Dark clouds

[Kranky]

Hello,

I've finished my new project. At first, I created the sky and then, I put the landscape under the sky
Rendered in 1920x1200, detail 0.9, AA 6 in about 2 hours.

[FrankB]

Very good, congratulations. a real beauty!

[Seth]

great atmo and light !
good render ^^

[domdib]

The priority you gave to the sky really shows - excellent sky that would probably enhance a number of different landscapes.

[Tangled-Universe]

Beautiful work! Looks very natural!
I think everything is just fine, lighting, atmo + clouds, grasses etc. The trees might do with a little bit more translucency or lighter colors.

Martin

[Hannes]

I love especially the clouds and the background.

[old_blaggard]

Very realistic and very beautiful! Great work!

[rcallicotte]

Lovely setup.  I agree about the translucency in the leaves.

[Cyber-Angel]

I would have to say that I am not sure about what has been said about the translucency of the leaves (RE: Needles) since we're dealing with conifer like trees, given the sun angle, the Point of view, the angle of the camera relative to the sun and the amount and position of the clouds I'd say the lighting of the trees given these factors seams correct. If is important to note that Conifer Forests have an Albedo level between 0.09 to 0.15 whereas deciduous trees (Broad Leaf Types) have an Albedo value of about 0.15 to 0.18 meaning that Conifer Forests will always look darker.

From a compositional standpoint the darkness of the trees gives weight to the sides of the image forcing the viewers eye into the image, it also sets the desired emotional resonance when viewing the image, which IMHO is the point, all that aside "Each to their own" as they say. 

Regards to you.

Cyber-Angel                   

[darthvader]

Lovely image! my only critique is the small amount of graniness in the clouds

[Tangled-Universe]

I would have to say that I am not sure about what has been said about the translucency of the leaves (RE: Needles) since we're dealing with conifer like trees, given the sun angle, the Point of view, the angle of the camera relative to the sun and the amount and position of the clouds I'd say the lighting of the trees given these factors seams correct. If is important to note that Conifer Forests have an Albedo level between 0.09 to 0.15 whereas deciduous trees (Broad Leaf Types) have an Albedo value of about 0.15 to 0.18 meaning that Conifer Forests will always look darker.

From a compositional standpoint the darkness of the trees gives weight to the sides of the image forcing the viewers eye into the image, it also sets the desired emotional resonance when viewing the image, which IMHO is the point, all that aside "Each to their own" as they say. 

Regards to you.

Cyber-Angel                   

Could all well be and true. What counts in the end is how it looks, correct albedo levels or incorrect albedo levels. With increasing the translucency I mean it should make the needles a bit brighter and slightly more shiny. If you compare contrasts and lighting of the surrounding areas you'll see that they don't match.
It's as simple as that and not that complicated.
I think your compositional explanation is more feasible

[rcallicotte]

Perhaps the fact that the contrast in the image is so strong that the conifers look black.  That is unnatural and maybe this is what was wanted.  Don't know.

[buzzzzz1]

Everything looks ok to me. Just up the atmo quality if you render it again because I think it's a keeper.

[Kranky]

I set transluency on all plants (trees, bushes, grass) to about 0.4 to 0.5. But most of the trees look so dark because of the shadows of the clouds.

[Tangled-Universe]

I set transluency on all plants (trees, bushes, grass) to about 0.4 to 0.5. But most of the trees look so dark because of the shadows of the clouds.

I can tell you when I load a couple of different models and place them next to each other and giving them all the same translucent settings for the leaves etc. They will all end up looking different.
All these settings are very arbitrary and should be revised in every new scene.
These settings don't apply for every model as well as not for every scene.
Maybe that's something everybody should keep in mind.
Don't want to sound like a tutor, just thinking along