Negative space in photography is defined as the area surrounding the main subject in a photograph
which is left unoccupied it helps draw the eye to the main subject of the photograph and doesn't
detract the viewer in any way whatsoever it's not in all photographs and it is a creative choice
by the photographer it can be created by the use of a single color occupying a big area in
the photograph an area out of focus or something that frames the subject or part of that subject
takes up a big proportion of the photograph but doesn't detract away from the main subject
the object of negative space is not to distract the viewer but to help them look at that subject
the easiest way to work out if you have negative space in your photograph is to think about where
your eye roams around in the photo if it's drawn to an area in the photograph this generally won't
be negative space on the other hand if you feel like your eyes really don't want to go
to that part of the photograph then this could be negative space and this isn't set in stone either
it's really subjective and could be construed as a sliding scale of negative space now this first
example is of a beach in bournemouth on the south coast of england my eyes follow the lights along
the walkway head towards where the sun is going to rise then they're drawn down to the pebbles on
the beach and then they head up to the moon and then to the few stars that you can actually see
so the sky could be seen as negative space but i don't think it's that strong
as the few visible stars do invite your eyes to mingle around that blue sky
this next one of a mountain range in new zealand is a little bit stronger my eyes go
straight to the peaks then to the reflection but because there are a few faint clouds in that sky
my eye does then sort of mingle around that sky so it does detract a little bit from that main
subject also the color of the negative space will have an impact on how strong it is this one of my
mum sister and wife hiking has quite a plain sky but because it's bright and almost white the color
does draw the eye up a little bit and as there are slightly different shades of gray in the clouds
just above the three people in the shot my eye does still mingle around that sky so i wouldn't
say that this is true negative space now this next one has a much stronger negative space in it for
me my eyes follow the line of the boats towards the brighter buildings on the right hand side
but because there's nothing in the foreground my eyes are really detracted from even
looking in that area of the photograph and for me this is the true definition of negative space
if you really feel like your eyes don't want to go to that part of the image
that's basically what negative space is now the darker the color and the less texture and detail
the more powerful the negative space tends to be this is not to say that you can't use different
colors but generally the darker the color and the less brightness there is in a part of the image
the less likely the viewer is to look at that part of the image with this next shot of a drop
of water my eye looks at the starburst and the drop and then explores the ripple on the surface
but then it really doesn't want to go or it doesn't really need to look at the background
so this photo also has a strong area of negative space in that background now even when the color
is really dark if there are distractions in that negative space or in that darker
area it takes away from its purpose as negative space but doesn't necessarily make it a bad
photo just different for instance in this photograph drops of water have splashed up
some are closer to the camera and out of focus and some are further away and out of focus so
there's lots of different sizes and shapes of blobs and globules of that light being refracted
through them now because of these my eye wants to explore that dark space and look at all of these
different interesting elements in the shot so i wouldn't consider the dark area in this photograph
to be negative space at all silhouetting or framing is another way to create negative space
in petra as you walk towards the treasury you slowly get to see the carving in the cliff face
and with the right settings in your camera you can use the cliffs to frame part of the building
so in this photograph there is nothing to see in the dark areas of the cliff
and this is negative space it doesn't distract or it doesn't take your eye away from it
and it just frames and it makes you even more concentrated on that small part of the building
front now this is very subjective and these are only my thoughts you might think differently and
that's fine let me know in the comments if you do think differently or let me know what you
think about negative space it'll be great to hear your thoughts and if you like this video and want
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