The River -ver. 2-

UPDATE:
This image was featured in Issue 19 of 3D Artist magazine, August, 2010.
The original version of this image was a Daily deviation in November, 2009.

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After spending a week modeling "The River" 3 months ago, I was exhausted enough that I didn't put the proper attention into the lighting and finishing. Looking back on the original image, I don't really know what I was thinking in that regard, as the colors are rather cool and lifeless, and the lack of focus in the composition makes the whole thing a rather muddled mess. Hindsight is always 20/20 I suppose, right?

Because of the work put into modeling, and especially after the original "The River" was selected as a Daily Deviation garnering roughly 20,000 hits, I have wanted to use this one as a main portfolio piece.

After completing "To you who finds this letter", I liked how the lighting turned out in that one, and was inspired to go back and try a similar system on this piece. I think the result is a lot more colorful, and warmer. The other main thing I did was to try to give the composition a bit more focus, by making the far areas recede more into the background. A bit of detail was lost but it should be worth it due to the effect on the overall image. I also added a few little people...
It could still be better, but there's only so much I want to do to a 3 month old model.

I decided to post it as a new image because of the considerable time gap, but will be putting a link to this one in the comments of the old image.

If you have any other suggestions for how this piece may be improved, I am all ears.