Simple Sea Scene at Dusk

[Jonathan]

They often say that the simplest ideas are the best (joke) - however I rather like the tranquility of this....

[Henry Blewer]

Simple often works. The sky is great. I would use a power fractal to break up the fake stones; allow some sand of the shore to show.

[Jonathan]

Thanks njeneb - will do that

[Henry Blewer]

Add some more samples to the quality tab of the atmosphere also. This will increase the render time, but the image is worth the time I think.

[Jonathan]

Upped the samples and added lens flare....

[inkydigit]

the last one looks really great, but maybe the lens flare is a bit too intrusive?

[Henry Blewer]

I agree about the lens flare. The rest looks much better.

[neon22]

lens flare is in the bokeh of the holder ;-)

[Jonathan]

Lens flare will be removed with extreme prejudice! Thanks for the comments all

[Henry Blewer]

Actually, I would just blend it in more. If the edges were a little softer and the image showed through it some it would look more like a camera lens flare. It has a strong post work look now.
I have tried these using Blender and Corel Paint X2. I think Lightwave 3D or 3D Studio would give you better results with this kind of post effect. They are very hard for me to get them to look right...

[Jonathan]

I have Corel Photo Paint - I think I can make the spots more translucent - will have a go

[Henry Blewer]

You can use a new raster layer for the flare in Corel Paint X2. The blend slider will work fine, and/or you can use a pixel filter.