They often say that the simplest ideas are the best (joke) - however I rather like the tranquility of this....
Simple often works. 8) The sky is great. I would use a power fractal to break up the fake stones; allow some sand of the shore to show.
Thanks njeneb - will do that :)
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.
Upped the samples and added lens flare....
the last one looks really great, but maybe the lens flare is a bit too intrusive?
I agree about the lens flare. The rest looks much better.
lens flare is in the bokeh of the holder ;-)
Lens flare will be removed with extreme prejudice! Thanks for the comments all :)
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...
I have Corel Photo Paint - I think I can make the spots more translucent - will have a go :)
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.