Lesson #6: Using Empty Space

One of the most effective ways to acheive simplicity in your photographs is to use generous portions of empty space in your compositions. By placing your main subjects against large open backgrounds, you make the subjects stand out more and create a stronger sense of balance in your photos. You'll also find that this empty, or negative space can often be a very important visual element on its own.

Empty space can be large shadowed areas, expanses of open sky or clean, uncluttered parts of a landscape. How much empty space to use can depend on the strength of your main subject. Generally, the more powerful your subject, you the more space you can indclude around it. By combining this technique with the ideas about framing your subjects that we explored in the previous lesson, you can create some very dramatic and eye catching photos.