| Up and down, black and white, big and little are all | | | | outside, it says one kind of story. If, on the otherhand, |
| obvious examplesof Opposition. But there is one form | | | | the background has rows and rows of books it tells a |
| of opposition that many peopleoverlook. If I take a | | | | completely differenttype of story. Obviously, if the |
| black crayon and draw, say a dog, on a white pieceof | | | | book blocked part of another person, such as anarm |
| paper, what happens? You look at it and say: "Oh, | | | | or a leg coming out one side, that would not be |
| how cute." Butwhat happens if I take that same black | | | | supportive. |
| crayon and draw on a black pieceof paper? More | | | | When you think about positive and negative space in |
| than likely, nothing will happen. You may not even | | | | every shot, you soon becomemore aware of other |
| beaware there's anything to look at. Why? The reason | | | | elements you might have easily ignored before. Have |
| you may not noticeanything is because the | | | | you everseen one of those optical illusions where if |
| background is more dominant than the simpleline | | | | you look at a certain picture one way it'sa young |
| drawing in the foreground. | | | | woman and if you look at it another it's an old lady? |
| Many photo books mention the idea that you don't | | | | What makes an opticalillusion work? Every person on |
| want telephone linescoming out the ears of someone | | | | the planet sees things his or her own way, based |
| you are taking pictures of. While this istrue, that's only | | | | onthe experiences they have had up to that point in |
| the tip of the iceberg. By the way, have you ever | | | | their life. Some people only see ayoung girl or an old |
| wonderedwhat people mean when they use that | | | | lady in the illusion. They may know that the other exist, |
| phrase? When you look at an iceberg,what you usually | | | | but theyjust can't see it. |
| see is just the part that lies above the surface of the | | | | To become the best photographer you can be, you |
| water. | | | | have to open your consciousnessto see multiple |
| No matter how huge it appears, you are only seeing | | | | possibilities. I once shot a wedding where there were a |
| 10% of the entire iceberg. | | | | lot of smallchildren. This made for some great candid |
| Imagine missing 90% of a movie, or 90% of a book. | | | | shots. In one case, the bride bent overwhile in the |
| Would it still hold your interest? | | | | reception line to pick up a little girl. I was ready to take |
| Imagine if you will that no matter what you are | | | | the shot, exceptfor one small detail. When the bride |
| shooting, no matter what it is,the subject is only 10% of | | | | bent over, she revealed much more of herselfthan she |
| the problem. How is that even possible, you ask? | | | | had planned. If I only noticed the child, I would have |
| Well let's think about what type of things can detract | | | | taken a shot that wouldhave embarrassed several |
| from a really good photo. | | | | people, myself included. |
| The background can detract. Lighting can detract. | | | | I encourage you to simplify the background when ever |
| Shapes can distract. Colorcan distract. Lines can | | | | you can. But don't close yourmind to the possibilities of |
| detract. Texture can detract. I could go on, but I | | | | images within images. If in the positive space has a |
| thinkyou get the general idea. No matter how | | | | youngcouple kissing, and the negative space is a clear |
| wonderful the subject is, there aremany more factors | | | | blue sky, that's an OK shot. But if thatsame shot has a |
| that make up a great photograph besides the main | | | | little girl covering her eyes in the background (negative |
| subject. | | | | space) now allof the sudden you have a great shot. |
| I refer to this understanding as positive and negative | | | | We usually define positive space by what is |
| space. Positive spaceis the area of the photo you | | | | dominateor what is in the sharpest focus, but as you |
| want your viewer to concentrate on. Negativespace is | | | | can see from that last example . . . there are |
| everything else. Negative space can actually be a | | | | timeswhen the negative space can actually be more |
| positive thing aslong as it supports what you are | | | | interesting than the positive space. Thereare some |
| shooting. Let's say for example, you've takena shot of | | | | people who will never see past the tip of the iceberg. |
| a small young lady reading a huge book. If the | | | | Just rememberthe main subject often only represents |
| background has a bigpicture window with a storm | | | | 10% of the possibilities. |