Why isn't this looking as realistic as some other renders?

[KristofDeHulsters]

Hi all,

I have been rendering part time for about a year now. I think I am getting closer to photorealism but my renders still give away that it is a render. I am trying to pinpoint why this is. Any feedback on what I should be looking at to arrive at photorealism?

Thanks!

[mattjgerard]

Couple things that I have learned since my start in Keyshot 4 years ago
- Look at reference images. Colors, lighting, reflections, depth of field, highlights, dark areas. Find a look that you like and try to take it apart and figure out how its being lit.
- Nothing in the real world is perfect, everything has rounded edges to a degree, spots, dust, scratches, some sort of imperfection
- depth of field, make the backgrounds blurry. even if just a tiny bit. Not everything should be sharp in focus
-composition, rule of thirds, don't center everything, frame your shot, look at the edges of the frame and decided if that thing needs to be there.
-wide angles lenses are for artistic shots
-keep camera at eye level
- the real world is messy. add books, pencils, purses, junk on the desks. not all the chairs perfectly aligned. open a door. make it look lived in.

you got a good start there, these are the basics that I learned from hanging out on here and reading a ton.

[INNEO_MWo]

In this case you can do the same things you would do with a photo image that's to dark in the image tab. Just use the photographic option and lighten up the mid tones and dark areas to bright up the scene. Also you can do this with image editing tools.