Chess

[corneliustoh]

EDIT: Hi all, finally uploaded the photos.
I am a beginner and new to photography and would like to share my first ever
set of photos about chess on Flickr to the members at ClubSNAP.

Please comment on my photos so that I can improve my skills as a photographer and
capture nicer photos.

#1 Weak Spot


#2 The King's Army


#3 Lone Warrior


#4 Leadership


#5 Head to Head, Pawn to Pawn

[corneliustoh]

#6 Dead End


#7 Checkmate

[allenleonhart]

yoz bro. ur senior here;D

did u handhold this? i thought i detected a lil shake lol...

nice composition and good use of depth of field;D did u do this with ur 18-55?

hmm. i dunno but i got a feeling u used a very wide aperture for this. hmm. try using a tripod?

but i like the feel overall. thumbs up

[deklan]

2 things to note, the lighting (reflections, if u don't intend to capture any form of shadows maybe ur light source can be from the top, since ure shooting side ways)
and ur composition, some of the backgrounds are kinda distracting... takes away attention from ur chess pieces.

[night86mare]

i would like to know how your black and white conversion is done, it looks like a simple desaturation

good black and white photography is more than just the removal of color, in my view.

as for the composition, there seems to be no idea, no concept, no statement made here in this pictures. that is fine, if you present them aesthetically. but even that is not done.

keep shooting!

[ssping83]

lighting looks tad too harsh for me.. did you take with on board flash?

might want to turn it off.. and use a longer shutter on a tripod..

[corneliustoh]

gee thanks for your advices, sorry if my pics sucks cause im still a noob.
will try with better lighting and maybe remove the background with a white sheet.

[foxtwo]

No one is saying the background must always be white, we only expect it to be controlled. If you manage to reduce the background to vague shapes, and doesn't intrude into the subjects it will still be passable. Examine how #4 has a different background from the rest, you should be able to learn from just that.

Think about what you're trying to express here, it'll dictate how you shoot. Just having decided on a subject is not enough, you also have to decide on its path. This is one of the things to look at for when we photograph.
For example: If you say 'this is a chess game', then climbing up a chair and shooting from top will be the angle to attack. Or if you want to say 'the queen/rook/knight is an very important piece in chess' then you shoot from low and make the subject large and imposing.
Of course these two sentences are very simplistic so you'll still need to add in lighting direction, strength, type; choice of background; DoF; supporting subject elements; etc etc

Here's some composition tips, and seriously, try not to have this kind of 'sorry if my pics sucks cause im still a noob' mentality. Nobody here is putting you down. Go experiment some, come back with a better photograph and drop by C&C corner then. Cheers.