10 multiple exposures on Nikon d750

[Draken]

I have read somewhere it is possible to create a photo by overlapping 10 multiple exposures in-camera (specially with prosumer, FX cameras such as the Nikon d750). However, the menu allows up to 3 exposures. The 10 multiple exposures are particularly useful to take photos in crowded areas and make passer-byes disappear.

Does anyone have some experience and can share some tips on this field?

Thanks in advance

[Lady GooGoo La La]

I dont have any info on that technique, but using an ND400 filter and something like 2-4 minute exposures can make moving objects disappear.

[Draken]

Thank you Lady. Excellent option.

[Lady GooGoo La La]

More fun options include:

• hide a dead stinky animal in a paper bag, close to photo target.
• a roll of police tape "Crime scene DO NOT CROSS" to cordon off the area. Move along, move along, nothing to see here, just a few more shots.
  

[Kevin Childress]

Draken wrote:

I have read somewhere it is possible to create a photo by overlapping 10 multiple exposures in-camera (specially with prosumer, FX cameras such as the Nikon d750). However, the menu allows up to 3 exposures. The 10 multiple exposures are particularly useful to take photos in crowded areas and make passer-byes disappear.

Hello, Draken. Is that what you're trying to achieve? I mean, to capture multiple images in crowded areas and somehow remove people that walk through the frames?  The D750 does have the multiple exposure feature, and as you say the limit (as far as I know) is indeed 3 exposures in the multiple exposure mode. But I don't think that's what you're after. The multiple exposure mode is specifically designed to overlay all the images which would overlay all the people that walked through the frames. It isn't intended to remove any content at all.

The D800/D810 (and probably all Nikons upward of these) do offer up to 10 frames in the multiple exposure modes.

The only way I know how to achieve this is to manually overlay the images as a layer stack and manually blend the images. 

[Draken]

Hi, Kevin.

Yes, my intention is to remove people that walk through the frames (or at least leave that ghost-like trail of some of them walking). In the meantime I have found out that I should try the following:

1. Select multiple exposures.

2. Select ON (single photo).

3. Select Auto gain.

Afterwards

1. Select interval timer shooting.

2. 9 exposures.

3. Select time interval between each exposure.

I haven't tried it yet in crowded areas but I think it should work. And it will be very helpful to use a ND400 filter as to make each exposure a long exposure as well.

I wish I had a photo mate at hand to try this together.

Thank you for the input!!

[Kevin Childress]

And I wish I could be the one to try it with you! 

I'm probably misunderstanding something here. You should try this but here are the problems I see: It sounds like you're trying to activate two different capture modes at once (Multiple exposure mode and Interval Time Shooting mode).  I don't see how the two modes can mix. When you set the Multiple Exposure mode to "single photo", this only means that you want to create one in-camera composite instead of leaving the Multiple Exposure mode on indefinitely. When you enable the Multiple Exposure feature, you must set the "number of shots" to 2 at the minimum. That's the whole idea behind the Multiple Exposure capture mode - it requires a minimum of two exposures to be able to blend them in a single "multiple exposure" image. Having said that, if you enable Multiple Exposure mode, you will get an in-camera composite (a double exposure) that will be a single file that can not be separated in post processing. So if anything moves between those two frames, that movement or change in position will be recorded in a single exposure and you're stuck with it.  

If you insist on using automated features in the camera, to do what you're suggesting, the Interval Timer Shooting mode is probably your better option (forgetting Multiple Exposure altogether). But once you have those 9 images, you still have to blend them together some how which leads you back to a layer stack in Photoshop manually blending the images to replace people in each frame with other parts of other images. Before activating the Interval Timer mode, go ahead and set your exposure manually as you normally would and leave the camera set to Manual. The camera will then use that exposure setting consistently across all 9 frames. Also set the focus before activating the intervalometer and then switch the camera to manual focus so there is no chance of the focus changing between each frame.

Buddy, if I were trying to do this, I don't think I'd use any automated features and would try the captures manually. The post processing is the most difficult aspect of this. So I don't think I'd leave it to chance for the camera to capture whatever it sees based on a set interval. 

Beware of long exposures with this. I understand the idea behind a long exposure 'dissolving' the appearance of a solid person, but there will be ghosting nonetheless. If you have multiple overlapping ghosts across 9 frames, eventually that ghosting will build up into a 'solid mass' and that's going to create a muddy mess when you try to composite the images. 

I hope your idea above works and I'd love to see what you come up with!

[© Tom Cooper]

I have used Registax with Sigma Limiting turned on, in order to remove people from images.  This is an example: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/11748055 (ignore the quality issues as this was a long time ago and using cheap equipment).

 

In this image, three of the 8 images had a woman in them.  She walked up to the top of the waterfall, looked over the edge, and walked away.  Registax was able to recognize those parts of those three images were different enough from the average that they did not belong, and I didn't need to do anything to remove her.  She was gone, and I didn't have to do anything.

 

Tom