Thank you everybody for the comments so far! That's very much appreciated!
Quote from: moodflow on December 16, 2007, 09:07:15 PM
I remember seeing an earlier version of this sky. So far, its the best underlit clouds I've seen yet! 
I think it could some more "gaps" in the clouds so we could see the sky (and possibly some stars). Also, the clouds off in the distance near the horizon are a but too sharp.
However, I love the subtle color on the ground from the sky itself. GI at work baby.
Geez man, keep dialing this technique in - its really nice.
Thanks Moodflow. To give it a little "background", I've been insprired to make the image as it is by a sundown I've seen recently when I drove back home westawards on the Autobahn. Man, it was so amazing: the sky was this tone of red everywhere, and the ground too was lit totally red. Also the sky was covered in almost every place, you could see even less blue than in this image.
Although I like your idea of letting a few stars shine through the gaps, giving it a second thought I don't think it would have been realistic. I believe that by this brightness of the sky, and looking into the direction of the sun, the bluesky is still too bright to see stars, I think.
As for the technique - there's really not much of a technique. It's just sun below the horizon, given a bit more strenght, but essentially, that's it. GI's doing the rest for you. There are no fill lights, other than the light sources that illuminate the house front. Although I would advice to have GI relative detail at 2 and GI sample quality at 3, save as exr to up the shadows later on, and there you go.
Cheers,
Frank
