Is exposure an elementary physics or the magic of creating a masterpiece?

In photography, it is considered that exposure is the process of irradiating light of any photosensitive element in the camera. In this capacity, it can act as a matrix (for modern devices) and for film (for film).

Correct exposure setting affects how much light gets to the element - and depending on this, this or that result will be obtained. It is important not to overdo it with exposure, because too much light will result in a lighted image, and too little will not allow the object to be drawn - as a result, a dark frame can appear.

The amount of light that hits the sensor is influenced by the size of the aperture, directly the light sensitivity of the element itself and exposure. This all will inevitably affect the final result of the survey.

What is exposure and overlay?

Exposure with an overlay gives an interesting effect: on the same frame appears an image of objects photographed at different times. This reception was well-known to film photographers of the old school, but with the help of modern digital cameras it is extremely difficult to realize it, and exhibiting and combining for cheap "soap boxes" is an impossible task.

This method can be done today in various ways:

• With the help of film cameras;

• Resorting to digital technology;

• Program methods on the computer.

Digital cameras

Only a few modern "numbers" have a function of overlaying two or more frames. Such devices allow shooting in the "green" mode, that is, in fully automatic mode. And in this case, you can not even have any idea what exposure is. It is also possible to do and using the "heaped" smartphones of the latest generation.

But even with the help of quite expensive digital "DSLRs" and even more soapboxes, such a technique as double exposure for imposing two or more frames in one can not be done.

Film cameras

Setting the combination and exposure to the film requires the photographer to have certain knowledge, skills and abilities. The procedure for doing this will be as follows:

• The first frame is made with all necessary parameters - exposure, aperture and so on;

• Then the film is wound exactly one frame back (this is not possible in all cameras);

• A second shot is taken with such a sight that all the elements of the second frame exactly lie on the elements of the first. This requires an accurate eye and a lot of experience from the photographer;

• An important point: to avoid overexposure of the film, the second frame needs to be somewhat "underexposed", setting the shutter speed a little less than under normal conditions.

Further, the film is shown and imprinted in a conventional manner.

As an experiment, you can also simply "snap" the entire film first, and then roll it back into the reel and shoot again. Sometimes this is really interesting shots.

A similar effect can also be achieved if two films are placed in the apparatus at once during photo printing - one frame will be superimposed on the other.

The software method

Finally, all of the above can be done on a computer in many graphic editors. For example, in all the known "Photoshop". And for this, one does not even need to know that exposure is what is associated with light and photocells.

The procedure is as follows:

• The first file opens;

• Then using the drag-and-drop method, the second file opens in the same window, for which you want to apply an overlay;

• If necessary, you can resize the second frame, rotate with special markers along the edges of the second image layer;

• Then you should play the layering and transparency settings in the layer manager on the right.

Nobody argues that modern software "tools" allow you to achieve high-quality and creative photos, but the professionalism of the photographer is too early to write off. Sometimes the well-chosen cadres and a wide experience of shooting create truly masterpieces.