The most important part of any photograph is the space around it. You can show a portrait by focusing on one thing, but when you create a photograph with a lot of space, you create an opportunity for the viewer to see themselves in the photo.
The best way to create active space is with negative space. This means that you leave some empty space in your images and let your subjects stand out more clearly. Negative space creates balance and harmony, which makes it easier for your viewer to visualize themselves in your photos.
In this article, we’re going to talk about how to create active space in your photography. We’ll discuss how to use active space effectively and give you examples of how it can be used in different situations.
Table of Contents
What Is Active Space?
You might be wondering what active space is. It’s a term that I’ve used for years to describe the area of any given photograph where your eye goes first. It’s where the action is happening and where you want the viewer’s attention to go.
The active space of a landscape photo is usually the area in which the main subject is positioned. For example, if you have a photo of a person walking across their garden, then the active space in that image would be where they are walking and not where they are standing still.
To help you create a more visually compelling image, here are 5 tips to help you master active space:
1) Make sure your subject is always in focus
2) Make sure there aren’t too many distractions around your subject
3) Try shooting from different angles to find one that works better than others
4) Use leading lines or patterns to guide your viewer’s eye towards your subject
5) Add something interesting into the background (like an object or person)
and here are more tips for you to create active space in your photography:
Choose a Background that Has Texture or Detail
If you’re shooting outdoors, there’s no shortage of places where you can find interesting backdrops. Look for textures or patterns that work well with your subject matter and help draw attention to it. If your subject has a lot of color, choose a similarly colored background that has some texture or detail so it won’t blend into the background too much.
Use a Wide Angle Lens
A wide-angle lens will allow you to capture a lot of detail in your photos, but it also makes it easy for your subject to appear small in the frame. To make sure they don’t feel like they’re missing out on the action, try using a wider focal length instead. This will keep them closer to the center of attention without making them look too far away from the rest of the scene
Move Around Your Subject
If you’re taking pictures at an event or party, try moving around instead of standing still while snapping away. This will ensure that each photo has something new going on in it — otherwise, all of your images will look very similar.
Choose a narrow depth of field.
If you’re shooting a landscape, this will have the effect of blurring any other distractions in the background, making them less obvious. If you’re shooting a portrait, it will make any background elements seem further away and less important than your subject.
Choose a high shutter speed.
This will freeze any movement in the scene and give it an impression of sharpness and clarity. If you want to capture something like water or clouds moving across the horizon, for example, choose an appropriate shutter speed so that they look like streaks rather than blurry blobs.
Get close to your subject!
If you want an active background, the first thing you need to do is get close to your subject. The closer you are, the more detail and texture you’ll see in the background. This helps make the foreground subject pop out from the background.
This makes them stand out from any background distractions even more clearly than if you were further away from them. It also creates more interesting compositions as it gives dynamic shapes and patterns within the frame which can help draw the viewer’s eye towards your subject even more successfully than if there were no difference between them at all.