Negative space is the area surrounding your subject that emphasises the shot
Now you may already know a bit about this but if you don’t, this is a very important part of any art form. The positive/negative aspect doesn’t mean good/bad, it just depicts how the main subject in your image blends in with its surroundings.
The positive space is the main focal point of your image and the negative space is whatever surrounds it. The trick in photography, and indeed any art form, is to blend the two perfectly.
Get it wrong and the image won’t “work”. Get it right and the blend should tell a story.
For example, if we take this image of a man and his daughter on a sunny beach, by cropping in too much it doesn’t really do much. The positive space is the people and the negative space is the small amount of sea and beach surrounding them.
But by moving back and using a wide angle lens, we suddenly bring a ton of negative space into the frame…
This adds a whole new dynamic to the image and gives a real feeling of space and solitude.
Now the negative space plays a much larger part in the scene and adds a completely new dimension for the viewer and you can see this space isn’t really “negative” by any means and it adds to the overall scene.
So whenever you are composing an image, look at all four corners of the frame and think about it before pressing the shutter. How do you want the subject to blend with the surroundings?
Can you bring something else into the negative space that will enhance the positive? How blurred do you want the negative space?
Once you understand this, you should be able to dramatically improve your photography and once it really sinks in, you will look at a scene and automatically know how to frame it…a great feeling!
Next Page – Lenses Introduction