BACKGROUNDS OR NEGATIVE SPACE IN MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY Seasoned photo pro Martyn Guess provides some tips on how we can all improve our macro photography by paying close attention to the background, or negative space Photography Martyn Guess
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n any type of photography, we need to be aware of the background behind the subject – the picture of the lamp post behind your loved one’s head comes to mind! It is important that we deal with the background behind the subject, in a positive and creative way, and to take control. The background or negative space behind the subject can make the picture a good picture or a bad one (see picture of the Rosie Frogfish in image 1, where the subject is blending in with the background and the picture is a little confusing). The common mistake is to capture the image with the camera pointing towards the reef and to light the whole scene. A distracting background like this overpowers the image and dilutes the impact of the subject. Separating the subject from the background will make it stand out and lift the image (Image 2 - see the image of the same frogfish as in image 1, but this time lit carefully with a snoot (narrow beam of light) to hide the complicated reef background). There are many lighting techniques we can use to achieve this separation. These include: Snoot lighting – where a snoot is attached to the strobe and a very narrow beam of light is emitted – more on this later. Cross lighting – where the strobes are pointed at each other in front of the camera to cut out light hitting the background and also help to create texture as it is a fairly harsh directional light (see image 3). Inward lighting – an extreme version of cross lighting with the strobes pointing back towards your head on longer strobe arms and out of the field of view. This is useful where the background is very close to
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LEFT Rosie Frogfish with unsightly and confusing background ABOVE Same Rosie Frogfish Snoot lit giving the image impact OPPOSITE TOP Whip Coral Gobie – Cross lit
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