I did some adjustments according to some of your judgements. On the subject of where the edge meets the flow it is my intention not to make a sharp distinction between them. But thats the trickier bit of the image. Thanks for all your interest and devotion. Please continue with that.

Big improvement lighting-wise. How about changing the coffee-pot altogether. That one does't work for me.

Ummm. I didn't follow the previous discussion, so... Coffee itself needs much more specularity and a bit of transparency. The steam has to be much wispier. While I can accept a metallic texture for a percolator, you need to enclose your scene in something, so the pot texture doesn't reflect blue Bryce sky. I'd move camera a bit to the left, lift it a bit and tilt it, so you see the pot and the cup bit from above and right. Great idea, btw!

This is much better; it really shows that it is not coffee pouring out of the pot, but the cup itself. Good job. (Somehow, that pot fits you, Chris!)

Well.. I guess you have a point when it comes to the pot/perculator. I didnt took so much time in doing that because it was just a secondary object. I focused on the cup. The steam was just something I added in Photoshop without much thinking. Thanks for the interest.

(Somehow, that pot fits you, Chris!) Nukeboy: Yeah, but I try not to wear it everyday......

Oh yeah! ;-) Works much better already then the first posted version . Dunno, but maybe playing around with the "jet" (smoothen it versus unsmooth like now, make it a tad larger or thinner) could enhance the effect, but I am really not sure if that would be needed anymore. Possibly a little camera tilt (like described above) would enhance your point. I would remove the steam though so to stressen the "imaginative" statement of your picture (= not trying to make it look too real) Like it lots and lots and more and more :-) Cheers, Valerie