What a View

Richter, I was just checking this picture again and realized that you added some comments. Sorry I was late getting back. OK let me see what I can cook up. I just took some fantastic pictures of the clouds last week in Hi def so will try a rework. I know what you mean about thinkings something looking good. Why I still like my Death Warmed Over picture but some time later I am sure I will look back and try to figure out what i was thinking. Ha

I think Rashad said this once - the render times are long, almost too long sometimes, but the picture stays rendered forever, so you'll have to choose :) Yes, as Horo stated, the lighting is dramatic, but if it is both realistic And dramatic everything will appear twice as breathtaking. The scene is too dark for me to require additional objects in scene and you probably don't need to import/create anymore for this case. Almost 50% of your render is taken by the sky, so you'll do good to work mainly on it and the lighting. You know, when I started using bryce I also thought a number of things that back then appeared to be wonderful and "perfect". Practicing and learning reveal all the "flaws" both software's and artist's. So it was kind of difficult to me that I had to rely on other sources to get my skies get better, I was thinking if I began the proj with Bryce, with Bryce I'll finish it. But it isn't always necessary to use the Bryce skies, think of them as a level 1. David has some incredible renders using blended photos with clouds in Bryce. Well, I'll be waiting to see the new entry if you're up for some reworking here.

Thanks Horo for your comments. When I first started using Bryce I thought everything was wonderful well accept for the trees. But I am beginning to see that there are some things that need to be worked with. I tried the spherical clouds a couple of times and it really increases the render time. I am sure you have heard that song by the Beatles (I am in love but I am Lazy). OK I am going to have to get used to long render times. Thanks again.

Landscape, horse and lighting are awesome, not photorealistic but dramatic. I like the light coming from below. The sk< looks like a sheet - try also to use spherical clouds. Bryce is notoriously weak in clouds.

Thanks for the tips I always am thankful for ideas that I may use in the future. I did learn about the sun from reading the manual when I read the section on the HDRI but it was after I did this work. I mentioned the reflective light in response to your comment about lighting coming up from underneath. But was only guessing. I will try your suggestions on the clouds and the haze. I remember reading that the haze also helps to create realism in the scene.

I notice that there is no haze. When you initiate IBL it turns off the haze and disables the sun automatically. You must remember to turn them both back on. Haze will help brighten the image a bit and the sun will help complete the impression you are recreating from the photograph. For me Bryce skies can be very weak, mostly because they have a way of appearing flat and 2dimensional. One way to overcome this is to angle the camera so as to view the clouds from underneath as much as possible. To do this you will also need to use the maximum cloud height in the sky lab. You will notice the clouds appear more 3d the higher up they are. You might also play with the amplitutde of the clouds. I am not sure what you mean by reflective light. The water plane will surely reflect if it is transparent. In most scenes water has a keen relationship to the sky. Water is usually an almost mirror image of the sky give or take the disruption caused by the waves.

I used the HDRI lighting and it is coming from the left side of the scene. The water is an infinite plane. I did not realize that I could have the sun with the HDRI but now that I know. I could have had the sun going down shining on the horse from the front side. So are you suggesting that there is reflective light?

It appears that there is alot of light coming up from underneath. The image seems peaceful and even though it is dark and brooding in the sky the image does not scare me. Is there water in the background?