This project is at a ski resort a few hours drive from where I am. There will be one more rendering of the master bedroom. The client has a photographer who is supposed to supply the photographs for the view seen thru the windows. I have used some Google Earth images as place holders until the actual photography is accomplished.
Posting these for comments before I show them to the client.
I think you’ve come a long way.
You need to add some depth to the landscape outside I think. It just looks like it’s stuck into the image at the moment. You need to add some more exposure to it too.
There are probably better examples but, look at how contrast reduces the further away the mountains are, the blue tint to the atmosphere etc.
This can either be achieved in render or in post with zdepth pass.
Sorry just noticed they are google earth images
I agree, the background looks totally off. I know some clients pretend to have bright interiors and perfectly exposed outdoors, but it just look wrong and brings down the composition, especially when overdone like here.
Also the lighting looks a bit flat, like flooded with some unnatural environment light.
You should try to give more importance to the main light source and work from there, even if you want bright interiors, shadows and contrast still play a very important role.
It does look flat, but I agree, clients love it. There are so many windows that I would turn off all artificial lights and work with natural lighting.
Hi and thank you all for your comments. Very helpful!
The distant landscape seen outside is just a place holder from google earth. That’s going to be replaced with the actual site photography as soon as the client sends that to me.
I will post the updated versions once that’s included.
It might be worth bringing the sun around so it casts some more direct light into the space?
I appreciate Open Range’s lighting dilemma. When you hire a real estate photographer, all window coverings are pulled open, and all lights are turned on. I don’t get it and wouldn’t say I like it. It comes from the heavy HDRI look that was all the rage in the 90’s. I bet his client is in his late 50s or older.
A client once asked me to remove a shadow created by the cabinet toe kick (no, really!)
Thank you both for your expertise and helpful comments.
Bobby - you understand the client dynamic perfectly. 
DanSHP - I think your observations are esp true regarding the Kitchen rendering? I do have the sun shining in but I turned it way down in Lightmix cause I thought the amount shining on the floor was too distracting. I’m going to adjust the lighting so it’s not so flat and at least get it part way to what you describe. I will post updated images.
Thanks again!
Your images are getting much better and I’m aware of the stupidity of most clients like the shadow Bobby showed us but honestly, we are not interest in seeing renders “They” like, we wanna see the best renders we all can make. " The client is happy that what matters the most" is a terrible motto to follow, that’s when you stop caring and improving on the image .
Yes I understand you have other jobs to finish but one should only show the best images they can generate. Take some spare time and finish a project if you think the overall piece and architectural design has merit.
I often have to rush my renders working in movies but I always try to redo them for my Artstation page, I take as far as I can until I have to move on.
My last note is never use a background front lit, it’s the dullest thing that kills any image, shadows are your friend. (Again the client might like it, but change it later to display your artistic and correct choice)
See mismatch BG lighting.
Nice works Mark, keep sharing them and best regards.
Hi dimaggio and thanks for your valuable feedback!
Well, maybe I should have used “important” vs “most important”. It’s food for thought. I have been required by clients to do things I did not like and gone back and revised that work for my portfolio. I have had clients make requests that I thought were very bad ideas, but they turned out to be good ideas. I think it’s best if I approach the work I do from the standpoint that it’s the clients rendering and I am being hired to give them what they want. That said, it is also my job/hope that I can present them with good work and they see that as what they want (guidance). a lot of shades of gray here.
Regardless, I am striving at all times to do the best work I can and comments from you and others continue to be very helpful.
Regarding the background photo not lit the same as the rendering. I was sort of painfully aware of that but it is the reality of the situation. If this project was close to me and I was shooting the background photos I wold have made two trips and shot at two times of day. In this case the project is in a distant location. The listing real estate agent (client) hired a local photographer to shoot the photos and I have to use what they provided. Wish it were otherwise.
Maybe I could use AI to reverse the lighting on the photo? Not sure about that.
Thanks again
Almost regardless of the sun direction on the background shots, I think everything outside of the windows should be much brighter. It just looks odd to me like there’s a sticker on the window rather than a view out to the mountains. The snow covered slopes should be as bright as, if not the brightest, part of the images IMO. Certainly brighter than the sun coming through the windows onto a brown floor.
Understood Mark, it’s part of the job.
About the BG , you could erase the trees from the photo in photoshop ( a bit tedious I confess )… and replace with real trees outside, depending on their distance in the real location they could have casted some nice shadows onto the balcony.
In any case…avanti to the next one and good luck.
dlparisi - of course you are correct. This has been discussed before. These folks are selling the view. Professional real estate photographers in these resort areas now typically shoot multiple exposures and blend together so the view to the mountains are not over exposed. That is what I need to replicate.
dimaggio - man I wish I would have thought to do that! Seems so self evident now. Couldn’t see the forest for the trees I guess. Thanks again for your valuable expertise!
Right, I saw the discussions from earlier. I don’t think you need to overexpose the exterior but it feels way underexposed at the moment. The snow on the TV is brighter than the snow outside the window which should not be the case, merged exposures or not. See these example images here. The snow in any of those interior shots (when it’s sunny out) is around 240 rgb and only a few minor glints on the interior come seem to come close to that (your snow is around 212 rgb). Back to your image, a quick curves adjustment on the background keeps the image properly exposed but gets the whites back up where they should be and still maintains some contrast (see a quick mockup below). Just my 2c.
Hi dlparisi. Thanks again for your review and for your example including sampling the white points. It is something I will pay more attention to going forward. Very helpful!
