This is an image I created of a cavern. the camera looks out from a passage into an open chamber where the roof has caved in. The chamber was created by using bryce rocks set negative and grouped with a positive bolean terrain to make the tunnels. There was no detail in the chamber till I used a blue light but it made the tunnel look unnaturally bright. I switched the light to negative and highlights showed up pink and the stlagtites had pink bright shadows. I guess a shadow from a negative light is bright. I turned the light red and the resulting darkness had a blue cast. I turned shadows off and got the image you see. Negative lights seem like a great solution to lighting problems I have and the render was only 45min.

Nice lighting! IMO this render would be way cooler without the stalagmites (stalactites? I can never remember which is which!). Anyway, the spikey things seem to clutter the scene. Not all caves have them, don'tcha know. :)

Little tip for you Jaymonjay: In stalactites is the word "tits" and they're at the top of course ;)

Kylara: We used to learn this at school.....'tites come down' eg. Tights (pantyhose) come down...?

Or...stalactites hand "tight" to the ceiling; stalacmites are "mighty" and hold the ceiling up. Can't remember which teacher taught us that but it's stuck with me all my life. Interesting use of lights, electroglyph. I played once with caverns but didn't get good results. I'll have to try again and use this idea.

The one I learned was stalaCtites have a "c" for "ceiling". StalaGmites have a "g" for "ground".

The one I learnt was... when the mites go up, the tights come down.

Great cave shot and thanks for the lighting tip.

Brycean caves totally rule, it's a passion of mine, good to see others working in the dark, too!

Second pass, Higher negative lights, shrank the stalactites. I put a tree and some dirt in the room where the ceiling fell in. More specularity on the walls, a little ambient color and reflectivity to the water. I need to blur theterrains used for the florite fountains more the edges of the pools look too sharp. I also might take the black back down(up?) a bit. I like a little blue twilight better.

Looks great. Have heard of negative lights, was wondering when they can be useful.