double exposure

Noun

double exposure (plural double exposures)

1. A photograph produced by exposing film or some other photosensitive surface to focused light twice, usually by opening and closing a camera shutter two times, thereby generating a picture consisting of two superimposed images.
   • "The secret of all successful double-exposure photography may be expressed in one word—exactitude," said Georges Benoit, cameraman for Richard Walton Tully in The Masquerader.1922 April 9, “Cameraman Talks Double Exposure”, in Los Angeles Times, retrieved 11 Aug 2011, page III-38
   • A double exposure from the 1960's seems to make explicit some of the implications of Cunningham's own early plant studies. In it, ghostly hands appear on top of the image of an aloe plant, with fingers and fronds jumbled together, all outstretched and reaching.1995 October 13, Charles Hagen, “Photography Review”, in New York Times, retrieved 11 Aug 2011
2. The process of producing such a photograph.
   • I've used double exposures to capture ghosts on film, to photograph two of me playing ping pong, and to capture a time-lapse shot of a birthday cake new and half-eaten in the same frame.2004 April 13, Dave Johnson, “Digital Focus: Double-Exposure Tricks”, in PC World, retrieved 11 Aug 2011