Here is my newest render:

I know the lighting still needs some work, but overall I'm fairly happy with it considering last week it would have all been a big stuck together pile :)

My questions are:

1. How do I go about putting in things like flowers/trees etc without making it look like they are either a) stuck all in the ground or b) sitting on top of the ground about ready to fall over. I guess I'm trying to find a way to give the appearance of a slightly more natural transition from root to above ground.

2. Can you use a jpg as a background and if so how? Right now I am using all premade backgrounds like the Multiplane Cyclorama.

As always suggestions/critiques are appreciated.

Um..trying to credit here:

background: MP Cyclorama (DAZ)
flowers: Transpond's Spring Floral Mega Pack and also RDNA Garden Plants Vol 2 (RDNA)
butterfly: RDNA Butterflies (RDNA)

Towal