Ok, this has kind of been bugging me for a while. I see the term "negative space" bandied about here, and it's almost ALWAYS in respect to some picture with the subject down in one corner and nothing in the rest of the pic. Is that what most people think "negative space" is, just a bunch of emptiness? Thoughts anyone?
And here is a link to some cool logos.. they're not photos, but very clever. http://www.boredpanda.com/negative-space-logos/
Negative space is the area which surrounds the main subject in your photo (the main subject is known as the "positive space"). It is a very powerful tool when used well.
It may seem corners are used but it is not necessary. (Negative space is the area which surrounds the main subject in your photo (the main subject is known as the "positive space"). Negative space defines and emphasises the main subject of a photo, drawing your eye to it. It provides "breathing room", giving your eyes somewhere to rest and preventing your image from appearing too cluttered with "stuff". ... ignore the objects in the scene altogether and instead concentrate on the gaps between and around them. This forces you to pay more attention to your composition, and helps you see shapes and sizes more accurately.) From http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/understanding-and-using-negative-space-in-photography
@soboy5@jannkc So some people do know what negative space is! Phew! LOL It just bothers me that so many just think if there's a bunch of blank area, that's great negative space, when often it's just a bunch of blank area!LOL
Ok.. so in this pic, for me the negative space is the shapes in the sky around the leaves, but i think a lot of people just think it's all the sky at the top of the pic!
The link Jann @jannkc is a good read. Thanks Jann! I tend to shoot macro a lot ... I really have to practice more on minimalism via use of negative space.
@m9f9l Just quoting the article Jann provided, "Negative space defines and emphasises the main subject of a photo, drawing your eye to it. It provides "breathing room", giving your eyes somewhere to rest and preventing your image from appearing too cluttered with "stuff". All of this adds up to a more engaging composition. "
Your photo above is nice... but am not so sure whether your subject is the sky or the line of flowers. My eyes are more drawn to look at the sky. But then, maybe it's just me.
One of the talented photographers on here that I follow, Amy Spada @aspada , use negative space brilliantly in her composition. Take a look at her albums, a creative photographer, she is. I wish we're neighbors so I can ask her to teach me how to have that artistic "eye". Here are a few examples (and many more!):
Wow Bugik... what a magnificent write-up :) I'd love you as an agent! Actually I love the thought process that you went through and the examples you have shown here. Thanks for choosing my work to do so... I'm very honored.
The words "negative space" always make me think of Matisse's blue on white papercuts - he's not an artist I much care for but those are extraordinary. Another area where it's important and which interests me is typography. It's a concept which is at the back of my mind, but rarely expresses itself forcefully in my photos. A recent exception:
negative space is very dramatic in a wide open space i.e landscape and your point of interest is like a lonely tree or a person in the distance which really shows the scale
@bugik the flowers are a more obvious subject than the cat is in the final example you provide. If there were a bunch of clouds up there, I'd understand your point, but its just blue above the line the clouds at the line of flowers provide, so yeah, the blue is negative space. The first example you give is the PERFECT example of brilliant use of negative space, as the cat is nowhere near a corner or side of the frame, but all that black surrounding the cat, while not overwhelming the subject, definitely draws attention to it.
@m9f9l As a minimalist photographer I have had to learn how negative space to enhance the main subject. I usually prefer to fill whole frame with the subject, but sometimes that is not what works. I share this to encourage you to start seeing negative space as friend instead of an enemy.
@jsw0109 I know very well that her subject were the flowers, not the clouds... but as I said, my eyes were drawn more to look at the sky. And I said again, maybe it's just me. This is the thought-process that I want to emphasize in using the negative space. I know you got my point why I said that and I don't want to say further on why because it may lead to criticize her photo, which I'm not in the position to do so and which I would not do.
I posted Amy's photos as examples on how she brilliantly uses negative space to enhance the main subject. PERFECT examples of brilliant use or not, let's leave it to the subjective eye of the viewer (whew, "Perfect example of brilliant use" is too heavy for me to describe an image being just an amateur photographer).
The picture of the cat up on the stairs to me, is still a brilliant use of negative space. That's my opinion, and let's leave it at that.
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@m9f9l Just quoting the article Jann provided, "Negative space defines and emphasises the main subject of a photo, drawing your eye to it. It provides "breathing room", giving your eyes somewhere to rest and preventing your image from appearing too cluttered with "stuff". All of this adds up to a more engaging composition. "
Your photo above is nice... but am not so sure whether your subject is the sky or the line of flowers. My eyes are more drawn to look at the sky. But then, maybe it's just me.
One of the talented photographers on here that I follow, Amy Spada @aspada , use negative space brilliantly in her composition. Take a look at her albums, a creative photographer, she is. I wish we're neighbors so I can ask her to teach me how to have that artistic "eye". Here are a few examples (and many more!):
@aspada
Wow Bugik... what a magnificent write-up :) I'd love you as an agent! Actually I love the thought process that you went through and the examples you have shown here. Thanks for choosing my work to do so... I'm very honored.
The words "negative space" always make me think of Matisse's blue on white papercuts - he's not an artist I much care for but those are extraordinary. Another area where it's important and which interests me is typography. It's a concept which is at the back of my mind, but rarely expresses itself forcefully in my photos. A recent exception:
Here are some examples from my project..
I thought this was a great example...by @lorihiro
I posted Amy's photos as examples on how she brilliantly uses negative space to enhance the main subject. PERFECT examples of brilliant use or not, let's leave it to the subjective eye of the viewer (whew, "Perfect example of brilliant use" is too heavy for me to describe an image being just an amateur photographer).
The picture of the cat up on the stairs to me, is still a brilliant use of negative space. That's my opinion, and let's leave it at that.