First renders in a long time *Updated*

[mrwho]

I haven't touched TG2 in about 2 months or so, been busy and such. Finally got going again a couple days ago, and it's starting to come back. This first one is a simple one, but I liked it (minor postwork is contrast work, but I think I slightly overdid it). I started with an atmosphere I had used before, and changed it a bit, sorta easing back into it   The second one is a current WIP, hence the low resolution and quality.

[old_blaggard]

Great lighting and clouds in both.  It's good to see you again .

[overlordchuck]

Oh man, those are beautiful!

[Sethren]

That first image reminds me of a roll cloud. It looks really nice.   

[mrwho]

thanks. The first one started out as a cloud bank over mountains, but I split off from that when a different idea hit. I think I still have the original idea's TGD somewhere

[rcallicotte]

Ooooh.  I really like the sunlight and its effects on that second one.  Please post the final work.

[mrwho]

yeah, I plan on finalizing the second one, but I'm toying with adding something to it, but not sure which. anybody got suggestions?

[rcallicotte]

More light in the foreground.  Perhaps a small forest...not sure.

[mrwho]

I'm toying with a forest of sorts, but it's really hard to see (the little black dots are the trees, I'm guessing some people currently won't be able to see them.) I added another sun to lighten up the foreground, but I don't want to add too much or it'll ruin the mood/effect. Here's what it looks like so far, and obviously the clouds have been removed for population testing.

[dhavalmistry]

I like the second one!

[moodflow]

I like them both.

The first image has a bit too much grain, and the mountains and water look kinda strange.  I think this image has great potential with a few more tweaks.  Nice job.

[rcallicotte]

MrWho, take advantage of the Soft Lighting.  Up the number to 12 samples instead of 9.

[mrwho]

you think it'll make a difference? Here's the next version, quality at .7. AA is 3, GI 2/2 with clouds at 145 samples

[rcallicotte]

Yes, softlighting can help, but then you might need to be concerned about some contrast to a degree.

This is very nice, though.

[Mr_Lamppost]

Nice work on both.

I agree with your original comment that you may have overdone the contrast adjustment on the first one; I assume you didn't save the "Corrected" version over the original 

Just an idea:  Try increasing the Glow Amount and Glow Power settings for the low level clouds in the second image.