Who can pass up a freebie? Not me, and as a result I’ve got some apps on my iPhone that I’ve barely had a chance to play with, like so many rough diamonds hiding in the rough. A recent trip to the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Force Base gave me a chance to goof around with one such app called Fusioncam which allows you to create double exposure photos. I downloaded it for free during its first week but it’s currently only $1.99 USD in the app store.

Since it’s inside and free, the AMC is a place we visit pretty regularly. It’s a great place to explore with children or anyone who is interested in history or aircraft. Housed in an old hangar, the museum is filled with vintage WWII and Vietnam era planes, historic uniforms and other memorabilia that tells the story of aviation in the 20th century and more specifically the story of Dover Air Force Base. Outside on the tarmac you’ll find a whole fleet of retired aircraft ranging from a small helicopter to large transport planes, some of which you can climb inside.

I’ve taken many pictures at the museum, especially with my iPhone. Inside the museum it’s dark, making a good film camera shot hard to obtain while trying to follow my family around. During last week’s visit I decided to do some serious experimentation with Fusioncam along with some of my newer Hipstamatic lenses. I’ve gotten some interesting results so far with Fusioncam but nothing I’d consider spectacular. Here’s a couple of shots I took earlier this month.

The pictures that stood out for me in these first few sessions were the first, third and fifth. Results were much nicer to my eye when double exposing using the same subject with the camera turned or flipped. I have yet to get really good results overlapping two completely different subjects. Maybe if I use the flash in the future? Fusioncam does come with a flash on/off switch.

Here are some of the best shots from inside the museum

I like how the double exposure creates a sense of motion

When I snapped the final shot I realized I had something. There were lots of lines and shapes to play with on the airplanes and exploiting them by tilting the camera gave me some very cool abstract shots. Another nice future of Fusioncam is the ability to compose your double shot before snapping the photo. First, you take a picture within the app then move a slider on the screen from 1 to 2. This will make your first exposure appear faintly in the viewfinder so that you can tilt the camera until you finally get the look you want. Press the shutter then move another slider from ‘camera’ to ‘gallery’ mode and view your finished photo. You can then choose to save it by pressing the ‘develop’ button.

Outside on the tarmac I went crazy…

These two are my favorites of the day

At the end of the day I stumbled upon one of the coolest things about Fusioncam….it’s ability to make triple and quadruple exposures! Just pick your double exposed shot as your background and go to town like I did in these photos….

Double shot

TRIPLE shot!

Double

TRIPLE!

Now that I’ve unlocked some of the power of Fusioncam, you can bet I’ll be using it more and more. The only criticism I have is that it is often difficult to toggle the tiny sliders, especially at the bottom of the screen when moving from ‘camera’ mode to ‘gallery’ mode. There were a few times when it took me a full minute to get it to switch, and I have small fingers. God help you if you have banana fingers. Hopefully this can be tweaked in future versions but it’s not going to stop me from doubling and tripling everything in sight!