This is one of the first Carrara renders I ever posted for the public. I was still learning Carrara at the time, and had overlooked the fact that by default the scene "ambient" lighting was turned up to 20%..... at the time I couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting the areas of total darkness I wanted, and shadows weren't turning out right. My solution was to explore the use of Negative lights, which is how I got the weird and very atmospheric "dark" aspects of the image to turn out the way they did. If the software you are using features Negative Lights and you've never played with them, give it a try... spookiness abounds and you can do some really cool effects. On an related note, many of you have commented on the lighting in many of my images; I thought it might interest you to know that my professional background includes many years as a lighting designer and director at the local community live stage theatres and arena. I try to employ the use of stage lighting techniques whenever I can. I love colors and shadows and textures, and always love to try new things. My best advice to anyone about lighting is to look very closely at your favorite movies or music videos, and examine the way things are lit... especially night scenes and interiors. The lighting doesn't always have to make sense in the real world way.... it just has to do what you want in any particular scene. On another note, my big move is nearly done, and I'll be settling into my new home in the next couple of days; then I plan to rest, watch some movies I've missed, and hopefully finally get around to using some of the cool new content I've bought and have yet to install. My computer will go off-line for a day or two, but hopefully by the time new service is established at the new address, I'll have something new to post. In the meantime, thanks for all your encouragement and support! Chuck ____________________________ Carrara Render / Minor postwork in Gimp