08-19-2013, 02:50 PM
Ok couple of quick fundamentals to think about. I assumed you weren't going for a stylised environment so the crit is given in that context.
One: composition. The focal point is jammed into the lower corner. Use the rule of thirds to arrange your focal points, it really does work better.
Two: value. Generally speaking things with higher contrast darker value should be closer to the viewer and things further away become less contrasted and higher in value. Even at night. At the moment your values are fairly close together. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but even though you have depth, it could be pushed even further with this idea of controlling dark to light, high to low contrast when moving from foreground to background.
Three: Perspective. Unless this is meant to be stylised the perspective doesn't really read like a completely realistic 3D environment. This isn't helped by the way that you have cast shadows on the dunes. Because the shadows don't follow perspective they appear like drop shadows on the canvas thus flattening the image and giving it that stylised appearance. If you want to depict 3D forms it's all about how you control the values across the form to show light vs dark sides and especially how the cast shadows are mapped from the light source to the forms they are casting shadows upon.
A detail, but the stars are very evenly spaced which makes it look particularly stylised as well.
Colour wise, think about using some of the complementary colour of the light in the shadow. So if the light is warm, the shadow should have a cooler tint to it. This adds vibrancy amd realism.
Look at reference for how to show things like realistic lighting dropoff. Search images for a fire in the desert, I'm pretty sure the drop off would be a lot steeper from a campfire than how you have it. The trick to applying studies and ref is to find the appropriate ones for your image and apply. You can post the studies you did for this so we can see if they are the kind of things you should be doing for this image?
Hope that helps
One: composition. The focal point is jammed into the lower corner. Use the rule of thirds to arrange your focal points, it really does work better.
Two: value. Generally speaking things with higher contrast darker value should be closer to the viewer and things further away become less contrasted and higher in value. Even at night. At the moment your values are fairly close together. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but even though you have depth, it could be pushed even further with this idea of controlling dark to light, high to low contrast when moving from foreground to background.
Three: Perspective. Unless this is meant to be stylised the perspective doesn't really read like a completely realistic 3D environment. This isn't helped by the way that you have cast shadows on the dunes. Because the shadows don't follow perspective they appear like drop shadows on the canvas thus flattening the image and giving it that stylised appearance. If you want to depict 3D forms it's all about how you control the values across the form to show light vs dark sides and especially how the cast shadows are mapped from the light source to the forms they are casting shadows upon.
A detail, but the stars are very evenly spaced which makes it look particularly stylised as well.
Colour wise, think about using some of the complementary colour of the light in the shadow. So if the light is warm, the shadow should have a cooler tint to it. This adds vibrancy amd realism.
Look at reference for how to show things like realistic lighting dropoff. Search images for a fire in the desert, I'm pretty sure the drop off would be a lot steeper from a campfire than how you have it. The trick to applying studies and ref is to find the appropriate ones for your image and apply. You can post the studies you did for this so we can see if they are the kind of things you should be doing for this image?
Hope that helps