Something I did for fun ages ago (partly as a response to an indirect challenge by pixelab!)
I took the photo in the modern museum of art in Fort Worth a couple of years ago.
No post production at all, but looking at it again with fresh eyes I should have tweaked the color balance in the vrayphysical camera.
Can anyone tell me what the strange 2nd reflection is in the photo? caustics?
Looks almost like a lens flare since it’s perfectly parallel to the light bulb. I can’t see anything else that would cause it.
Looks like you need to make your baseboard (skirting) a tad darker. The rest looks good though.
thats a nice test, you got a scene for that? for experimenting? Yeah the reflection looks like lens artifact to me.
Thanks guys. Lens flare. You must be right. Never thought of that because you don’t often see lens flares shaped like that!
I can share the scene if you are interested… although it might be an arroway floor texture, I’ll need to check because I can’t remember right now.
nicely done!
i’d say second one is the real one 
i think the skirting is lighter because it is less recessed, rather than the material colour.
nice study
I remember that one! i keep visiting your website since then. took me some time to decide which is real and which is not (i thought your flare comment was just a little joke on us)
one thing… the bump & gloss on the flooring suggest that it is CG, but this is really after a long look and examination of both images. nothing one can pick up right away. the real floor seems more soft on the edges of planks.
i wouldn’t mind having that scene to play with, i have all arroway textures regardless so no problem with that.
Here’s the max2009 file. I used wood-28 from the arroway collection, but mucked about with the levels on the reflection map (reduced the contrast).
striplight-flavin01.zip (38 KB)