===== From rich@brickbots.com: You had an interesting idea, and from what I can tell, some good modeling. However, your lighting makes it difficult to appreciate. If your paint program has a historgram function, use it to help control the exposure on your renders. The histogram shows the number of pixels which have a specific brightness. Generally, the best images have some pixels of almost every brightness and a general bell shape distribution. Your image has a huge number of pixels at the black end of the spectrum. The form and volume of objects are defined by the gradients that fall across them, the lights and shadows. Try looking at your image in B&W, focusing just on the luminence to see how your objects are defined by light without thier colors. Can you tell them apart easily? Is there good contrast? A good trick is to bring your rendered image into your paint program and adjust the brightness and contast and perhaps colors until it looks nice, then go back and replicate this look in the renderer. I highly recommend the book 'Digital Lighting and Rendering' ISBN: 1562059548 ===== From tenmoons@aol.com: Nice sunset. I think the ripples in the water could be scaled a little more realistically. ===== From rgow@lanset.com: A nice image. Good texturing. Lighting could be better, especially on the sword as it barely stands out from the background. ===== From uglycasanova420@hotmail.com: It is ok, isn't as all cracked up to be. ===== From terraform@upnaway.com: Good light and composition. a little plasticly lookig texture on the stand. ===== From marlo.steed@uleth.ca: Nice image. More attention to details in the foreground would have helped this image pop out. For instance, the texture on the walls looks a bit odd. I would have expected straw mats rather than wood floors. ===== From file: Katana rools Notable for composition, originality, lighting ===== From file: good job the scene puts it all together. the katana is an amazing sword but the one seems dull.