grain is a beloved aspect of analog and vintage-style photography. While there are digital filters (in-camera or post) that can apply the effect, why not get creative and sample (like a DJ) your real-world analog environment?

Take a photo of a texture and then your main subject. For the resulting (3rd) photo below, I used concrete for a simple uniform texture — but get out there and see what cool textures you can find on walls, trees, or sidewalks.

#2 Mixed media collage.

Paint a picture, handwrite a poem on a piece of paper, or draw a sketch — then take a picture of that art + another subject.

Here’s an example where I used a quick watercolor postcard to add a moody effect to a city background:

Watercolor painting + city scene. Tokyo, 2024.

#3 Graphical street photography.

Take photos of typographic or other graphic design elements, e.g. signs or posters, to add a sense of place and the local environment to your shots.

#4 Creative portraits.

I like to make portraits of my artist friends by taking a headshot + something that inspires them or their workspaces:

Another idea is to capture a sequence or movement of a single subject. Note here also the differences between shooting against a light vs. dark background:

Your turn

Which of these techniques do you like the most or want to try?
What are your own favorite double-exposure tips or examples?

…

Thanks as always for reading and inspiring me.

⎡JILL⎦

Posted in Uncategorized

2 responses to “4 Ways to Get Creative with Digital Double-Exposures”

David A. Rosen

July 14, 2025

Jill, thanks for summarizing the types of double exposures. I have been playing with double and triple in-camera exposures. Are these all in-camera or using something like Photoshop?

Reply
1. JILL.PHOTOS
  
  July 15, 2025
  
  Thanks for reading. Yes, these are all in-camera — I sometimes do composites in post, but love the liveliness, challenge, and results of doing it in the lived moment.
  
  Reply