Check-mate! The world's oldest chess set...

[equilution]

...so, I've been thinking about this shot (or some variant thereof) for a couple months. This chess set is 65 million years old....well, the material is anyway. It was hand-carved out of the bedrock of the ocean floor, just of the coast of Pakistan. After millions of years of dead sea life settling at the bottom of the sea, it compacted and fossilized.

I still haven't captured it the way I want. It's kind of like Richard Dreyfuss and the mash potatoes in Close Encounters, except I haven't filled up my living room yet with tons of fossilized debris!

I was trying to capture the defeat of an honorable chess match well fought. I'll probably experiment a bit more, and post some more later.

Here's MY favorite of the 150 shots I took last night. Oddly enough, this one happened when I was at the bottom of my glass of Crown Royal!!



Second shot by request later in the thread:

[SoxAddict]

Super-cool story Jim! Do you own the set? It's a cracking shot too. The detail you've captured on the chess pieces and board is exquisite.

[Chewys Dad]

the solution, More Crown Royal!!! l.o.l
This is a Great shot, I have a program I havn't learned to use properly yet called Depth of Field Pro, I want to do some shots like yours and be able to use Selective Focus to blur out the parts I don't want emphasized.
Thanks for sharing this
Michael.

[picnik]

Great capture... I feel it (the defeat of a good game). The bedrock is beautiful! Thank you for sharing.

Nikki

[Fred flyfisher]

Interesting shot Jim. I really like it. I'd encourage others to check out the larger size. Very cool details.

[martha36]

That's a great image. I love chess sets, and the detail you captured on the pieces and board is great - I can imagine exactly what it would feel like. I hope you post some more pictures.

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Originally Posted by SoxAddict

Super-cool story Jim! Do you own the set? It's a cracking shot too. The detail you've captured on the chess pieces and board is exquisite.

Thanks, Nicky! Yes, it is mine. I'm trying to teach my boys the finer points of the game.

[equilution]

Originally Posted by Chewys Dad

the solution, More Crown Royal!!! l.o.l
This is a Great shot, I have a program I havn't learned to use properly yet called Depth of Field Pro, I want to do some shots like yours and be able to use Selective Focus to blur out the parts I don't want emphasized.
Thanks for sharing this
Michael.

Thanks, Michael! I used the 105 micro, so I can pretty much get whatever focus I want!

Originally Posted by picnik

Great capture... I feel it (the defeat of a good game). The bedrock is beautiful! Thank you for sharing.


Nikki

Thanks, Nikki!

Originally Posted by Fred flyfisher

Interesting shot Jim. I really like it. I'd encourage others to check out the larger size. Very cool details.

Thanks, Fred! There's tons of detail to be captured.

Originally Posted by martha36

That's a great image. I love chess sets, and the detail you captured on the pieces and board is great - I can imagine exactly what it would feel like. I hope you post some more pictures.

Here's another one that I thought I liked.

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Originally Posted by martha36

That's a great image. I love chess sets, and the detail you captured on the pieces and board is great - I can imagine exactly what it would feel like. I hope you post some more pictures.

Oops! Thought I hit the reply tab for the mass reply! You deserve your own private reply anyway!!

I've got a lot of work to do before I get what I'm looking for.

I posted another one for you.

Jim

[pjflan7]

super shot, great composition and beautiful pieces...I once as given an african set with sandstone board and handcarved ivory pieces.....It was very rough and rustic but cool nonetheless