Trying........

[yossam]

to reproduce a pic I found on the net....can't quite get the lighting right.

[inkydigit]

great start, cool idea!
the trees need to be much closer to the camera...
look forward to the next!

[cyphyr]

Looking good!
I'd add in a low "blank" cloud layer at camera height, extending to just above the height of the tallest tree, with a very low density. It will soften the saturation of the trees and with "soft shadows" enabled in the sunlight node you could get those soft shadows. It will also lighten the sky
Richard

[yossam]

cypher...........what do you mean by "blank".

[Simius Strabus]

Could try a haze setting of 4 to 8.

[Tangled-Universe]

I'd set the haze density to something like 4 and increase the amount of glow to make it just not overcast (as you can see in the reference the sky is glowing, but still blue sky is visible).
Then enable soft shadows, use something like 1 for radius and at around 15 samples at least.
The sun's elevation is not very high in the reference, otherwise there wouldn't be so much shadowing, so keep sun elevation at default 25 or 30 at most.
That's at least how the reference 'feels' to me.

[TheBadger]

Nice effort so far! Keep playing.

[yossam]

2.0 is rendering as I type this........could be awhile though. In order to get the lighting even close, I used the sun and 4 light sources at varying co-ordinates, heights, and strengths. All lights have soft shadows checked. Prepass took an hour.......render could take considerably longer(maybe a week).

[Kadri]

Yossam , i would try to use higher "Strength on surfaces" in the "Enviro light" node
or the light exposure settings in the  "Render Camera" node
or used more luminosity in the textures...
You could render the scene and make use of the EXR format
and make some adjustments in post too.
Many ways for sure!
The render i make now uses more then one sun too and render time does suffer.

[yossam]

Kadri, I basically tried everything that you have suggested. I still wasn't happy with the outcome of the renders, that is when I got light happy . I always render to EXR format since it gives so much adjustment leeway in post. Just checked the render......right at 30 hours and maybe 50% finished. Good thing that I am a patient person (not). Thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely post to the forum when finished, if I live that long !!!!

Photoshop will be working overtime on this one...........

[Kadri]

Yeah as i said i use more then one light too , exactly 4 lights !
If they all are so much needed or not , i say yes to myself

[Mahnmut]

Nice project, I am looking forwrd to see the outcome.

I think when you look at the original closely, there seems to be a lot of light to be coming THROUGH the foliage, even though it´s conifers. so try playing with the transparency on your trees, that often adds greatly to realism.
Best Regards
Jan

[yossam]

Well, after 73 hours and change render time.................
Still not happy with the outcome..........the shadows(or lack thereof) are almost non-existant. Until I can figure out a better placement of the population, this is on hold. There is hardly any light filtering through the trees. Seems like I changed the spacing, rotation, size, etc. a million times.

Any and all suggestions are welcome

[Matt]

There isn't much sunlight coming through the trees because the leaves are too dense. You can't really see much sky through them. In the photo there are more gaps between leaves.

Matt

[yossam]

I am re-rendering with some slightly modified suggestions by T-U. I do believe you were almost spot on.