Lance Birch wrote:

> I think the biggest way to improve the image (in my opinion) is with the
> lighting.  Right now the image appears a little flat and therefore it's not as
> dramatic as it could (and deserves to) be.  I'd really love to see this scene
> taken further!  There's no reason to stop now since there's already been so much
> work put into it; just a few changes to the lighting of the scene could make a
> huge difference I think.  If it was my scene I'd probably drop the camera height
> a tiny bit as well, or if not, introduce some focal blur to separate the
> background from the main subjects (heh, yes, I know... rendertime++)
> 

Thankyou for the insights, and even more, the spirit of support.  In a 
nutshell, it is hard for me to give up on the backlighting.  The 
original vision was of the scene taking place in a gloom set against a 
backdrop of turgid, oppressive light, screened by a silhouette of jungle 
growth. That is not quite how the scene turned out, but I still cling to 
certain of its original aspects. I will try to swallow my conceptual 
arrogance and, if I ever find that new level of maturity, try the scene 
with some different lighting.  Parenthetically, I believe I have run up 
against this difficulty in contests before.  I think I just have a taste 
for the slightly flattening effect of halflight and backlighting that is 
a little at odds with the raytracing aesthetic. So I also wonder if some 
adjustment of the finishes might bring up the textures and still give me 
that backlight.

As for camera angle, as it stands now it's a calculation depending a lot 
on the barely emerging far eye of the chimp without completely loosing 
the profile of the Songye.  But no doubt I can steepen it a little further.

Focal blur.  Never tried it before.  If I do this I am going to put some 
custom foliage in though!  In fact some of my earlier tests made use of 
more dramatic color in the blossoms for instance, and they weren't 
without a certain appeal.