Hi guys!
I am Kim Bear or @still_and wild over on instagram. I am a still life and lifestyle photographer and in this lesson I am going to talk about how I use negative space effects and why. Rather then dive into the creative reasons why negative space is amazing, I thought I would talk about the practical reasons I use negative space often in my images.
I am also a family photographer with my good friend Amy Cyphers with The Wild Child Photography. So even if you aren’t a still life photographer I beg you to stay with me because I will hopefully also give you some ideas for your family photography as well.
I live in eastern Kansas in a small town with my husband and kids and have always enjoyed photography. I remember taking dark room in high school and loving it..anyone else there with me? Or does that make me sound truly old? I will actually just choose to think it makes me sound hip. Being creative has been an important outlet for me and I try to create as often as I can.
My Gear.
Currently, I am shooting with a Sony a9 and a number of the Zeiss Batis lenses (which I adore!) My two current favorites for still life and lifestyle work is the Batis 25 and the Batis 135..sharp and beautiful. I am a Click pro and love being a part of a creative group that inspires me non-stop. I edit mostly in Lightroom and try to stay out of Photoshop if possible. I typically use natural light and enjoy moody shadows found in my home studio.
First off, why still life?
I didn’t start shooting still life with a clear idea in mind, honestly I just needed a creative break from photographing people. I also found my kids were less and less interested in having a camera in their faces so I turned to something that couldn’t run away.
I am so inspired by line, color, shape, and light and still life afforded me the space and time to create and play. I began to create for myself and was enthralled, but the more and more I created the more I realized these images could be used by someone else... an “end user.”
“the more and more I created the more I realized these images could be used by someone else... an “end user.”
This may sound silly, but I found myself in my humble little home studio imagining I was shooting for some big named product or magazine. I would imagine what kind of spreads they would need, how content would fit on the images, and how different images could be placed together to tell a story. As I was doing this (I can’t believe I am even admitting that!) I found myself intentionally leaving negative space for text and titles. The end user became a large factor in how I created images.
Who is my end user and what does it have to do with Negative space?
I have a few end users. One is myself. I create images for the joy of it, but I am always considering how I may use this image. For me, I consider if I will want some kind of text on the image in the future. Along with creating cohesive sets of images that play well together I want to make sure I create at least one or two images that would look good with titles. Typically this means leaving a good deal of space or creating blocks of space that titles could naturally be placed.
I found myself intentionally leaving negative space for text and titles. The end user became a large factor in how I created images.
I find it interesting to create sets of images that could be used together or as stand alone images. I loved these because they each, for me, have a unique negative space. Some created by light and shadow, other by color, some with open space left around the thread, and finally having a more defined negative space created by line in the top right.
My other end user is slightly more hard to pin down. I am an Offset artist and when I place images on Offset to be used as a stock image I have no idea how that image could be used. So once again I am left to imagine I am a marketing genius picking images for my product or brand and I want to select ones that give me the most opportunity to add branding text and info.
This was a full spread story cover image in Click Magazine I did. Having space around my main yummy subject allowed for a title and some sub text.
As a photographer I know how many excellent images there are on stock sites and I want to give a creative director every reason to pick mine. An image which is cropped too tightly can be seen as limiting. I don’t typically take a wide image with the purpose of cropping in during post, rather I visualize and frame my image as I intend. I may take a series of images recomposing a few different ways again for options and just to engage in a really cool creative process. This may include really wide shots or creative in camera crops.
Sometimes you can stretch a background to increase the negative space in post. This would be an example where if I cropped in camera much closer to the cup it would have been much more difficult to construct more space with the cutting board in the background.
I find it so interesting to laying props in my image to help define negative spaces. I especially love using diagonials!
My search for Negative space.
I am searching for areas in my composition that have openings or space. For still life images I am typically in a small space. My typical background or surface by only be about 2 feet by 2 feet. So I don’t usually have wide open areas include as negative space. I often have to create pockets of space that isn’t filled by my main subject. Not only do I consider my end user adding text to my images, but I also imagine my images being used together. And just like you might design a wall gallery with varied kinds of shots (close, wide, looking, not looking, etc) to tell a story I look to do the same with still life and negative space makes my images look less congested when they are placed together.
Searching for Pattern and Texture
Texture and patterns are amazing because your brain will view is as almost unimportant and anything that is not the texture or pattern stands out... by default it greats a great negative space.
