“…I want to express to the readers of this article that using the multiple exposure technique is very addictive,” says photographer Ester van Overbeek to the Phoblographer in an interview. “However, I can think of addictions that are much worse to have.” Esther’s work is truly something special to behold. She does multiple exposures in camera and sometimes does a bit of editing in Lightroom. The images are painterly and show fascinating takes on nature that we don’t see anywhere else.
All images by Ester van Overbeek. Used with permission. Please follow her on Instagram and her website.
Table of Contents
How Esther van Overbeek Got Into Photography
Esther describes herself as a late bloomer — and proves that it’s never too late to start something new. She’s 53 years old now and got into analog photography over 25 years ago. First, she started out with macro photography and then landscapes. Eventually, she bought a Canon 70D. That’s when she still used to capture instead of create. But after reading an article about the creative approach, she was intrigued. “I wanted to put more of my feelings and emotions into my photographic work,” she shares. “I found out that my Canon 70D had the ability to take multiple exposures, and I started trying out a bit myself. When someone on Instagram posted a comment to a photo I had posted saying I was using the ‘Pep Ventosa technique,’ I thought, ‘who or what is that?'” After some internet research, she started to dive into it even more.
She stuck with the 70D because it could handle up to 9 multiple exposures. Esther later upgraded to a Sony a7r II and then a Canon EOS R6. “I was curious whether that camera (Sony a7r II) could also handle multiple exposures,” she expresses. “It turned out it could, but I had to buy software to do so. I did, but unfortunately, my Sony can only handle up to 2 exposures at a time.” This made her switch back to Canon. She combines it with a 24-105mm, 100-400mm, and Kase filters.
Indeed, the lack of multiple exposure modes in Sony cameras is something that we complain about often here.
Sure, you can merge images in Photoshop. But she doesn’t want to do that. And it’s becoming more and more important for photographers to make their images in-camera.
The Creative Process
“In my creative work, trees usually get the starring role,” Esther tells us. “Trees wait patiently and change every season. Moreover, every tree is different. For me, this makes them ideal subjects to photograph.” She can become totally absorbed in the first when she takes pictures. And for this, Esther explains it best:
I can become completely absorbed in a forest. Sometimes I have gloomy thoughts in autumn and then I love to take dark photos. I then usually make these creations with the “Dark” option. The dark pixels in the frame are then given priority over the lighter pixels. In the beginning, I usually made 9 exposures, but sometimes the result is far too dark. Making 4 or 5 exposures can be very alienating as well and is preferred by me.
Ester van Overbeek
Blossom trees in spring again lend themselves very well to a more impressionistic look. I love the paintings of Monet and Van Gogh immensely, so I love using that art as inspiration. I made a multiple exposure of lily pads with 1 of Monet’s paintings in mind for example. Furthermore, I usually make multiple exposures of 1 blossom tree, taking a step left or right with each exposure I make. For each exposure, it is important to keep the focus on a pre-selected point on the trunk of the tree. The tree trunk is then fairly sharply delineated, but the blossom fans out in a romantic way and then it sometimes seems to rain blossom. I really like to create a romantic fantasy world . As to the multiple exposure settings, I then usually use the “average” option and if there is little light I use the “additive” option. With the “average” option, the camera calculates the average exposure per pixel. With the “additive” option, all exposures are added together, so you can take each exposure considerably underexposed. This is because with every additional exposure, the final result becomes lighter and lighter. So here you need to think carefully in advance about how many exposures you are going to take. The more exposures, the more you will have to underexpose each one.
Esther sees more than she looks — by that we mean that she envisions what the final image will look like and tries to connect her technical side and artistic side. The artistic side is the endpoint, and the technical side is the journey. She spends at least half an hour at a time to get the final result she wants. Sometimes she’ll even redo entire photographs layer by layer. It’s led Esther to various experiments. “When it does succeed, it naturally gives an enormous boost and positive energy.”
Thoughts on AI Imagery
Esther’s viewpoint on AI imagery is rather negative, she tells us. She admits that there are benefits, but she’s wary of it for the creative industry. “We will soon no longer need to use the creative part of our brain because AI can figure it out,” she expresses. “What can sometimes take me hours to create, AI may soon be able to do so in seconds. But either way, I will continue to pursue photography, because there is nothing more satisfying than being in the field making a creation that I envisioned.” For her, AI can’t give her emotional satisfaction.
AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT
The Phoblographer works with human photographers to verify that they’ve actually created their work through shoots. These are done by providing us assets such as BTS captures, screenshots of post-production, extra photos from the shoot, etc. We do this to help our readers realize that this is authentically human work. Here’s what this photographer provided for us.