Moonmagic WIP, help wanted

[cyphyr]

This is a project I'm working on at the moment. In general I'm happy with it so far but I keep thinking its missing something. Its kind of, well, predictable. The camera angle is boring but I cant figure out where else to place it to capture the moon, refection and fire. Part of the problem is that if the Moon is any further into the corner it starts to distort terribly I think one solution would be to render large, at a very wide angle (so the Moon can be closer to the middle), 100° or so and crop out the center. Or I may just render the Moon separately. That aside its still missing something, some subtility of camera POV. Oh yes and the clouds could do with some serious work and I know the fire is in the wrong place :)lol
So suggestions on a postcard or C&C as usual

Thanks for looking

Richard

ps, Trees are Xfrog, grass is mine,  fire is comped in

[Henry Blewer]

Try changing the camera's lens angle. I think it's 60 degrees. Try 40 or 30 degrees. It will mean moving the camera to maintain the same point of view. (If you want to keep this one)

[Volker Harun]

I agree to some point with njeneb. I guess that you have you a 60° horizontal FoV, while it would be better to use those 60° on a vertical FoV. You will have to change the PoV of course.
Anyhow, this is only suitable to some degree, as the narrower the field of view, the less perspective depth you have. Best example for this effect is a photography of a lonesome tree in front of a moon.

The gras looks fantastic, while the lighting on the trees is to strong for a campfire in my opinion. For my personal taste you could widen the fog and make it a bit less dense ...

You have chosen a tough scene and it is looking very good so far. Only one minor thing comes into my mind. At a full moon night, the clouds usually have more definition and the overall lighting is a tat stronger.

You asked

Volker

[tee]

Looking really nice, only thing I can think off is some scorched grass around the fire maybe. Is it me or is the moon in the sky slightly stretched .

[Mandrake]

That's awesome, I can hear the crickets.
If this were a poser image there would be naked dancers!! hehe

[cyphyr]

Hehe, fortunately its not Poser lol, but thats kind of the problem, I'm trying not to be "taccy", predictable etc.
Anyway here's an update, moved the fire, changed the clouds, added some sticks and better stones. Still not happy, maybe a propper highrez render will make me feel better
C&C asked for )
Richard

[Kadri]

.... In general I'm happy with it so far but I keep thinking its missing something. ...

İf you want photorealism maybe your brain sees the suble unnatural things.
İ am not a photographer but if you would take a shot here i think everything except the moon and near the fire would be dark or in silhouette and maybe more red in/near fire...
But from the artistic  side i think maybe 1 or  2 man near the fire would be enough and maybe longer shadows?

And by the way this is realy nice as it is  

Kadri.

[matrix2003]

Thank you Richard.  For a million ideas !   

[cyphyr]

İ am not a photographer but if you would take a shot here i think everything except the moon and near the fire would be dark or in silhouette and maybe more red in/near fire.

I agree, but..., its a balancing act, I don't want the image to become too dark and the image has to have areas of detail, of interest in it.

But from the artistic side i think maybe 1 or 2 man near the fire would be enough and maybe longer shadows?

I don't have the skill to do anything decent with poser, my only way of doing people and I really don't like the basic poser output, ok if your character is a hard edged shock trooper but not so good for a softly lit cloth and skin texture, well not in my clumsy hands lol. I intend to add a few more objects about the fire, stacks of wood, sticks and detritus, maybe a small boat! lol
Longer shadows, yes, the light source is too high, at the top of the flames, thanks, I'll drop it down a meter or so.
Thanks for your comments
Richard

[Kadri]

...I don't have the skill to do anything decent with poser, my only way of doing people and I really don't like the basic poser output, ok if your character is a hard edged shock trooper but not so good for a softly lit cloth and skin texture, well not in my clumsy hands lol...

Put a big appropriate object there where you want a realistic shadow and comp the man over it . Shot your own photo or from web .Your web site is realy nice i think you can make realy what you want 

Kadri.

[cyphyr]

Here's the tdg



Richard

[typerextreme]

Love the image richard.

[cyphyr]

Thought I'd try one without the fire

Richard

[typerextreme]

Niiiiiice.  I like both, but i'm more inclined to the one with the fire.  Also I noticed that the clouds in front of the moon changed.  And did the moon get bigger?

[Henry Blewer]

I really like the one with out the fire. It's a little dark for my monitor to see it well. (Monitor has terrible contrast) I think a low strength light, not a sun, would work by the camera. Or maybe some dark ambient occlusion.