Chess Master.

[Russ-Suzanne]

Shot on Delta 400 film with Nikkor 35 f/2 glass.

[DavidTriplett]

Russ, I like these, generally, but would have preferred if you had picked just one as the topic of this critique. I'm with Ludmilla on OOF foreground. Can you choose the one you like best and re-post (larger) for our discussion?

[samstevens]

I take this to be a series, a use of photography I very much enjoy. I have several series of 3 photos myself. The slight change in expression and gesture from photo to photo is very intriguing. While each photo could certainly exist on its own, I do think in this case the whole is greater than the sum of its parts as it shows both movement and progression and captures that chess-like dimension. The lighting is excellent. The man cooperated by wearing the perfect suit and hat. I agree with Ludmilla that the framing or crop feels tight.

 

I do think with a series, presentation can be important and I first looked at this on my iPad where the third photo (because they were uploaded as discrete photos, I presume) dropped down to a second line and wound up below the first two. That seemed awkward and killed some of the momentum of the series for me. When I looked on my bigger desktop screen all three were in a row and that seemed much more appropriate. So, if you want them to be a series, I'd gang them together in whatever software you use and load them as a single image with some consideration given to the space between them.

[Gerald Cafferty]

As presented they are three individual photo's, maybe if they were put together as "Triptych" the effect would be improved. As individuals they are OK but presented this way there is no purpose.

[Ricochetrider]

I too looked at them on a mobile device and didn't get the correct. presentation- I got two up, one down, like Sam did. I like them, Each stands on its own well enough, but together they form a nice series. I think you would. benefit from forming an actual triptych.

 

Looking at them again and again, I've decided I would like these more had the subject (he man) been more centered in the frame. I don't mind the OOF foreground; I feel like the blurred chessboard puts the focus on the player, yet gives us enough information on what it is he's doing. Maybe it's a bit too much chessboard in there, if you had moved in closer, or crop now, I feel like the portrait aspect of the imagery would stand a little stronger.

 

The light is great, and the person's face is awesome. The positive elements of the series outshine the few nit-picky points I've made; overall, these are cool images. The fact that these are shot on film with a fixed focal length lens is not lost on me. It adds more interest to the whole thing, IMO- possibly because I'm shooting film and having fun doing so these days, but hey. .

[William Michael]

If they're meant to be a series; a photo story; a triptych, then as already mentioned, the presentation requires addressing.It appears that you've uploaded three individual images, not one image with three parts to it. Three individual images may appear differently, depeding upon the device on which they are being viewed.

 

When considering that presentation, it is typical (also usual) that, when it exists, the time-line would take precedence in the ORDER: to this point, the second image appears to depict the action of White Castling on the King's side: it is near impossible that this frame could have occurred after Image #1.

 

It seems logical that Image #3 is placed correctly, because White has positioned the King's Rook (the Rook involved in Castling) and the Queen, both to support the Knight's attack in that centre square, which has been vacated by the Pawn.

 

The Title "Master" suggests that the player possess a certain level of Chess ability, albeit even if he is not a "Master" as such: I think that folk with an idea of chess might see lots of nuances on the board as well as appreciating other aspects of Photography - but to allow these elements, I think that ORDER is very important, as is the method of displaying the Story.

 

This link may be of assistance to you if your aim is/was to create a Picture Story.

 

WW

[ruslan]

I like them, add more space and air!

[Gerald Cafferty]

The three photos are now presented in a row which has improved the effect. If I'd seen them like this from the start I would have not made my previous comment. Is this a result of one of PN's famous glitches or has the OP found a way of editing a post beyond the initial few minutes?

[William Michael]

The three photos are now presented in a row which has improved the effect. If I'd seen them like this from the start I would have not made my previous comment. Is this a result of one of PN's famous glitches or has the OP found a way of editing a post beyond the initial few minutes?

 

FYI -

The OP was posted at 0152hrs and an edit was made at 0156hrs - that is within the 10 minute edit time.

 

Because I have the capacity to interrogate, as assistance to the opening poster, I mentioned in my commentary, "It appears that you've uploaded three individual images, not one image with three parts to it." and "Three individual images may appear differently, depending upon the device on which they are being viewed.

 

I don't know the reason why you viewed them as not all three in a row and then that view changed, I suspect that it was more about your device than it being a PN glitch: that is the way I viewed them also - two on top and one below and now I see all three in a row, in the first case I had a smaller window open, so I suspect for me, the third image was pushed to the next row in my smaller window. I note Ludmilla's comments in this regard.

 

In both cases the same (IMO incorrect) order was presented and I made comment about that.

 

WW

Edited August 23, 2019 by William Michael

[samstevens]

I think that folk with an idea of chess might see lots of nuances on the board as well as appreciating other aspects of Photography - but to allow these elements, I think that ORDER is very important

:):):)

 

In a gallery show I recently had, the first photo on the left side of one wall was of a classical bass player. I didn’t want him facing away from the other photos at one end, but I had shot him facing left, so I horizontally flipped the photo for printing, not thinking it would be noticed because it just didn’t seem very obvious. Of course, I forgot that one of the attendees was a bass player with the San Francisco Opera who immediately recognized that no one would play the bass that way. We were both rather amused by his noticing this. I think, for both of us, it actually made the experience that much more special, though I will admit to some embarrassment. I told him if he wanted a print, I’d make it right for him as long as I could determine where on his wall it would be positioned! A case of poetic license running up against accuracy. In the end, it all worked out ok.

 

I agree that ORDER in a series is important, and that in these particular 3 photos, chronological order might want to take precedence. I’ve played a bit of chess and understand William’s point, though I never would have noticed on my own, so it’s great to have it pointed out. I originally saw the ORDER as making sense because the first photo shows the contemplation of a move, the second shows the very beginning of a move, and the third appears to capture a bit of the motion of a move. So, in perhaps a more abstract sense it actually did seem to be sequential.

 

I think in both this case and in my own, accuracy might just outweigh other concerns in the ordering. Every case is different, and there would surely be cases for me when chronology would not be key to the ORDER of a series and when the feeling conveyed by the order might outweigh various accuracies. Regardless, it’s good to remember, both in terms of order and other things like spacing and potential framing, the importance of presentation in either communicating or emphasizing one’s expression.