Let the battle begin/A still life

[writer45]

I'm not sure about this one.

John

[caleb]

the shadows on the black peices (queen, bishop, rook) looks like they got hit with some magic wand spill over and so they're missing the details that the knight has. the out of focus white pieces look like they could use some work. I can't say exactly how they should go since I think you painted out the bg, but... some different layering options may help. [edit/ forget about fixing that, make it worse so it looks more natural! a little selective gaussian blur? tweak as needed with a 0% hardness brush... the problem appears to be the natural "gradient" the bokeh gives is cut off really sharply in some spots]

good to me otherwise, the brighter lighting for the white side and shadows on the dark side is a nice touch.

[GB1]

Looks like a 3-D animation to me.

I like it but feel that it would be even better if you shot it from just a little higher and perhaps illuminated the rook better, maybe with a separate light.

The shot has a very appealing feeling to it IMO .. it's like you're watching to medieval armies line up for a pitched battle. Great idea.