Multiple exposures in digital photography

[photonoob]

I recently ran across the work of a photographer named Michael Frye - he works by taking multiple exposures. Two of his that have really struck me are Sand Dune & Comet Hale-Bopp, Death Valley NP (http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/big.asp?photoID=1063157&catID=&style=&rowNumber=20&memberID=124438) and Saguaro Cacti, Saguaro National Park, Arizona (http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/big.asp?photoID=1063156&catID=&style=&rowNumber=21&memberID=124438). He gets the extreme colour effects by exposing the frame over and over again with brief flashes, fast shutter speeds. Say, the Hale-Bopp picture was built with

1. 1 x two minute exposure to capture the arc of the comet's movement
2. 32 x fast exposures with one side of the dune lit with an orange-filtered flash
3. 64 x fast exposures with the other side of the dune lit by a blue-filtered flash

He got the different colours on the saguaro by doing the same sort of thing - many exposures on the same frame of film with different flashes.

Which is a long-winded way of getting to the question, which is, is there a way of doing something similar - multiple exposures on the same frame - using a digital camera, doing it within the camera rather than in Photoshop? It's a fascinating technique, and one that would be rather intriguing to experiment with, I reckon.

[wulf]

The Nikon D40 lets you combine two raw images together in camera.

However, it does beg the question of why you would want to do this? It would be so much easier to do on a computer graphics package and a decent monitor rather than relying on the computer inside the camera and the relatively tiny LCD screen.

You would still need the artistic vision to come up with a concept like combining two pictures of the dune lit from different sides.

Wulf

[Griffin2020]

The Nikon D40 lets you combine two raw images together in camera.

However, it does beg the question of why you would want to do this? It would be so much easier to do on a computer graphics package and a decent monitor rather than relying on the computer inside the camera and the relatively tiny LCD screen.

One place it is definitely useful is in Architectural photography, where you want the building to be lit externally by sunlight, and internally by artificial lights. I have several skyscraper phots that I did with my N90 in that way. It takes over an hour, and a two or more exposures, but it looks nice.

[wulf]

I can see the point of combining two or more images - that's a cornerstone of the whole "High Dynamic Range" approach to things, which I have dallied with. However, for digital photography, I am not convinced that there is any merit to doing it in camera.

Are there any digital cameras that can combine more than two exposures?

Wulf

[photonoob]

The Nikon D40 lets you combine two raw images together in camera.

However, it does beg the question of why you would want to do this?
Mainly just to try something new, try and push what I can do without going to software manipulation. I like to experiment and try new things.