Please be brutal about lighting, composition, concept, whatever you see that annoys you.
I’d use an hdri for better reflections and lighting, currently looks very flat and boring. And add more leafs and smaller ones over the whole place, scale doesn’t seem uniform.
Excellent- I agree… anyone else?
Three houses are hardly a village, and one tree is hardly a forest. Perhaps more of them would make the image more interesting.
Could make a forest by creating few trees, and then use instancing to place a lot of them. Instancing options are:
procedural duplication https://www.blender.org/manual/editors/3dview/object/properties/duplication/index.html
particle system duplication https://www.blender.org/manual/physics/particles/properties/render.html#object
and linked libraries https://www.blender.org/manual/data_system/linked_libraries.html
Background elements could come from a photo.
A mockup
- original has a tangency issue, branches sharing the same line which flattens the tree. There are more, the elements don’t separate enough in value/depth
- I just added stuff in the mockup but could also think about the placement more carefully, perhaps two of the trees placed on both sides of the thirds,
- giving a fluent 1 2 3 read for the viewer
Nice! Watch for an update.
I would also add some ladders, so that the houses will look more connected. Some houses appear in the distance and blurred, others would have some signs on them, like tribes.
I have a question thou:
What is with the chimneys? I hope they don-t burn wood in those houses… or even make fire… 
Waiting for an update 
Keep up the good work!
It’s kind of obvious to see the houses are duplication. Maybe can add in some dirt or textures or color change the houses to make it less generic. Keep up the good work!
You’ve done a great work, but you might want to rethink your story, or even create one if you don’t have one. The story will help you to make a more realistic render, it’ll bring life into your render. For example, how do the people living in these houses live? How do they travel from one house to another? Do they wear clothes? Then they could probably put them on their windows to dry, etc.
It’s all about the details. You want it less boring? Then add more details, rethink what you’ve done, and maybe change everything! But always with a story in mind.
Keep up the good work!
They conduct raids on neighboring communities and burn the bones and fat of their foes in their fireplaces just like everyone does. The process of forming firelogs from pressed flesh is remarkable and they have a special hut for it powered by a windmill of sorts- it’s not in this image because it’s dangerous to get to close to it- the have lookouts and no one has aspirations of becoming a firelog merely to glimpse the process.
I think whats really lacking is dynamic lighting. From what I can see there aren’t shadows from the trees on the forest below. The scene by itself seems kind of dark overall.