HDRi
Scenic Village
Get this HDRi100% linear 32bit workflow, full EV range, 20k resolution. USE UNCOMPRESSED 32bit ORIGINAL FILE FOR THE BEST RESULT.
Color-graded 20k JPG panorama and background photos:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mwGX4LFjpm_GDuC5SIU7beUOqOXCzWnf
Tutorial on how to set nodes with JPG background panorama:
https://youtu.be/aj0LoQLjgYo
Test render 1:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/176RvxlfwYVXKoHd40GxoitwEjy1FOih9
Test render 2:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X9eAjYZQCaF5-vzQVfsfaqV3bFI6EIyU
16:15, Summer, thin clouds, hard shadows.
A grassy field with a beautiful view of a modern village on the horizon. Clouds are very thin and don't block light but still bounce light a little, resulting in dynamic shadows and vibrant colors. Depending on the direction, you can frame trees or buildings in the background.
Sun is unclipped, so in Cycles, you don't need any light source, other than this HDRI for realistic shadows.
Methodology:
140 photos of the environment with 12 mm DSLR lens on a panoramic head (7 expositions) with 2 EV spacing + 7 photos with 2 EV spacing of only the sun with ND1000 (10 stops) filter and 7 photos with 2 EV spacing with ND1000 stacked with ND4000 filter (10+12=22 stops).