Having a little extra time on my hands this week I decided to do something I wish I did more often, join a photo challenge. This Lens-Artists photo challenge is open to everyone that wishes to participate. There is a new theme every week. For a while I participated almost every week, but lately I haven’t, I’m going to try my best to change that. Photography is something I am very passionate about. It’s been a big part of my life since I was 5 years old, and got my first camera. I would go as far as saying that photography makes me happy on many levels; capturing special moments (of course,) forcing myself to slow down and see the details, as a way to practice gratitude, and live in the moment.
This week’s theme is Negative Space. I would describe a negative space in photography as a calm, quiet area around the main subject. When there is a quiet space around your subject, all the attention is focused on your main subject. Sort of like the minimalistic way I like to decorate my home. When things aren’t cluttered we tend to see the beauty in details in a different way, without being distracted by less important things (clutter.) I looked through the gallery of photos I have on my laptop, looking for the perfect landscape photo to show my point here…but found a completely different photo that screamed that it wanted to be shared.

This is a photo from a Corb Lund concert (one of my favourite artists.) The concert took place in Las Vegas, December 2018, as a part of the opening to the National Finals Rodeo. If you want to see more of my photos from that concert, I wrote a post about the concert here. I think the calm, quiet space around the artist in this photo, combined with the lighting creates the perfect negative space around him, forcing us to give Corb Lund all of our attention, like if he needed any help with that besides his excellent music, but I think you get my point. I also like that the “out of focus band member” in the background is looking away from the camera. I took this photo with my Canon EOS 6D Mark II, and the Canon EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM. What do you think of this photo? Constructive criticism is more than welcome.
Love,
Maria
It’s a wonderful image Maria – I love the way you captured the smoky light behind him. I agree it’s great that the guitarist is looking away. For absolute perfection (because you asked!) I might have made him a bit blurry in post. But I love the image and am so glad to see you back with us!
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Thank you Tina! Yes, I agree that making the guitarist a bit blurry may have enhanced the photo. I did not use photoshop at all, I only cropped this photo, no other editing. I am enjoying looking at the other entries as we speak. I’ve missed it! It has been a very busy year here, I moved from Las Vegas back to the country of my birth, Sweden. My daughter had never set her foot here, and for her it was a big move, and a lot to get used to. I’ve spent most of my free time guiding her, and helping her with the language.
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A beautiful example for negative space! Love the lighting, composition, …an excellent capture!
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Thank you so much Amy! I really appreciate it.
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A great composition, Maria– perfect!
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Thank you so much Eliza!
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Great shot. I like it! On my computer I like scrolling down through the negative space to the singer. Excellent.
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Thank you! That makes me very happy!
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Love the lighting, color, the subject’s orientation, expression..it all works!
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Thank you so much, I really appreciate it!
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Hi Maria. Intriguing, moody use of negative space, especially how the smoky, purplish background seems to take on a life of its own and embrace the singer’s hat. I agree with Tina that the guitarist could have been blurred into the background a bit more. Overall, a great use of negative space to set a mood. ❤
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Thank you so much, coming from a master like yourself it means a lot. I admire your photography immensely.
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I’m in awe of your high praise, Maria. Thank-you for appreciating my photography. ❤
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Thank you!
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Thats a awesome country singer photo, the smokey lit background, a cutie with a flanny jacket & of course a beautiful ornate guitar to complete the look. You captured it so well.
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Thank you so much! He is from Canada and have been a favourite of mine for several years. I was so happy to learn that he was coming to Vegas while I was there. He actually ended up using a couple of my photos on his official instagram account.
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Nice photo. So full of atmosphere!
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Thank you so much!
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Great image for the theme!!
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Thank you very much Nora, I appreciate it!
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Wow, Maria. A fabulous shot. Great use of negative space! Glad you could join us!
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Thank you so much! I’ll be back 🙂
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Great.
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