Use Negative Space :: Digital Photo Secrets
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Use Negative Space

by David Peterson 9 comments

The third camera winner is Neil Speers, who has a great tip on composition. Congratulations Neil! - David.

Learn to use negative space. Positive space is your subject - a person, an animal, a building, an egg, etc. Negative space is everything else that shows up in the picture. Take five pictures of five different subjects - any subject is fine, just choose five different things.

BUT, concentrate on making the BACKGROUND perfect. That is, concentrate on everything except the subject itself - what is behind and around the subject has to be perfect. Once you've started to pay attention to the negative space, your whole composition will improve.

Neil Speers

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Comments

  1. Lisa says:
    Oct 12, 2007

    i'm only starting to learn all the tricks to great photo's. i totally agree with you..the negative space in a photo, sometimes, tells you a lot more.

    the rule of 3's

    Reply
  2. Ed V says:
    Jan 26, 2007

    Ssimply put. As we say in this neck of the woods(Newfoundland)..WICKED..

    EFV

    Reply
  3. Ray Mogarte says:
    Jan 2, 2007

    Definitely one the best tip.

    Reply
  4. Gary Schneider says:
    Jan 1, 2007

    Great Composition Tip!

    Reply
  5. Robyn says:
    Dec 31, 2006

    Neil, such a simple thing that I do on a regular basis. Thought everyone did it. Congrats for having the fore thought to submit it.
    Rob

    Reply
  6. Glenn Kasner says:
    Dec 30, 2006

    You're so right! Mant brilliant pictures are spoiled by poor "negative space". A little time spent composing the picture to minimise this is wel worth it

    Reply
  7. Elise Mitton says:
    Dec 29, 2006

    Yep, will be trying this one with the new camera too !! Cheers Neil from Elise in Oz.

    Reply
  8. Joy says:
    Dec 29, 2006

    Thank you for sharing about negative space. My next shots will focus on this technique.
    Congrats !!! PhotoJoy

    Reply
  9. Hernan says:
    Dec 28, 2006

    This is a really useful tip! It's a lot better than cleaning up the background afterwards!

    Reply

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Difficulty:
Beginner
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