Quite frankly that image is better than any of the maya fake or real cg renders especially when you see the large images.
I think it’s a pretty interesting idea.
lets start out with wine or port
The thing is that some things are a lot easier to make photorealistic, so if this goes ahead, we’ll probably end up with a bunch of renders of screws on tables and photos of the same.
i think it would be a good exercise to try and acheive photorealism in a render 
and as far as maya’s site goes, i wouldn’t realy say those renders look to photoreal, mostly its just that the photos dont look kind of like cg… 
i think it’s a good idea!
i’m sure that with the new ambient oclussion, raytracing, area shadows or yafray integration blender is “photo level” able…
and here my little -and old- contribution to the post
http://www.tomashermanos.com/mini_cv/imagen/3d/escalera_i.jpg
yep all you now it’s blender (older one), and i’m sure it could be much better with actual blender lighthing and shading tools… but here it is - i must say that the postpro were a must (light levels mainly) in order to get this final result
hey to all that criticism about the idea of the post… the constructive and creative spirit of blender users community is the engine that is moving blender to it’s actual stage
nice one, aqa
that’s already in the ballpark, and like you said, with Blender’s new lighting/rendering capabilities, this could be brought up a notch to really fool the eye.
I like the idea of this photoreal thing. I always like to see CG that you can’t tell if it’s real or not. I think the best stuff I’ve seen done with Blender is over at yafray.org - check out the caustics movie here (put it on loop - I know it’s not seamless but it’s a bit short to play once):
http://www.coala.uniovi.es/~jandro/noname/gallery/gallery.php?type=1
Ok, someone came up with an idea, now here’s a thought… if you like the idea, take part in it. If you hate the idea… don’t. If you choose not to, I see no point at all in shooting it down.
One of the fascinations for me with 3D progs like Blender and 3Dmax has always been the fact that you can aim for, and get pretty close to photo-realism. Some of the stuff I’ve sen posted here has come pretty close too.
Sounds like a great idea for a competition. Could give a photo and a set time to make it in. Done in catagories according to renderer (like, one for yafray and one for the blender internal)
Could give some really nice showcase images.
I would really like to see the image posted with more AA and higher samples for the HDRI. (I know it isnt yours, before anyone bitches at me)
If anyone fancies this as a comp, then I will be happy to host it all.
Ian
Nice idea
the file can be found at
http://members.home.nl/dotblend/yafrayfiles.htm
give it your best shot
but leave the clock intact!
my first photorealism attempt - don’t know if it is any good! :-?
Needs a lot of work. Photorealism doesn’t come easy, especially not that easy.
Do you remember the renders of a Mini car, done in Yafray… that WAS photoreal (specially the one with the graphity behing, for the one in the desert the car looked too much clean).
I believe that they have a copy on the Yafray gallery.
There have been a few photo real peices done with blender. It’s just not as common as it used to be for an artist to do a traditional “Photoreal Study” as it once was. I remember a few years ago when every day someone was trying to do a photoreal peice. It was much more difficult back then of course but it didn’t stop people from trying.
Anyways it’s still a good topic in my opinion and certainly can’t hurt to revive old traditions.
I cut this out of one of my project scene Yafray renders.
http://www.solarflarestudios.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=214
Blend on!
yeah! now we’re getting somewhere with some submissions!
Keep it up, and I’ll eventually put that little on-line game together.
that’s right! i’ve seen some terrific car models with blender, like the above mentioned mini. that’s a GREAT example too.
here are some more car pics: fake or photo?
check the link for your answer 
The mini cooper rocked! Everyone in my family couldn’t believe it, especially coming from something that is free.
LOL I thought it (the crossfire) was fake and then I realized there was a link… anyways in the top 2 pics the background is exactly the same… how did they keep the camera THAT steady while they waited for the car to turn around?
Also in 3 of the pics the 2 front wheels are in the exact same position…