hmm... I... okay, okay, get ready!!! I think it's pretty cool :P the water's great, but the scene seems to be lacking light. also, the pine trees look awfully 2d. altogether it's a very nice concept, but it's lacking that je ne sais quoi that brings it to reality. my opinion is light :)

Love the serenity of this... and the water is great... makes me want to drop in a pebble just to watch the ripples.

Nice, but the horizon behind the trees is too harsh. How about some mid-ground (between foreground and background!) - a few smaller hills. I like the pond - you've done the shore very well indeed - but how about a duck? (oooh, matron!) Or a swan or something on the water. Or maybe a kid with a model boat. Something to break up the expanse of water. And are those gingerbread men under the tree in the middle? What are they doing there?

I think the gingerbread men are a picnic table and benches. Maybe you should change their color. IMHO, you could make the trees taller/larger (to the top of the scene) and make the picnic table a little bigger too. I say this because it doesn't look like the POV is that far from shore, but the trees etc look pretty far away. Lin

This is a personal taste thing for me. I like the colors and what you're trying to do. The tree clumps are pretty good as well, but it lacks a feeling of space and depth. This may be deliberate on your part, and that's fine. For me though, I always like to give the impression of "real space" and "real distance. I go with a very rough formula of one close object, the focus of the scene in the middle and then detail in the back to draw the viewer in. I don't always use it, but it's in the back of my mind to give the illusion of space. Also, be careful with the ambience on materials. Most times, I kill it on my materials unless the item is glowing. The shadows just don't feel real with it on. IMHO

Thanks all. I was looking for some ducks actually. I am kind of having a problem with the horizon just yet. It is kind of a penninsula so there is water on the other side of this "island" and a small mountain barely visible in the background. Yes, the gingerbread men are a picnic table and benches..LOL I like the idea of making the trees and table bigger. I don't know how to fix the pine trees they are Bryce 3d standards, so how do I get them to not look 2d? Maybe stagger them more? If I do find a duck, does anyone know how to ripple the water behind it as it/they swim? Again thanks so much for your input, now I will go practice some more.:)

You can create ripples by using terrains. Draw some smooth ripples using the editor, use the clipping bar to remove the "valleys". Texture the terrain using the same mat as the water. Place round duck and serve. Voila.

I like it, but there's only foreground and horizon, needs something in between... good start =>

How's about a little pier with a rowing boat tied to it, maybe a couple of fishing poles too. I mean, you already have the picnic area under the trees to eat the fish you catch so in real space you could make use of them. Catlin

Awesome job.. but IMHO the tree's are to small for the scene. The water is great and the beach, but the rest does have a bit of a surrealistic look and feel to it. But still all in all a great job, better than I can do on a landscape pic, so I truly have no bragging rights.