Weekly Assignment #64: Chess

Nikolai · January 17, 2008

Honestly, what can be more natural for an topic #64 than a game of chess?
(Oh yeah, 64-bit OS, sure, but those are kinda hard to photograph anyway :lol3)
Please enter your chess pieces, chess boards, chessire cats and other chess-related items.
Moderate postprocessing only, fresh pictures.
Let's get some chessing going on!

djspinner2k · January 18, 2008

wow this sounds like a cool assignment. I will have to set something up. I always wanted to take this shot. I just don't know how it will turn out.

Antonio Correia · January 19, 2008

Nikolai · January 19, 2008

Antonio Correia wrote:

chess entries

Thank you!

I esp. like #3 and #5

goonie · January 19, 2008

Let's try again

Nikolai · January 19, 2008

goonie wrote:

two chess shots

Nice entry, thank you! I like the angle of the light and shadows it casts!

ivar · January 19, 2008

This is quite an appropriate assignment, as Bobby Fischer passed away this week. He was a great, great chess player.

Nikolai · January 19, 2008

ivar wrote:

This is quite an appropriate assignment, as Bobby Fischer passed away this week. He was a great, great chess player.

I didn't know :cry RIP, he was a genius...

SloYerRoll · January 19, 2008

What a shame. :cry
RIP

MooreDriven · January 21, 2008

Heat of the Battle!
My entries this week.

Nikolai · January 21, 2008

MooreDriven wrote:

My entries this week.

Thank you!
I like the 1st one better - it shows more context.
2d one goes down the crop line, but for some reason stopped in the middle...

MooreDriven · January 21, 2008

Nikolai wrote:

2d one goes fown the crop line, but for some reason stopped in the middle...

Did you mean to type....down....and not fown? Otherwise, what does fown mean?

Anyway, thanks for the feedback. I had planned to do the first as a silhouette. I think the impact would have been stronger. The second shot, I focused on his hand, @ f/3.2. The image was slightly processed, but no cropping was done.

Dale

Nikolai · January 21, 2008

MooreDriven wrote:

Did you mean to type....down....and not fown? Otherwise, what does fown mean?

Anyway, thanks for the feedback. I had planned to do the first as a silhouette. I think the impact would have been stronger. The second shot, I focused on his hand, @ f/3.2. The image was slightly processed, but no cropping was done.

Dale

Down, down... it's a typo....

kejago · January 24, 2008

Hello Folks!

My very 1st assignment... I have had my camera just a few weeks now, and have plenty to learn. I guess this is the place to do that.

Here are some of the pics I took for this assignment. Comments and opinions most welcome, especially those that will help me improve my pictures.

The whole gallery is here: http://kejago.smugmug.com/gallery/4220984

These photos were taken today (24.01.2008) during my lunch break. The light was very harsh, and I struggled to see the results on the cameras display. The view finder on a p&s is not the best. Also, I have not manipulated these pictures in any way. They are straight from the camera.

Kevin.

djspinner2k · January 24, 2008

My first assignment. please give me your input.

djspinner2k · January 24, 2008

djspinner2k · January 24, 2008

djspinner2k · January 24, 2008

all of those have no post editing. and here is one that I edited.

Nikolai · January 24, 2008

kejago wrote:

Hello Folks!
My very 1st assignment... I have had my camera just a few weeks now, and have plenty to learn. I guess this is the place to do that.

Here are some of the pics I took for this assignment. Comments and opinions most welcome, especially those that will help me improve my pictures.

The whole gallery is here: http://kejago.smugmug.com/gallery/4220984
These photos were taken today (24.01.2008) during my lunch break. The light was very harsh, and I struggled to see the results on the cameras display. The view finder on a p&s is not the best. Also, I have not manipulated these pictures in any way. They are straight from the camera.

Kevin.

Kevin,
those are very nice, thank you!

I especially like the first the the last ones!

Nikolai · January 24, 2008

djspinner2k wrote:

all of those have no post editing. and here is one that I edited.

Evgeny, thank you, those are great!

What did you use for coloring, gels?

djspinner2k · January 25, 2008

Nikolai wrote:

Evgeny, thank you, those are great!
What did you use for coloring, gels?

I just used the standard set that came with my lights. Red, Blue, Green, and yellow(yellow didn't look that good thoe)

For the picture I edited I shot red at the front pieces and blue through the red and on to the back pieces. It made a really nice effect. then I turned up the vibrance a little on that picture and that kinda changed the color to that pick purple look.

The best results came from shooting a light from the bottom and a different gel from the top.

Nikolai · January 25, 2008

djspinner2k wrote:

I just used the standard set that came with my lights. Red, Blue, Green, and yellow(yellow didn't look that good thoe)

For the picture I edited I shot red at the front pieces and blue through the red and on to the back pieces. It made a really nice effect. then I turned up the vibrance a little on that picture and that kinda changed the color to that pick purple look.

The best results came from shooting a light from the bottom and a different gel from the top.

Gotcha!
Which lights do you have? I'm on the market and trying to collect as much hands-on feedback as possible...

djspinner2k · January 25, 2008

Opus L30022 AC/DC Kit

http://www.opusprophoto.com/products/lighting_kits/l_series_kits.html#l30022

Nikolai · January 25, 2008

djspinner2k wrote:

Opus L30022 AC/DC Kit

http://www.opusprophoto.com/products/lighting_kits/l_series_kits.html#l30022

Gotcha, thx!

Antonio Correia · February 23, 2008

The chess players and myself

Nikolai · February 23, 2008

Antonio Correia wrote:

The chess players and myself

... and of course, ST-EF2 on the camera, and 580EX in your hand

Thank you!

spb13 · February 24, 2008

I finally found my chess set.

exif

Nikolai · February 24, 2008

spb13 wrote:

I finally found my chess set.

And a mighty fine one you did!

spb13 · February 25, 2008

Here is another one that a friend "commissioned"...it is called "pwned".

exif

Nikolai · February 25, 2008

spb13 wrote:

Here is another one that a friend "commissioned"...it is called "pwned".

Great entry, thank you very much!

Very nice lighting!

Is it a composite or a live shot? I'd like to see/read about your lighting setup on this!

spb13 · February 25, 2008

Nikolai wrote:

Great entry, thank you very much!
Very nice lighting!
Is it a composite or a live shot? I'd like to see/read about your lighting setup on this!

Thanks! It is live, and I am almost embarrassed to discuss my lighting setup since it is a pretty cheap, but for this shot it is a clamp light pointed at homemade diffuser on the right side towards the front, then on the left side a piece of red poster board. The glass chess board is sitting on a black sheet that extends up to make the background. I can't remember exactly now, but I am pretty sure that I had some black fabric on the right side to block some of the light. I still have the shot setup, so I will grab a pic tonight.

My friend wanted the pawn to seem isolated and defeated so I was trying to use as little light as possible. I think I brought the exposure up a bit when I processed the raw file, then tweaked the levels and curves a bit.