{"id":72328,"date":"2017-12-07T12:03:49","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T20:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=72328"},"modified":"2017-12-07T12:03:49","modified_gmt":"2017-12-07T20:03:49","slug":"5-negative-space-photography-composition-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/07\/5-negative-space-photography-composition-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Negative Space Photography Composition Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

To make better street photos, integrate more negative space.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

TAKE YOUR STREET PHOTOGRAPHY TO THE NEXT LEVEL with ERIC KIM ><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Why negative space?<\/h2>\n
\"Abstract
Abstract walking woman with umbrella. Seoul. 2009<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Negative space gives room for your photo to breathe. By having more negative space, you give more attention and focus to your subjects in the frame.<\/p>\n

\"eric<\/p>\n

This also works well when photographing objects. See how much darkness and shadows you can integrate into your frame.<\/p>\n

\"Abstract
Abstract of the ‘figure to ground’ relationship of the picture.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Negative space in street photography tips:<\/h2>\n
\"Man
Man in silhouette. Street photograph at Hoan Kiem lake in Hanoi, 2017 \/ ERIC KIM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n
  1. Use -1 or -2 exposure compensation<\/a> when shooting street photography, to darken the background, to integrate more negative space.<\/li>\n
  2. Leave a little bit of negative space in front of your subjects to move into. This is a good technique for leading lines<\/a>, and the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fishing technique\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in street photography.<\/li>\n
  3. Use a flash<\/a> to darken the background.<\/li>\n
  4. When you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re shooting a scene, seek to subtract, not to add to the frame.<\/li>\n
  5. When you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re shooting try to make sure the background is simple and clean.<\/li>\n
  6. Start off with a black background<\/a>, and wait for your subjects to enter the frame.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \"Chiaroscuro.
    Chiaroscuro. DYNAMIC LIGHT AND SHADOW. Made with iPad Pro and Procreate app.Hanoi, 2016 by ERIC KIM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n

    More ideas:<\/p>\n

    1. Use negative space to your benefit<\/h2>\n
    \"Negative
    Negative space on bottom of man. Silhouette, Sapa Vietnam 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    When you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re shooting with a wide-angle lens like a 28mm in street photography<\/a>, and can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get any closer to your subject, put negative space below or above them \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and fill the frame with negative space.<\/p>\n

    For example, this is how this composition looks when abstracted:<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    2. Negative space around your subject<\/h2>\n
    \"Negative
    Negative white space around black hand. Hanoi, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    In this photo of a mans hand, see how I integrated the Golden rectangle composition<\/a> (drawn in red lines).<\/p>\n

    Also, note the negative space around his hands (with red blocks), and the negative space on the right and left (yellow, blue):<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    3. Make the eyes of your subject direct the eyes of your viewer<\/h2>\n
    \"Cindy
    Cindy looking up in the elevator with circles. Hanoi, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    To lead the eyes of your subject to different parts of the frame, have them track the eyes of your subject in the frame.<\/p>\n

    For example, look at this picture of Cindy looking up. It makes the viewer of the picture also look up (the same direction as Cindy):<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    4. Negative space and flash<\/h2>\n

    Examples of photos with flash<\/a>, to add negative space in the background:<\/p>\n

    \"Hands
    Hands of a 92 year old woman. Hanoi, 2017. Shot with flash.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \"Face
    Face mask. Hanoi, 2017. Shoot with a flash, see negative black space in background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    5. Allow your subject to exit the frame<\/h2>\n
    \"Hanoi,
    Hanoi, 2017 #cindyproject. Silhouette, see the negative space to the left of her, which allows her to exit the frame.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Cindy is walking left, and you can see it outlined in red.<\/p>\n

    This adds more dynamic tension to your photo \u00e2\u20ac\u201dthere is the anticipation<\/em> of Cindy going to<\/em> leave the frame.<\/p>\n

    Gestalt theory<\/a>: we want to see \u00e2\u20ac\u0153continuance<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d we want to see the movement of the subject to continue and finish.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Conclusion<\/h2>\n
    \"Negative
    Negative space around woman. Kyoto zen temple, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Negative space applies not just to photography, but life.<\/p>\n

    In photography and life, seek to subtract, not add<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \n When in doubt, subtract.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    EMPTY YOURSELF to fill yourself up.<\/p>\n

    ERIC<\/p>\n

    TAKE YOUR COMPOSITION TO THE NEXT LEVEL WITH ERIC KIM ><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    To make better street photos, integrate more negative space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ek_photo_artist_note":"","_ek_photo_thesis":"","_ek_photo_camera":"","_ek_photo_place":"","_ek_photo_human_moment":"","_ek_photo_sequence":"","_ek_photo_question":"","_ek_photo_canonical_claim":"","_ek_photo_ai_summary":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/F7BD1CBD-F200-45A2-921D-686D3B29233D-scaled.jpeg?fit=3936%2C2608&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72328"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72377,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72328\/revisions\/72377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}