The “space” I’m speaking of here is dealing with the composition of a photograph. Using the lead in photo above as an example I’m referring to the large amount of extra space to the top and left of the flower blossom floating in water. I chose to compose the image that way to exaggerate the small size of the blossom and in my opinion to create a more pleasing photograph instead of simply filling the frame and centering the blossom. This technique for making the subject be “singled out” is the most abstract, artistic, and opinion based method that I’ve discussed. Depth of field is a pretty concrete method using in focus and out of focus elements. Color can be a bit abstract but is usually straight forward for example, a red bird against a white background. Finally, a silhouette is another definitive technique to make your subject stand out in a photograph using light and dark elements. Space on the other hand is not so cut and dry. When taking a picture, the photographer could be thinking, do I add more space to the top, to the right, maybe the bottom? My advice is to go with what ever you think looks good, have fun with space and composition and make a photo that’s a little bit different.

I choose to use space and off center crops quite a lot in my photography. Some of the time it may not be the best composition for a particular photo but it’s usually what I feel works best at the time. You may not agree with some of the examples shown here and that is perfectly acceptable. I believe every individual will always view the same photograph in a different way or make different suggestions to better the photo and that is one of the things I love about photography in general. No one way is the right way. Because of this I think you can use space any way you would like to try to make your subject stand out. I usually compose extremely off center when my background is a particularly smooth solid color as in the brown leaves against the solid blue sky below. Another personal preference of mine is when choosing to add extra space to a photo with an animal in it I like to have the animal looking into the photograph instead of out of it. You will notice three of the examples I’ve posted have the birds looking into the extra space in the photograph. As I mentioned this is not a cut and dry rule and the photo of the little shore bird hunting on the beach has him facing closer to the edge with less space. My main goal when using extra space in my composition is to try to cause the viewer to take an extra couple of seconds looking at the photo and to exaggerate the size of the subject or color of the background.

This method for the subject being “singled out” is entirely my opinion and please do not take it as the correct or incorrect way to take certain pictures. My goal with this entire series was to give you possibly new ways or just rekindle your creative eye when trying to make your subject stand out in a nature photograph. Whether that subject be a bird, flower, landscape scene or any other beautiful subject mother nature places in front of your lens, be creative and most importantly have fun with it. I’ve been lucky enough to have been working in the photography field in one form or another for the last 11 years. I’ve worked for a school and wedding portrait studio, an architect photographer, started my own portrait and wedding business and have always enjoyed taking nature photographs. It has become a huge part of my everyday life and I wouldn’t change that for anything. I hope photography can bring just as much pleasure into your life as it has mine.

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With the proper application space can be used to include more of a scene and still draw the viewer's eye to the main subject. In this photo we can see the bird is on the beach so it helps to give some location to the photograph and still the bird is the main subject.

I'm using 2 tools here, depth of field plays a part of making the blossom stand out but the use of space also contributes. The large amount of smooth bright water in the foreground helps to give the photo a different feel versus filling the frame with the blossom.

I used the space here simply for a more interesting composition. It also gives the Great Egret something to be lookin out towards in this photo.

Giving a huge palette of blue for the dark brown leaves to stand out against.

Using space again to show the empty snow covered ground surrounding this gull. The added space in this photo also allowed me to include the gull's shadow.

By positioning the gull in the lower right corner it allowed me to show the beautiful coastline beyond the main subject of the photo. This picture is a close call between the main subject of the photo being the entire scenic view or the bird on the cliff, but I still think the added space helps the photo and maintains the gull and rock ledge as the main subject.

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