Double Exposure in a Single Shot
Finding a new style and discovering its parallels to breathwork
This Satori Stori is about finding something new and looking back on it to see how it parallels other life experiences.
Looking back on this recent photoshoot I was reminded of my exploration into breathwork and what a difference a change in timing can bring to your own awareness.
This adventure builds off the last post here where we found a new creative style through a hero’s journey that relied on more vulnerability and embracing the unknown.
I found a new technical setting that could create an image that I hadn’t seen before, but what I started to immediately realize was that I was in a loss of control of what the image would look like.
With the shutter now pushed to stay open for a whole second, I couldn’t easily convey motion or direction throughout the shoot. I had to trust that the actions she was performing in front of the lens would be a match pair for the motion I had on the other side of it.
We did another shoot to bring more color and dynamism into the style that was previously found. Where the last shoot felt like going on a hero’s journey, this one felt like a more grounded exploration, yet it yielded even more fantastical results.
in search of timing
The new style of images I wanted to shoot requires so much more minute manipulation of lights in the scene that at times it can feel overwhelming.
I can see why I wouldn’t have stumbled across this look in the past, no matter how hard I might have tried.
In a sense these images are akin to a double exposure taken in a single shot. Where there’s one image comprised of the background elements as the camera shutter stays open for 1/4 to a whole second. Then there’s an additional exposed element from the flash right at the end of the shot.
This required a lot of manipulation to get right and balancing the exposure of the general lights in the scene with the pop of the flash strobe right at the end. Not to mention my camera moving around quickly to blur the exposed areas.
What I found though was that it was easier for my brain to conceptualize these settings as finding a rhythm in the scene rather than focusing on each individual element.
If I focused on aperture, ISO, shutter speed, focal lengths, light intensity, flash brightness, or camera motion too specifically it would have an undesirable knock on effect to the other elements. However, if I let my mind relax and just enjoy the experience for what it was, I could feel more innately drawn to the settings I needed.
By treating it more like a serendipitous adventure a single image was able to come into alignment more easily. Mistakes were treated less as errors and more as guide marks to the desired results either by moving faster, bumping up a flash intensity, or slowing down the shutter speed.
In a few second span I could be looking at an image that felt like a hot mess, while the next frame might have the exact desired result. If was too quick on thinking about the next adjustment I might just miss it.
Capturing images with this style was starting to feel like an active meditation, one where I could enjoy the comical errors and revel in the moments that felt just right.
To me, in the moment. The times the images came out of the camera felt like a moment of complete peace, tranquility, action, activation, and expansion.
This feeling was similar, something that I’ve felt in breathwork practices. Specifically ones that focus on continual breathing in and out.
emotional resonance similar to breathwork
I remember one day a little over a year ago, sitting in the smoking shack at a trauma healing center, a friend came up to me to exalt the benefits of a breathwork they had just experienced.
To them, a 30 minute session of continual focus on breathing was able to shift the way nutrients flowed in their body and gave their mind a different focus that allowed stuck patterns to feel less in control.
A release.
An easy practice that I’ve learned sense then is to just give yourself an extended moment of continual breathing. Set 10 - 30 minutes aside to lay down and breathe.
The guidelines are simple
lay down flat
breathe at a normal pace
breathe fully in/out
no pausing in the transitional moments
let your mind wander
if you catch yourself out of rhythm just focus on breathing in/out
repeat
Through its simple and extended nature it begins to shift up thought patterns as more consistent oxygen and nutrients move throughout your system.
Having recently practiced technique the moments of clarity for me that stem from that meditative process feel similar to when I get a shot using this photographic process.
This breathwork strategy brings a more consistent harmony to the in breath and out breath where the photography mixes the motion of a long exposure and the clarity of a momentary flash.
finding something unexpected
Breathwork is about finding a new state of mind to help bring clarity to your daily life. By focusing on something as simple as your breath your mind is able to clear out anything stuck inside of it.
By keeping a non directional focus on breathing in and out consistently you’re letting your mind operate differently to release stored trauma, find new insights, and give you an opportunity to walk away having changed.
In a similar mentality. I’ve had the following image composition on my mind for a while now. Something dynamic, colorful, low contrast, full of life and unexpected little details.
During the photoshoot I didn’t know that I would be presented with two images that were in my head, but there they were. Right in front of me on the camera.
Yes, I could look back on the image to deconstruct the settings that I stumbled on to recreate the look, but more importantly to me, these images represent a feeling within myself.
I don’t need to go in search of lighting to create this tone and look, it’s a quest to find that calm inner peace.
With that, I’m going back out into the world to find more emotive feelings to chase after.
Go out into the world with a mindfulness to bring your meditative practices to your active awareness. Chase after a feeling and an intuition over the results itself. Give yourself time to pause.
By taking a break you might find just what you’re looking for.
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