Twisted Indifference

I think I need to stop dubbing these as tutorials. It somehow goes against what I have mentioned in one of the earlier posts. To reitarate, photography cannot be taught. In a more general aspect, creativity cannot be taught. So what am I exactly doing telling you how I shot the photographs that are put up here? Think of it as me telling you what the rules are so that you can break them.

I started out breaking all of them. I could not conform to set standards nor did I want to. Experience taught me this much that to cross the line, you need to know where and what the line is. So in the photo you see on top, we go back maybe not to basics but to a boundary set by our predecessors. Negative Space.

One rule I continually keep breaking, is the rule of thirds. I will not go into details here, suffice to say that it also concerns what negative space does. Composition. The most typical shot, very popular with holiday makers is to put a bunch of people in front of a scenic backdrop and fire away. Nothing wrong with it. What you click should make you happy. Experimenting, however, demands more.

What is negative space? It is somewhat self explanatory. In the snap above the subject is not the larger part of the picture. The camera was held vertically and with my lens at its widest, I released the shutter. I will avoid mentioning the exposure details and such since it is a very basic shot.

Another example that you see here, shot vertically again albeit with a different perspective. Both these have been shot in Indore where I was attending the SAE India Baja (pronounced Ba-ha) event. Colleges from all over the country competed with ATVs they built themselves. This post is not about them.

In the second shot, my intention is obviously to put focus on to the box cigarettes, which incidentally are the brand I smoke. Yes lucky am I not, to have them when needed. Ash tray on its side, I think it might have looked better if it had been a clean one instead of one I had just tapped ash into. Regardless, I think the point is clear. It is still a use of negative space.

What needs to be noted here is the perspective and the point of focus. Now I cannot draw or sketch or I could have shown you with a diagram how exactly I was positioned while shooting this. It is kind of evident if you study the photo long enough.

Incidentally all this posting with the images on either side is making me do something tiring. Coding. I belong behind a camera not on websites learning CSS. Actually I know CSS but I keep forgetting the tags and have to keep referring to the websites that run the tutorials for that.Is it too late for me to ask you to ignore this paragraph completely?

I think I have given you a fair idea on negative space and its purpose. The latter, more difficult work of applying this knowledge is yours. I will not tell you how and if I do, ignore it. You are much better off doing it on your own.