Dead End

Horo, you are correct, I'm baaack. Have been having some health issues and haven't been home much. I will try everything you guys have suggested. Anything has to help, lol. Thank you all.

Well, I was thinking that IBL is comprised of virtual point radials, so in a sense the statement that only radials cast shadows still holds. I do think IBL is his best bet but I am unsure if he is willing to take that step yet. I figured that once he saw how good a few radials could look he would be encouraged to use a full dome like IBL. We shall see.

Ha! when I saw the picture I thought "Oh Gary is back!". Nicely made dead end. Rashad is right about the sky dome light but wrong about only radials can cast shadows. You're on Bryce 6.3 so you have IBL. You can create an HDRI with the sky you're using and get the light from above and the sides. 600 pixel diameter suffices, Sky Dome only also. Just don't use it as backdrop. Use only the light (HDRI-Effect) and control the colour tint with Saturation. Set Intensity to 0 and Quality somewhere between 32 and 256. I reckon that you get pleasing results with 64.

Your images always seem to transport me to the time and place you want to send me. Great. From a lighting standpoint I'd say that once again the skydome is working against you. Skydome can only provide illumination from directly above, it cannot give light along vertical angles. I notice that all surfaces which face the sky are too bright, but the vertical walls of the sheds and other items are fully black. This should not be. You are wise not to fry the scene in ambience glow. Bravo. The next step is that you need to stop using the skydome as well by putting a fully black color into that channel. Instead of Skydome or Ambience, try using what I call some "secondary lights." Obviously, the default sun is the primary light, but you need a few secondary lights to represent the light bouncing around the environment. Skydome alone cannot cut it. Nor can ambience alone. Only radials or light clusters can do the job properly because only radials can cast shadows!!!!! Try placing three secondary lights with a bluish tint to represent the sky influence. Place the radials so that they can illuminate as many angles as possible, so that even the vertical walls receive some light. I know you can do it, you just need to trust me.