This is a behind the scenes of my "positive space" shot for the 30th round of the Photography Scavenger Hunt.
This is actually a very simple shot, so most of the BTS is concept. There are a couple tricky things about positive space. The first is that it is simply not a term used in photography. Negative space is a term, and it means the empty space surrounding the interesting stuff in a photograph. The voids between the interesting bits. So the only way to define positive space is simply the inverse of negative space. So if negative space is the empty spaces between the interesting stuff, then positive space is the interesting space.
Or put another way - it can be anything you want it to be, as long as its something.
However positive space could also be defined as a place where positive things are meant to happen, or is currently happening.
So putting all of this together, I decided to make a positive space by having a lot of negative space with a simple subject of Deadpool ('natch) slipping in the side. To add to the positive aspect Mr. Pool would give a thumbs up.
So my positive space is a negative space with a brief appearance of a positive hand signal. Got it?
So shooting this was super simple. I mean, it doesn't get any more simple for me. I simply tossed a Deadpool action figure in my light box, posed him up all positive like, and clicked the shutter. Then I composited him onto a blank background.
Originally this was meant to be a white or off-white blank screen, but that proved too boring for my tastes, so I ended up adding a simple subtle background, which was a couple textures with selective motion blurring, and a subtle hint of the oil paint filter.
The result is what you see here:
