Larry, yeah I'd start with scale first. Marcel indicates he likes the distant appearance, but not the closer one, and that probably is a function of scale...since things appear larger when closer, smaller when further away. So perhaps a smaller scale on the foreground material is all that's needed. There could be other adjustments made as well, though, depending on the "look" one is interested in. Maybe even using an entirely different material in the foreground, or the same one but with different functions or colors. Experimenting around should result in something decent. :)