Exploring Chess Through A Lens
Greetings, welcome back to the Hornet Editorial! Today's post is going to be a little different from my usual historical/current events posts. My blog today is a personal story that I've been encouraged to write (you know who you are) and that has been in the making for at least two years now.
Many of you know that I am more or less of an amateur chess player. I've only participated in two in person tournaments and haven't played many online games as of late. What many of you don't know is that when I'm not on chess.com, I participate in several artistic hobbies. Today's focus will be specifically on of them: My photography. In this post, I'll share a portfolio of my chess photography, how I approached shooting it, and how my creative process can translate to the chessboard.
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I did writing it. Now, onto the post!
Setting The Stage
When I first approached writing this blog, I had to ask myself, “What am I looking to capture?” After all, there were many ways I could have approached this endeavor, each leading to a very different outcome. I wasn’t just thinking about the subject itself, but the mood,, and the story the image might tell. In the end, I decided I would set up my hand-carved Finnish chess set close to a window in the basement, allowing natural light to shape the scene as much as possible. The softer, indirect light not only emphasized the craftsmanship of the pieces but also gave the scene a more natural look, opposed to artificial lighting.
that felt true to both the space and the subject.Just the way I drew it up
With my setting decided, I grabbed my camera, (A Sony A7C with a 24-70mm G lens) and initially ran into a roadblock. How would I block the scene? For those of you who don't know what "blocking" is, it's a cinematography term that refers to the way directors position actors within the scene. In this case, it would be how I arranged the white and black pieces on the board. I already knew that having both sides in their starting positions would be hardly interesting and that I needed contrast. On top of that, the same position on the board would look different throughout the day as the light passed through the window. After factoring everything in and doing a lot of experimenting, I set up three different styles for myself to capture:
- Lights and Darks
- Shadows and Reflections
For my first objective, I decided to wait for a bright, sunny morning, as I knew the sun would really glow of the white pieces. Unfortunately, at the time when I wanted to take these photos, it was November, when my area was stuck in a cycle of rain and clouds. My patience would pay off though, as the weather finally gave me a break...
Day One
On the morning of, I didn't waste any time and got straight into shooting. Right away, I realized how important scale was, as it was initially tricky to make smaller than average pieces look big. Once I realized which perspective I had to shoot from though, I began shooting.
The first photo I took (featured in today's thumbnail), was a good start.
My goal was to clearly contrast the black and white pieces on the board, with the bishops and knights being strong examples of this idea. I focused on how their opposite colors stand out against each other and create duality within the shot. I then repeated this concept in a second image, but flipped the composition and reversed the black-and-white positioning to show how the contrast still works even when the arrangement is changed.
After taking these two more crowded shots that included several pieces, I decided to simplify the composition by isolating a single knight. By doing this, I was able to focus more closely on its shape, texture, and position. This helped draw attention to the knight itself and made the contrast feel more intentional.
Finally, I chose to contrast the natural sunlight coming in from the window with the black side of the chessboard. The bright light creates a strong highlight (highlights are a term for whites in photos), while the shadowed area adds depth to the image.
All in all, it was a good day of shooting. I felt like I had achieved what I had wanted to. It also helped me understand what I would have to manipulate for day two, which turned out to be quite the challenge...
Day Two
As the second day of shooting came around, I felt pretty comfortable about what the morning was going to hold. I got straight into it. To capture shadows, I waited until the brightest part of the morning, and it all seemed pretty straightforward. I was already getting good results.
When it came to reflections though, I ran into a problem. I remembered that my chess board was sitting on a wooden table, which is not so great for capturing reflections. On top of that, I had no glass table within reach, so I had to brainstorm. After a bit of experimenting, I realized that the wood itself could still work if I paid close enough attention. By angling the light just right and lowering my perspective, a faint reflection began to appear in the wood. It an extremely crisp mirror image, but a subtle, softer reflection that actually added more character to the shot. Once I noticed it, I leaned into it.
The reflection just seemed to "fade away on that shot, very nice.
The reflection here is more defined, but I still don't know which style I like better. Both work in different ways, and choosing between them really comes down to the feeling I want the photo to give. And that's the whole point. Rather than seeing a certain result as a "failure", I’ve come to appreciate it as part of the creative process, reminding me that photography isn’t always about finding a single “correct” answer, but about breaking boundaries in order to find something that may be there.
In that way, the process feels very similar to chess. Each decision opens up a different path, and even moves that don’t lead to an immediate win still teach you something about the board. Experimentation and adaptability are what ultimately lead to growth. Always remember that.
Conclusion
As always, art is up for your own interpretation. If you didn't like the photos for any reason, there's nothing wrong with that and vice versa. If you loved the photos please let me know which one(s) were your favorites in the comments! This was a different type of blog than the usual ones I do, so I hope you enjoyed it. For now though, I'll see ya later.
- Hornet
