Carbon Cycle MKII

* I have seen this scene so many times. It is so realistic. I would say beautiful but theres nothing beautiful about a flood. The little town I grew-up in was wiped 3 times in my childhood. You got the mud just right! Great work David. I give it 5/5.

Mudslide. :-) I have to say I agree with Gat on this one. I feel like a dark dreary, or perhaps stormy, sky would fit this one better. Maybe a misty amber horizon, fading into a starless black sky, casting that surreal amber glow over the entire image? The Mud texture is very good (wet), as is the bark on the trees. The rusted wreck gives an impression of desolation. Is that a gas can on which the crow is perched? The mountains in the background look like snow, as Horo pointed out, and, like the sky, don't feel right. I think I would have opted for an endless mud plane with perhaps a downed airplane (so the wreck wouldn't look so lonely) and maybe some ruins. Then again that's just me. I have the imagination but lack the skill, and sometimes the patience, that you must have. I don't comment as often as I should so I'll take this opportunity to say that I'm very impressed with your work in general and hope to some day reach your level of skill. With my potent imagination I could create some wondrous, and at times very dark and frightening, images that would captivate the observer. It is my hope that I have not chemically corrupted my brain enough to make developing such skills impossible at my old age. Actually, I?m only 49 but at times I feel as old as the matter my body is composed of, perhaps as old as the Universe itself. ;-) Just how old are the Souls that inhabit our bodies anyway?

Better, still. I don't see the need for more trees. This looks to me like trees on a river bank and the river badly flooded the land. I agree with Rashad that the mud did not improve with the specularity. Someone's stolen the tyres - good. The material on the background mountains does not seem to fit the scene now that haze has been decreased. They look snowy down to the plane. I miss some brown or grey at least at the lower parts.

I like the thinner haze. I like the sun. I like the idea of the mud having specularity, but I'm not sure if it works as you intended. I think the reflection looks like water, but the specularity looks slightly plastic. I do not have a clue how to remedy such a thing. Perhaps it;s the light. What color is the sun you added? I'm guessing a reddish tinted sun would fit in well with this hdr. The bird looks very natural.

. The front of the scene looks a lot better, but the background does not seem right. I sudgest replacing it with a row of dead trees (maybe with a few leafs here and there) and use your faded mirror box to cover up any space.