Need Composition help

[jimtuv]

I am composing the final scene for my boat and need some Ideas. Here is my first thought.

Testscene1.jpg

I know this is crude. I am just looking for major shape and layout. Camera angle lighting. that way I know what to model and what not to model. First off is this a good idea? Does it seem balanced. is the composition good? Should I go with such intense lighting or will the sun in the background draw too much attention? I am thinking of old buildings with barrels and fishing nets etc.. I added the island in the background because there was nothing there to stop the eye from going out of frame. Please feel free to comment and make suggestions.

[deate]

Who am I to say....but that's never shut me up before I think you need to move your ship more to the center of the scene, (perspective wise that is) so that the buildings (houses) don't seem to be the main focus...just my opinion, hope you're not offended...

[BnBGobo99]

With the current scene set up I would recommend a tree, crane, or something on that grassy area in the center-left. Looking at your planned set-up reminded me of Hickam Harbor on Oahu. There is this nice little picnic area on a tiny peninsula that has a sailboat harbor on one side. I was thinking that maybe you can do a tropical paradise look instead of an industrial harbor dock scene.

This is a bad photomerge of two different angles of the same tree, but just to give you an idea of what the harbor looked like.

[jimtuv]

Who am I to say....but that's never shut me up before I think you need to move your ship more to the center of the scene, (perspective wise that is) so that the buildings (houses) don't seem to be the main focus...just my opinion, hope you're not offended...

No not offended at all. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want critique. I did consider making the boat the complete focal point but I was concerned it would look like a sails brochure for sailboats. I want drama, I am going for Wow what a beautiful picture. not wow what a great boat. to give you an idea of what I am thinking here is a dock I found that has a definite feeling about it.

The_Old_Dock_by_Digger2000.jpg

I am not looking to reproduce this in anyway just a good example of the kind of drama I want to portray.

here is a even better example. The boat become but a prop in a awesome picture.

l019b.jpg

With the current scene set up I would recommend a tree, crane, or something on that grassy area in the center-left. Looking at your planned set-up reminded me of Hickam Harbor on Oahu. There is this nice little picnic area on a tiny peninsula that has a sailboat harbor on one side. I was thinking that maybe you can do a tropical paradise look instead of an industrial harbor dock scene.

This is a bad photomerge of two different angles of the same tree, but just to give you an idea of what the harbor looked like.

That's a great idea. I wish I had visited somewhere like that. I guess I am a little scared of doing a place I have never had any experience with. I have been to New England and have some clear memories of harbors there. However I could just dig up lots of tropical pictures and try and get a feeling for it.

In any case I think I will make a few different sketches of Ideas and not rope myself down until I decide the feeling I want to convey.

[Nixon]

i like that first proxy ..to me it has a cool feel of perspective in the back and the dock buildings in front..i kinda like the angle...
maybe mirror it once to check the look..often things mirrored looks kinda much different sometimes ..
tho the boat isnt in the middle on that one the focus for me lies back on the horizon i kinda like the duality of adventure and being in the docks/ home...
also a decission if thats a setting sun or if its rising up in the morning, anyhow i like that first idea..

[chapel]

I think it would be a waste of a beautiful model to place the ship as a secondary object in the scene. I believe it could be placed so that both goals are met. (great picture and great boat). I once saw a painting of a boat anchored at a small bridge. The boat was placed in the bottom third of the picture, but there was just the bridge and very few other objects in the scene.
I think you should go for something like the painting you've got, but change the focus to the boat.
Or you could create an image of the captains view as he sails the boat.

[jimtuv]

I have been playing with the water and got rid of the photo and am using blenders sun/atmosphere settings. I flipped this picture to double check the composition (thanks Nixon) I think I will make a stone sea wall with the dock as part of it I think the stone would give it some texture.

Testscene6r.jpg

[chapel]

This I like.

[radialronnie]

How about something like this? I just repainted it to give it a more open feel tool it. It would have been too much work, but also try moving the sun a bit to the left so that the reflection is in the middle of the 'bay'.

[jimtuv]

Thanks I really appreciate all the work you went to Radialronnie. I had considered adding to that Island but when I do it kills the sense of distance. As it is I think I will move it further away and stretch it a bit to open up some more water. I agree about the sun but when I try to put the lighting to match it I loose all front definition. So I am going to dump that background sky all together and go with the sun pointing more in direction from the back of the camera to bring more light into the scene. I want to try and either paint my own sky in Gimp or get Blender to do it for me. I know I am a glutton for punishment

[zyzzy]

The sky feature in Blender is pretty cool. Fun to play with anyway.

How about a light house on the peninsula to give a sense of distance?

Just an idea.

[radialronnie]

Oops, somehow my post took a long route. Didn't see several of the other posts. Anyways, I would agree with Zyzzy that the peninsula needs something on it for scale. Vegetation would be cool but it's rather hard to do so A light house would look great.

[jimtuv]

The sky feature in Blender is pretty cool. Fun to play with anyway.

How about a light house on the peninsula to give a sense of distance?

Just an idea.

Man you are reading my mind

I was just talking to my wife about adding a lighthouse on the peninsula in the back but was worried that it would draw attention away from the center.

My plan was to put very small trees and houses on it but I think a lighthouse may be the coolest idea then I could use a halo light to get some cool background lighting. I am already working on a fog that would go great with that Idea.

[radialronnie]

...I could use a halo light to get some cool background lighting.

[/quote] I would not recommend that. Spot lamp halos cut out very drastically making them look unrealistic. What I've done before is create a mesh object that stands in as a halo. Then you add a blend gradient and map it to alpha so that it fades out slowly. All that remains is to give it a nice glow in the compositor!