Victory

[Iguanasan]

Thanks, everyone. The light was a little tricky that morning as the sun was popping in and out of heavy cloud cover so while the board was in the sun the ground behind was somewhat darker. I have a few more angles from that day but this was one of my favourites.

[Matt K.]

I, too, think it is a cool shot. I wonder if you could have had more of the board in the foreground, thus cutting back on the dark background? From a perspective view this would have been very interesting to have the checkerboard 'taper' to the back and have the pieces really dominat the scene.

[Iguanasan]

Thanks, Matt. How about this one?

[Wicked Dark]

I think it's a step in the right direction although the OOF piece in the middleground bugs me for some reason.

[Iguanasan]

I think it's a step in the right direction although the OOF piece in the middleground bugs me for some reason.

Yeah, me too which is why I didn't post it first I thought it might add depth but honestly, it just didn't work :(

[Matt K.]

Thanks, Matt. How about this one?

Yes, this is how i would have approached it as well. Light woks great in that shot as well, only thing is DOF ... what f stop did you use?

[Marko]

I'm actually okay with the dark BG in shot 1 and like others have said - nice and sharp and good comp. For me this is a case where off camera flash would have worked very well to light the chess pieces which I find dark.

Shot 2 is a stronger image imo based on comp and lighting, but I agree that blurry bishop in the midground is a distraction. For this particular shot It would likely have been best to focus just beyond the blurry bishop.