ICM, Multiple exposure and blended foxglove images - Part 2
After spending time exploring foxgloves using more traditional photographic techniques, I found myself wanting to push things further.
While photographing the flowers on location, I had already started experimenting with intentional camera movement (ICM) and multiple exposures. However, it wasn't until I returned home and sat in front of my computer that the real creative exploration began.
Armed with a collection of sharp images, movement studies and quick record shots, I started blending layers and experimenting with different techniques to create images that reflected not just what I saw, but what I felt while standing amongst that sea of foxgloves.
Exploring ICM
My first experiments involved intentional camera movement. Interestingly, I found foxgloves surprisingly difficult subjects for ICM photography. Their stems are tall, narrow and delicate, which meant simple upward camera movements often caused the flowers to lose their recognisable bell-shaped forms.
Some movements created elongated, almost spear-like flowers. Others, particularly small camera shakes, produced a softer and more painterly effect. The individual stems merged together, creating a sense of movement that felt true to the experience of standing amongst flowers swaying gently in the breeze. I also experimented with zoom and twist movements—what many workshop attendees know affectionately as the "chicken wing" technique. While none of these images particularly excited me as standalone photographs, I suspected they might become useful ingredients in more complex creations later. And I was right.
Multiple Exposure in Camera
As I looked across the hillside, repetition was one of the strongest visual themes present in the scene.To emphasise this, I began experimenting with multiple exposures in camera.
My first attempts used average blend mode, layering nine frames together with small movements between each exposure. The resulting images created fascinating patterns that reflected the density and abundance of flowers covering the hillside.
From there, I switched to darken blend mode and reduced the number of exposures. This immediately intensified the colours and produced much bolder results. By varying composition and movement between each frame, every image evolved differently. Some became abstract patterns of repeated flower shapes, while others retained recognisable forms but gained a dreamlike quality that a single frame could never achieve.
One image in particular became a favourite. Combining several wider shots with tighter compositions created an image full of shape, texture and colour that perfectly captured the overwhelming abundance of foxgloves growing together.
Building Images at Home
Back at my computer, the possibilities expanded dramatically.
One of my first experiments involved placing a blurred foxglove image over a sharply focused photograph. The result was exactly what I had hoped for—a delicate pink veil drifting across the frame and creating an almost fairytale atmosphere. Then I remembered something important. Foxgloves are poisonous plants. That realisation sent my thinking in a different direction. I began researching some of the folklore associated with foxgloves and discovered an array of wonderfully sinister names, including witches' gloves, witches' thimbles, dead man's bells and bloody fingers. Suddenly the dreamy image felt incomplete.
Using the same component photographs, I experimented with alternative blend modes and tonal treatments, creating a much darker interpretation that reflected these folkloric associations. The transformation was remarkable. The same source material now suggested mystery, danger and unease rather than enchantment. It was a powerful reminder that creativity often comes not from new photographs but from new ways of thinking about photographs you already have.
Blending sharp and abstract elements
One technique I return to regularly involves combining sharp photographs with ICM images created from the same subject matter. Using two foxglove images, I used pin light blending mode to merge detail and abstraction together. The results accentuated certain shapes and colours while introducing painterly elements that almost looked hand-drawn.Some areas became richly textured, while others dissolved into pure colour and form. I particularly enjoyed the unpredictability of these blends. Every experiment revealed something different.
Building layers
One of my favourite creations started with little more than an ordinary phone shot taken as a record image when I first arrived. At the time, I made it simply to document the view. Later, that same image became the foundation for a much more complex piece. I layered a multiple exposure photograph over the top, followed by one of my colour blur images. After further adjustments in Lightroom—exploring texture, clarity and dehaze settings—I cropped out the sky entirely. The final image became less about documenting a hillside and more about expressing the feeling of being immersed in colour, repetition and abundance.
Without those quick record shots, the image would never have existed.
Thie fisrt image is the quick phone photo. The next two are additional images that I blended and the last is the final result.
Let Technology Inspire, Not Replace Creativity
My final experiment involved taking one of the foxglove photographs into Nik Analog Efex and exploring some of its multiple exposure presets.
The vintage aesthetic worked surprisingly well. More importantly, it introduced yet another interpretation of the subject. Softness, layered textures and subtle imperfections combined to create an image filled with atmosphere. For me, that is where creative processing works best—not when it dominates the photograph, but when it helps communicate an emotional response to a scene.
More Than Just Foxgloves
Although these photographs were inspired by a single wildflower species, the lessons extend far beyond foxgloves.
Whether you're photographing heather, bluebells, poppies or any other flower display, there is enormous value in moving beyond straightforward documentation. Explore movement. Experiment with multiple exposures. Blend sharp and abstract imagery. Most importantly, allow yourself the freedom to interpret a location creatively rather than simply recording what is there.
Sometimes the most exciting images emerge long after you've left the location.
If you missed the first part of this two part blog post about wildflower photography, you can view it here by following this link https://charlottebellamy.com/photographing-wildflowers/
