Storytelling: Negative Space
If you've been following along, you may be thinking, "Wow, Jen is really terrible at keeping up with an assigned weekly theme." And... You would be absolutely right.
I've been doing Project 365 for years... but I always go out and shoot whatever strikes my fancy. My personal brand of photography is making art out of the ordinary, and I tend to have a somewhat documentary approach. I don't typically decide what I'm going to shoot until I find it out in the wild.
So, I've really been struggling with these storytelling prompts. It's such an important aspect in photography, but one that I've always found hard to force. When I stumble on something organically, my storytelling voice comes out, and it's natural. But, when I'm walking around at Longwood Gardens trying to come up with a storytelling image utilizing negative space? Nothing.
I'll share the two images that I created. I do enjoy people watching, so that's what I focused on. My "negative space" is not quite as negative as I may have hoped for... but I tried to use blur and "lack of humans" as negative space.
Strolling...
I was actually quite pleased with the blur and reflection I got from shooting real close to the water here. I was holding my camera down over the edge of the walkway so that it was almost at the surface of the water. Thankfully, I didn't fall in. But, that guy with his hands in his pockets was definitely watching me. I think he was rooting for me to face plant into the water. Don't try this at home, folks, unless your gear is insured.
Shot with Lensbaby Edge 80mm.
Lunchtime
Ok, so in a purist sense, I'm not sure that there's as much negative space in this image as there should be. The crates in the water bug me, but I couldn't get an angle that I liked without them there. I did, however, love the orange shirt of this nice gentleman who was eating lunch and enjoying the spring sunshine. At least, I think he was enjoying it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Shot with Lensbaby Edge 80mm.
