Someone said earlier that it is about developing a "style", and that is so true, making a style that is your own will set your work apart from others.

There is also a difference between making a render and making something that is "art". Everyone can set up a scene and hit render, and that is why 80% of the poser artwork looks the same. But those who take the time to attempt to make "art" from it, will really get noticed for their art, not their software.

This is something I have found for myself the last couple year. I used to be content to set up a scene and click render and be all proud of myself. But when I started comparing what I had to other artists that I admire, I started seeing huge shortcomings in what I did. Setting up a cool scene is easy enough, but setting up a cool shot is different. You have to look at things like camera angles, lighting, DOF, colour palette, and a ton of other things that will really help create somethign unique from your shots.

 

Rawn