> I don't agree that it was an embarassement,

Well, thanks. :-) I looked at the original image again recently, and I
wasn't really impressed. It still had a ways to go.

> I liked the idea that light was
> shining through to cast a shadow of the person on the cloth. That was the
> important thing about the image, imo.

The sunset effect just wasn't working overall, and it's harder to get the
silhouette right with the sun high in the sky. I also decided that I
preferred having the near side of the animal lit up, to show the texture
better.

In fact, I would have had the curtain pulled back to show the figure, but I
was having some problems getting the interior of the cupola to look like I
wanted. That, and there's no really easy way to make the clothes on the
figure look like I wanted with POV-Person. :-P

> And although some commented about the
> flat desert, I'm not quite sure they were right.

I spent a long time working with the image and fighting that particular
suggestion before I finally had to admit they were right. :-) I still tried
to keep it relatively flat, but hilly enough to suggest sand dunes.

Actually, the flat desert looked OK with the sunset lighting, but not with
the sun overhead.

> And the sky was far more
> interesting, as I remember it.

> Unless the vast landscape is important, I think I would zoom in on the
> animal.

I'm trying to get a sense of a vast open space, which is also why I took the
clouds out--I felt they were working against that effect.

> The golden section is just one way of composing, but instead of using a
> number, you should try to get a sense of how the components make a balanced
> picture, or an interesting one, an expressive one ... No rulebook can tell
> you what you feel or what you want to express.

Well, the positioning doesn't feel quite "right", which is why I'm playing
with the numbers. :-) The general layout is like I want it; now I'm just
trying to nail down exacly where everything will go.

> One way of looking at it is to think that the animal is moving forward, so
> it should have some room in front of it, and less room behind. It would be
> nicer to see the whole figure, too (get rid of the sand on this side of the
> animal).

I never really liked the way the animal's legs looked. That, and this way I
don't have to fix the footprints. ;-)

> Good luck, William

Thanks! :-)

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