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mssnareComment by strangeghost: Greetings from the Critique Club
by strangeghost
The first three parts of this critique are written based purely on examination of your photo. "Final thoughts" is written after reviewing your score, photographer's comments, and voter comments.
TECHNIQUE
This photo appears to be well-shot from the standpoint of focus, exposure and cleanliness (no dust spots or obvious imperfections). The lighting appears to be a bit dark, which could also be an artistic choice on your part. In general, I'm a big fan of flat black backgrounds, but have mostly seen these work well in colorful images. With your image being rendered in B&W, the dark background makes for a very moody and dark image overall. The three pieces on the left are particularly hard to distinguish. I can tell the center one is a bishop and guess the others are knights, but it's not completely clear. You've done pretty good job of controlling the reflections - not an easy task when shooting glass subjects!
COMPOSITION
I love the angles created by the oblique view of the chess board - much more interesting than if you had not shot from the corner. I've already spoken to the ambiguity of the identity of some of the chess pieces, but your subject is clearly the defeated King and the perp seems to be the Queen standing right beside him. I think even non chess-players will be able to relate to the tension created by the staging. Chess players will enjoy the additional imagery implied by the fact that chess pros traditionally knock over their King as the universal sign of resignation (giving up). From a purely "it's a matter of taste" standpoint, I wonder if you shot this scene with a slightly higher camera angle? I like the feel you've created by making the viewer feel like he is right down among the chess pieces, but a slightly higher perspective might have had some interesting elements as well. Alternatively, getting the camera even lower (tough to do though) could have made the Queen really appear to tower over the defeated King. Compositionally speaking, I really like the black background here, as well as the negative space it provides.
EMOTIONAL IMPACT
What type of impact does this image contain? Does it speak to the average viewer? I would guess that it does on some levels, but I'm wondering about the directness of its connection to the challenge. Does it speak to desolation?? On some level, certainly, though I'm wondering if a general voting audience would agree. It's a technically excellent shot and has a professional feel to it, both in technical elements and composition. And to me, it does have a feeling of desolation about it. I don't think, however, that it has a sufficient "wow" factor to elevate it to the top levels of the typical DPC challenge. It's a pleasing, well done shot, but one that probably got lost somewhere in the bottom of the top third in placement.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Well, I was evidently too kind in my estimation of whether the voters would "get it" or not. I'm shocked that this ended up as low as it did. The bottom 10% is a pretty crummy place to land, and I bet you were disappointed in this finish. Don't be discouraged though. You've clearly got a good eye and are willing to spend some time thinking out of the box (as one of your commenters observed). Keep shooting. I enjoyed the opportunity to study this image closely for a critique.
Photographer found comment helpful.