I know there are probably a lot of fixes here. Not in the crystal decanter itself,(though suggestions welcome there too:))But in the whole image. I started out just making a background to show off the decanter and decided I like the simpicity of just the 3 objects for a still life. I need practice, practice, practice! So sock it to me!!!

Placement of the decanter/ angle of the camera. This way it sinks into the water. :-) The wall is too bland.

The picture is great yet it commands to much attention in the scene. Nice Decanter

need wall texture

The camera is too level with the table, angle it a bit to give more "drama".

Try a dark room with a spotlight above the picture and the decanter off centre, perhaps even some cigar smoke wafting in from the side. And the wall definately needs some texture. This is how I'd probably do it anyway. Hope this helps you. Good luck with the rendering. Catlin

Terrific start! My suggestions: Picture - on some professionally hung paintings they will put several different colored mats between the picture and the frame, this helps set the picture off from the frame. Decanter - put a base on the bottom, it does look a little unstable. Other - What's a decanter without a glass or two to drink out of? Make it/them the same design as the decanter to show it is a set. Also, what about putting them on a serving tray? Lin

Great start, my .02, -Move your point of view up somewhat to show some table top -Lin's right about the mats, also have the picture in the shadow some, to create background interest and not command attention... _A wine glass next to the decanter and made be a partially sliced piece of friut...remember placement, triangle of objects on the table V & H, work in odd numbers... - vary sizes and most important offset from the center of the image see example, hope this helps a little...:)

Thanks all for your suggestions. I will be working on this in the next week. Please keep ideas coming:)and I will keep you posted on my progress.

Colette, assuming that you don't want to change the camera vertically, look at it from more of a side view and maybe slightly further back. show more of or all of the picture, maybe a portrait view rather than a landscape. If the decanter is to be the subject brighten it a little(ambience(?)) or otherwise draw the eye to it. a change in lightsource so that you can see some shadows might help. to me the table looks too dark somehow - perhaps you might want to show some of the tabletop(?). If you decide to do it as a portrait, perhaps lower the table a little rather than raise the camera. I hope you had a good Christmas and New Years, - TJ

How's this coming along? I added the tray and glasses. I decided to add 2 different size glasses for effect. Is it too much? I had a really nice looking texture for the wall but it looks weid after I jpeg'd it.

Oops.. forgot the pic..LOL

*weid = weird

Colette, It's still 'unbalenced' somehow, but it is much better! Just something to break up the monotony of the wall like you did is fine. The way you came in at an angle looks much better than the straight on shot you had before. The decanter looks much more life like now and at this point it's starting to look really professional. I think that all you need to work on now is the balance and the framing a little and it'll be perfect. - TJ

Collette, it's coming along very nicely! you might try dropping the picture to table height to balance the still life and create some negative space on the right (I know it sounds weird but it'll work)...just a thought... If you want some drama in the image try some chiascuro lighting, one bright spot on your objects with a faint fill light on the wall and picture...8)

Colette, My impression is that the painting should be where it is vertically. I was thinking in terms of horizontal balance - here are my thoughts: move the camera one glass width to the right maybe just a bit more. move the painting to the righr so that the rock in the painting that is below the glasses on the left is behind or almost behind the decantor. depending on how it looks at that point you may want to: rescale the painting so that the entire width of the painting is seen ? rescale your camera vertically so that the entire heigth of the painting is seen ? when you are happy with the position of things then finish up with the lighting.

Colette, After thinking about your picture some more, I thought that it might help to objectify(is that a word?) your scene.

I put up the above image as an example:
In a new scene place generic objects in the positions that you visualize your objects in their final position - because these are generic, you shouldn't have as much creative attachment to them, and can better see anything that doesn't look right, like camera angle framing, lighting, etc.

• TJ

Thanks TJ. I think I am getting what you mean, just use any old objects in places I want my crystal displayed to work out the lighting ect.?

Colette, My biggest problem, other than a sheer lack of talent, is seperating the visualization in my head from what is actually on the screen. This is a technique I've been thinking about using to help me be more objective about what is on the screen. To reply, basically. I feel that this technique might not work with light so much, as light is pretty tricky and interacts too much with other objects to be generalized. You might figure out about where you want the light to come from that way; HOWEVER the idea is to place the objects and get a good camera angle/resolution/aspect ratio first by using the SIMPLE MODEL, later working the light with YOUR objects. (notice in my example that the camera angle isn't quite right(z rotation), the placement of the picture doesn't compliment the globe(too low?) the shadows are all wrong. It might have been harder to see if the objects themselves were in their final form. if you keep it simple until you get things set up, you will reduce render times too, allowing you to do more things. - or you could make freehand sketches, as a lot of people do, of the scene before you start with Bryce. At the point where you are ready to start playing with lights, you can go back and change the positions of your objects and camera angles to the way they are in your simple model and start working with lighting your objects, perhaps using radial or spot lights for emphisis of 'hot spots' and 'lead to lines' and maybe going back to the simple model to help. Another trick, if you get distracted by color, would be to make a greyscale representation to see how it looks as black&white. - TJ