Swan lake

[Kevin F]

Not posted much for a long time, but this one seems worthy.

Comments and criticisms welcome.

Thanks go to:
Dune for the reeds
TerrAde for the swans
M Gebhart for the American Elm
Drew Costigan for the water lilies.
Xfrog for pines.

[Jo Kariboo]

Excellent! I very like this one.

[Seth]

very natural

[Jonathan]

A beautiful render Kevin - really looks fabulous. J

[Kadri]

... this one seems worthy.
...

Absolutely! Very nice render, Kevin 

[Luc]

Very nice light and composition

luc

[Dune]

I agree; it's a great render. Very subtle and photographic. The light line of reflection in front of the trees is working great.

[Gooner]

Superb. Such a peaceful image. I like the way you have added so much detail , even as far as the mountains in the distance. 

[ra]

Very realistic, the only thing that is a bit sad about the result are the little fake stones in the front, the structure seems a bit strange to me.

[Kevin F]

Thanks for all the positive comments folks. I might continue this with maybe a ripple or two on the water as if fish are jumping for flies, and the water behind the swans should have a small wake, but I'm not sure how to make one!
@ ra: I don't agree! The small stones are ok it's the bigger ones that are strange.

[otakar]

Superb render. Vegetation is worked in there very naturally. Maybe you could revisit the water lily color (bit more variation?) and work in  a few dead/dry reeds to break up the green color. How about some more water birds? Ducks perhaps?

One of those renders that would make a great desktop wallpaper.

[ra]

...
@ ra: I don't agree! The small stones are ok it's the bigger ones that are strange.

Yea, that's what I meant

[Dune]

the water behind the swans should have a small wake, but I'm not sure how to make one!

It may be a lot of work for a small wake, but if you project an image map of a circle (white, soft, circle on black small square) right behind the swan (from it's arse, so to speak at water level), very small angle of course, blended by a distance shader to refrain it from going into infinity, you could use that to push the water down there (displacement shader). If you use the same white narrow triangle to give the water some foam, you can speed the swan up considerably  

[Tangled-Universe]

I could make a wake for you in Realflow, using realwave, if you'd like.
I would only need the Swan object for it.

[Kevin F]

If you use the same white narrow triangle to give the water some foam, you can speed the swan up considerably  

best laugh of the day so far ..thanks!
might give your method a go.