I loved the texture of the water. The lines of the stairs were visually interesting to me and created a nice space to the top right.
The greenery surrounding the walkway draws you attention. The pattern of the greenery kind of disappears making the walkway the main subject for me.
Turning this image BW created a bold pattern of tables drawing attention to the escalator.
Compared to the BW version all of the color creates lots of distractions and pulls attention from the escalator.
Changing Perspective
I love to look down or up to change up my natural perspective. I find there are more interesting textures and patterns. Plus since it often a different way for people to see I think they find it more investing. I think you also find interesting shadows and light when you look up or down. Changing your perspective may also include shooting thought something like leaves resulting in creating blocks of darkness or solid color...creating excellent negative space. So explore...look all around for a new way to see something.
I don't like to include identifiable people in my shots, mainly because I don't want to worry about model releases. But I loved how the mixture of perspective and pattern created this image. The lines cut across the pattern making them the most important to me. The pattern tables falls in to a shadowy negative space and the escalator leads you right to her.
Using Light and shadow
Shadows create an ideal negative space. You can highlight the main subject and draw attention to them by surrounding them with shadow. Not only do they create dynamic images but shadows are a powerful tool to diminish clutter to simplify an image.
I love how the flag really stand out and the rest kind of fades to darkness.
I like to change my perspective, use line, shape, and color to create pockets of negative space.
Still Life in my studio.
While I don’t have wide open spaces in my studio I can create some interesting negative spaces even in my still life work. I still like to change my perspective, use line, shape, and color to create pockets of negative space.
This image uses negative space a bit differently. I obviously created a negative pocket in the middle with the thought a title would look excellent!
Shadow makes an excellent negative space. I love how there is just a dark abyss which simplifies the image where the is so much going on on the table.
This was taken in a tight space. The backdrop was only about 2 feet wide and tall. By composing my image with everything in the bottom left cornered I created a white space that could be left blank or include text.
Using creative crops you can create unique negative spaces. I loved how the leave hangs out of the basket further defining the space in the low portion of the frame.
This image goes with the spice image a few above. Rather than have a clean negative area I didn't include any greenery to break up the image.
I love this image. Using a solid black background creates a lot of interesting negative spaces for this low light phone. I think you can use color to block out areas and again draw attention back into your main subject.
Why give a whoop about an end user if you don't shoot stock?
As a family photographer I often ask myself, “How are these images going to be used?” I love creating images of my kids and for other families that are both creative and have a purpose. That purpose maybe for a certain frame grouping or for their Christmas cards. When you know how images are going to be used you can harness negative space to your creative and design advantage.
This time of year many of us are out at a frantic pace taking family photos that will be displayed in homes and on cards. With a smidge of planning you can make the final display look uber purposeful. When I first started photographing families I was a HUGE over cropper. I must have been well into their personal space. I took tons of pictures never really considering how I or my client would use them.
As I would then go to order wrapped canvases and holiday cards I ran into tons of issues. I would need to stretch images (which if you know me...should never have been an option for me... I am the worst at photoshop!) and I would often realize my favorite card templates didn’t fit the image I took.
So from a practice design perspective a little forethought has helped a lot!
Look at all of that space for that "Merry Christmas" header.
Print and Web uses.
I suggest if you planning on using card templates to select a few you love. Keep them in mind as you are taking images that you know might have text placed on top of the image and compose with the appropriate negative space in mind. No one wants lots of text covering their sweet families faces! You can strategically place an cool texture or pattern for the text to live on top of!
The same is true if you know you are designing a piece for print or a website. If you have ever created a FB page or a website you have run into needing images with certain compositions. For example, a banner is often skinny which would require an extreme crop or lots of negative space to the left and right of the subject. A little pre-planning and visualization of how you want those designed elements to look will allow you to get it done in camera!
If you are making albums this year think about those full spread pages and how you shoot those images. A centered family image will lead to a crease down the middle of someone... not ideal. In those cases you may need a lot of negative space on one side to ensure no one is in the crack!
Negative space is a big Whoop(ie)!
In conclusion.
I know I use negative space a bit differently and maybe have a different purpose for including it in my images. I believe negative space is an amazing tool to create cool compositions and allows you to have great design potential with your images! I am here to answer any questions you have and would love hear your thoughts!