Here is an image that I made of my dog when he was a puppy. Everything was modeled, textured, etc. in Blender and some of it took a while because i didn’t know how to do it so I had to teach myself before doing it. I’m happy with the result and I hope you like it too!
Alex
I like the overall feel of the image - the dog seems awesome. Some things could use some improvement though. There should be some Depth of Field focusing on the dog and spider. There also seems to be no compositing. I like the tree and grass, though I think that the grass needs more variation in length, especially around the tree trunk. I think the sky should also have been blue to add a daylight feel rather than an evening setting. I think if you added those it could look amazing - especially since you’re such a good modeller.
Certainly, the general effect is furry and pleasing. The general composition of the shot is balanced and pleasing. The sense of depth created by the flowers in the foreground vs. the background is good. The color temperatures seem balanced and appropriate. The background-sky color gently leads my eye to the subject of the photo rather than away from it, as does the stone wall and the tree trunk and limb. In other words, an excellent image already!
You probably want to make the spider’s web more obvious, and you might wish to do some airbrush (“dodge and burn”) work around the dog’s snout. (Dealing with this image will be much simpler if the spider, her web, the dog, and the background are all separately-composited renders.)
Pay attention to details such as the dog’s tag, which presently is hanging in space and devoid of detail. Consider treating this as yet another composite layer since the suitable lighting for it is perhaps different (and because it’s small, hence almost instantaneously re-rendered by itself).
Pull some histograms on these various layers. You want the lighting temperatures and distribution etc. to be similar for the dog’s fur as for the background, since the dog is outside, although perhaps slightly bluer hence cooler since the dog is in the shade. A noticeably bluer treatment, meanwhile, might be appropriate for the spider, while a warm and perhaps slightly blurred treatment might look good for the web. (So, the spider, and her web, would be separate “comps.”)
It’s fine to leave the whole thing with a certain “cartoony” feel to it, because the background is obviously to a certain extent stylized.
A very slight key-lighting effect, perhaps some de-saturation and/or minuscule blurring of the background, all to very subtly focus our attention to the point of the dog’s attention, can be the “icing on the cake” that really makes the image “perfect,” all of this being done in the final-comp steps.
Certainly, the general effect is furry and pleasing. (Let’s face it, the puppy is adorable…) In other words, this is an excellent image now.
You probably want to make the spider’s web more obvious, and you might wish to do some airbrush work around the dog’s snout. (Dealing with this image will be much simpler if the spider, her web, the dog, the tag, and the background are all separately-composited renders.)
The very subtle depth-of-field effect on the dog’s fur not only makes it look lovably soft, but it also pulls our eye back forward toward the joke of the shot. As it should, everything in this shot gently converges back upon that joke.
Pay attention to details such as the dog’s tag, which presently is hanging in space and devoid of detail. Consider treating this as yet another composite layer since the suitable lighting for it is perhaps different (and because it’s small, hence almost instantaneously re-rendered by itself).
Pull some histograms on these various layers. You want the lighting temperatures and distribution etc. to be similar for the dog’s fur as for the background, since the dog is outside, although perhaps slightly bluer hence cooler since the dog is in the shade. A noticeably bluer treatment, meanwhile, might be appropriate for the spider, while a warm and perhaps slightly blurred treatment might look good for the web. (So, the spider, and her web, would be separate “comps.”)
It’s fine to leave the whole thing with a certain “cartoony” feel to it, because the background is obviously to a certain extent stylized. I don’t want to gasp at the stunning photorealism: I want to laugh at the funny joke (and figure out how I can pull such an adorable puppy out of the frame and take it home with me).
A very slight key-lighting effect, perhaps some de-saturation and/or minuscule blurring of the background, all to very subtly focus our attention to the point of the dog’s attention, can be the “icing on the cake” that really makes the image “perfect,” all of this being done in the final-comp steps.
Thank you both for the compliments and the things that could be done to improve the image. I appreciate it. This is only my second image I made but with each one I make I learn more and with each comment i get I also learn more so thanks. I will keep in mind the tips you gave to help on my next projects if I don’t update this one.
