Dry and Blasted

[AP]

A lifeless desert landscape with what could be a uni-directional form of erosion over the basin.

[FrankB]

...or "land of the banana rocks"

The atmosphere seems all hot and unfriendly, so that's good. If I may, I find the color mix betwen stones and sand a bit strange. One would expect those to be more uniformly colored I reckon?

Cheers,
Frank

[Artistico]

Interesting idea, and a good starting point.

I agree with the previous comment, though. The sand is after all usually the bits of rock that have been eroded away, and which in turn sandblasts the remaining rocks to further erosion, and so one would expect the sand and the rocks to be basically the same colour. If all erosion is in one direction, it is possible that it is not necessarily so, but one would need to see bits of sand on the rocks, I think, for the image to look more natural.

[dandelO]

I see where you've taken some inspiration for the choice of sand/rock colours. http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=13065.0

[AP]

...or "land of the banana rocks"

The atmosphere seems all hot and unfriendly, so that's good. If I may, I find the color mix betwen stones and sand a bit strange. One would expect those to be more uniformly colored I reckon?

Cheers,
Frank

I have seen images of tilted stones near Las Vegas, neat stuff. Just rare to see.

There are some desert environments that have a very distinct separation of the rock color and sand/dirt color beneath, just not as common i gather. The stones could be chemically oxidized/heat baked based on there makeup while the soil is made up of different factors with less of a chemically eroded result and the like.

[AP]

I see where you've taken some inspiration for the choice of sand/rock colours. http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=13065.0

Right you are sir.

[AP]

Interesting idea, and a good starting point.

I agree with the previous comment, though. The sand is after all usually the bits of rock that have been eroded away, and which in turn sandblasts the remaining rocks to further erosion, and so one would expect the sand and the rocks to be basically the same colour. If all erosion is in one direction, it is possible that it is not necessarily so, but one would need to see bits of sand on the rocks, I think, for the image to look more natural.

It depends on how the surface materials are spread out i suppose. Some zones might be more porous and others more hardened. That might play a role as to how there are distinct variances within the rock to soil factor. There are bits of sand on the stones, hard to see though. Using the coverage percentages is not easy.

[:)]

ground is too smooth and has no pebbles...also needs more real colors, then good.
also make rocks more cracks and breaking apart

[AP]

ground is too smooth and has no pebbles...also needs more real colors, then good.
also make rocks more cracks and breaking apart

That is sand. It is supposed to look like that. The colors are quite accurate.
Not all rocks have cracks. I have seen rocks like this myself when i visited the desert.   

[AP]

Another version, this time i am trying to make it look semi-photographic.

[:)]

Look better with blur. This is what I mean about rocks.. see the look of these?

[AP]

Look better with blur. This is what I mean about rocks.. see the look of these?

Thank you. With the case with the rocks, there are so many different varieties of rocks on this planet with so many varying degrees of colors, textures, shapes that not all of them look like the photograph you had posted within a arid climate such as the one i rendered. Even within the exact same environment, rocks can vary greatly. Trust me, i have seen it for myself. However, the rocks within the photograph would serve as a nice test idea for another render in the future.   

[mesocyclone]

Wow, nice halos. How did you put them into the render, did you use HaloSim or just postwork?

[AP]

Just some post work trickery from Photoshop, that is all.

[mesocyclone]

Ok! I thought you used halosim.
Nice 22º halo, circumscribed, parhelic circle, sundogs and tangent arc though!