Wk 4 - Positive and Negative Space

Positive and Negative Space

What is positive space?
It is the part of your photo which is the central focus, it is your subject.
What is negative space?
This is the space which surrounds your subject. The purpose of negative space is to direct your eye/attention to the subject.

f/29, 1/160, ISO 1600

Negative space can be anything such as a surface, patterns, faces, clothing etc... Above and below are my examples of positive and negative space. The negative space is the wood chips, i position my subject (the mushrooms) on an intersecting line to reinforce its focus. I like the contrast in shapes and forms the wood chips being linear while the mushrooms are circular.

f/5.6, 1/80, ISO 200

My subject is the two little green plant matter. The use of leading lines and the solid red directs right to the little plants. This is a photo of the rear lights of my car.

Self directed:

Here are some shots i took using positive and negative space -

f/36, 1/250, ISO 400

This is a shot of mt Wellington. I framed the branches around the mount, i focused on the midground to give the photo some texture. There is few textural elements in the photo, the different shapes of the leaves some are straight edged where on others their is more furry looking leaves. The sand is has some flat areas and wavy parts which lead your eye to the ripples in the water.

f/36, 1/320, ISO 400

This is another shot, i moved over positioning mt Wellington on an intersecting line. These shots look as though they were shot in black and white, i deliberately didn't adjust my settings to bring in more light to highlight how negative space can be used to reinforce the subject.

f/20, 1/250, ISO 400

This was taken at the MIT Game of the Week rugby game. The sign is the main subject, it dominates the photo by its size and because it is in the foreground. By including the grass and roof top in the background i reinforced the colours of the sign. The colour of the sky and clouds also add a boost of colour to complement the sign

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Portfolio Wk 6 - presentation ideas

My plan for printing this week has been halted because i have two options in mind. Last week i was really pushing to get some tests prints done so that i could make a decision on which paper to print on. The four images i chose were ones that i thought signified the vision of my work. This is to produce images which showed the nature of my subjects. An embodiment of their personality, from my perspective. These four images were strong edits i thought, and captured a side to my subjects well, these came out of a natural flow and connection in the studio. In terms of paper i have chosen the Hammulher paper, mainly because i like the warm tones that it gives to the black and white images. I also like the defined details in the textures which elevate the photos when they're viewed up close. The test printing was valuable because i was able to see the images on the prints, which gives me a better perspective as to how the work will be viewed close up.

I got on the buzz of prese…

Wk 1 - Bulb Function

Bulb function is a shutter speed setting which allows for long exposure times (wikipedia). This function is used when there is not enough light available, such as shooting at night. When taking photos at night the shutter needs to open longer.

Bulb function task:
Take three photos at 3", 6" and 8" - with your subject moving out of the shot 3/4 of the way through or stand in the shot. It took us a few takes to get this right - especially as it was hard to see her.

These shots were taken outside at night. Here are some of our pictures taken with the help of my model Pela

I asked Pela to walk through this photo after 1 second - you can see her shoes at the bottom of the shot
Pela walked through this photo after 3 seconds

I asked Pela to take a step every 2 seconds

Pela started walking through after 3 seconds, you can see her figure as well as her shoes at the bottom of the photo ore time is equivalent to more light, so when you lack light, you can almost always co…

Wk 2 - Aperture Priority (AV)

Week 2 Aperture controls the area over which light can enter your camera.

More light f/1.4 = Shallow Depth of Field (narrow)
Less light f/22 = Greater Depth of Field (wide)
(The Depth of field is the area of the image that is in focus)

Our task in class was to take a photograph with three elements: one in the foreground close to the camera, one in the middle ground and one in the background. Focus on the element in the foreground. Shoot this scene with the lowest aperture your lens will allow, then F/8 and then F/22.

I chose the tripod to be in the foreground, the model to be in the middle ground and the trees to be in the background
As you can see in this photo the tripod is in focus, while the middle and background is out of focus - This is what is known as a shallow or narrow depth of field.

At this setting the depth of field stretch out towards the subject. If the subject was closer to the tripod you would be able to see her more clearer. Although she is some distances fro…

Photography Cert. 2014 -

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