A Knight in

[dlh]

I've been trying a few random shots this evening from the cool comfort of my own house :)
This is the only one that really stood out for me. Only did a quick adjustment to contrast and modified colour balance.

Comments welcome as always.

http://www.thephotographyforums.com/albums/album46/knight.jpg

[CT]

It's a noble effort but it doesn't quite work for me I'm afraid, mainly due to the fact that the black knight is so under-exposed he blends into the background and far too much of the detail is lost - the horses head is just completely lost against the background. I'd have been inclined to shoot this in portrait format to avoid having so much space at each side, and also to have made more of that foreground reflection which is potentially quite interesting.

It's a great idea and definitely worth experimenting with. Chessmen make great still life subjects. Definitely shoot some more! :D

[dlh]

Trying to expose for the black knight whilst trying not to blow out the white knight and also keep the background black proved tricky with the available lighting. Think I will have to pick up some cheap lamps and try again.

Not sure I'd want to see the black piece in complete detail, but a little more would probably be good :)

Thanks for your comments.

[dlh]

Here's another attempt. I just can't seem to expose the black knight enough. Might try something a little different...

http://www.thephotographyforums.com/albums/album46/knight2.jpg

[CT]

That is loads better though and it IS a difficult exposure problem. You might be able to bring out some detail in the black knight by using separate masks where the detail is lost - the head for instance. It's definitely worth persevering with and would we still want to do it if it was too easy? OK then, we probably would. :lol:

[CT]

Try metering for the black knight and see what you get then. If the white knight over exposes it will probably be easier to put that right than try to recover lost detail in the black knight. You could try a lighter background but the shot would probably lose some impact.

[dlh]

Thanks CT. Time for F1 but then it's back to the drawing board :)

[CT]

Don't give up on it, there's a cool still life 'keeper' trying to get out. 8)

The other possibilty is to take two separate shots (off a tripod) one exposed for the black knight and one for the white knight and combine the two shots via layers in PS. I'm sure we have 'How to's' for this for Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro.

[Steve]

Dare I suggest to cheat and reverse the positioning of the black and white knights? Thus the darker piece will be in the foreground and more visible and the lighter white piece should still stand out in the background and allow for easier exposure :wink:

[dlh]

Tried swapping the pieces but it doesn't look quite right, the black acts as more of a shadow like character this way round which I like :) And it's still tricky to bring out the detail in the black knight.

Here is another attempt. My last. Not sure about it...

http://www.thephotographyforums.com/albums/album46/lastknight.jpg