Project 52 - Week 39: Negative Space

This week, I'm going to once again simplify the text quite a bit.  To be honest, I really did not like the photograph that we were presented with as an example in our text.  Yes, there was a lot of negative space in the photo, so it was a very good example of that, and it was very artsy--something you might see blown up and on the wall in the foyer of a gallery as you enter--but, it wasn't my favorite image of a crane.  However, we each see and interpret things in our own way, and that's something that translates to negative space as well.

Simply put, negative space is all of the rest of the space that surrounds your subject.  It doesn't have to be totally empty (it can have texture or "things" in it), and how you use it will push the eye of the viewer to rest on your subject, but in a nice way...in a peaceful, restful way.  Negative space helps your subject stand out.

I have a horrible, no good, very bad head cold, so I have not been out and about that much.  You might say I have negative space in my head.  I did take a new image this week, as I visited a shelter/rescue, and you will see that soon, but while commiserating with my 9000th cup of hot tea, I looked back over old images and found that I like using negative space.  Here are some examples from the beach two years ago.

I have used the water and sand as my negative space to surround my subject.  In the first image, the lapping waves balance out the subject on their own.  In the second image, leaving the frisbee in the photo provides some balance while not distracting from the main subject.

In both of these examples, the negative space isn't filled with things.  Just water and sand.  But that doesn't mean that the negative space cannot be filled with items.  How about if we fill it with greenery, for instance, in the scene below of a dog hunting in a field?

Negative space DOES HAVE visual weight.  So you have to be careful with it.  Negative space can also help you get across a feeling or emotion.  I will often use this space in shelter and/or rescue photography for two reasons: (1) to heighten a feeling, look or emotion in the pet I am photographing or (2) to give me space to add some written words on the photograph.  So my final set of photographs, below, will show you a photo I took at a shelter last weekend.  There are "things" in the photo besides the subject.  First look at the photo on its own.  Do you see an emotion?  If so, what is it?

Here is the feeling I thought this photo conveyed.  Do you agree?

Negative space is yet another tool we can use to make an impact on the viewer.  This lovely dog is still up for adoption at True Friends Animal Rescue near Montrose, PA.

And now to see what others have done with their negative space, head to the blog circle.  Start with Kim Hollis of BARKography, based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. Have a wonderful weekend!