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From rich@brickbots.com:
You had an interesting idea, and from what I can tell, 
some good modeling.  However, your lighting makes it 
difficult to appreciate.  

If your paint program  has a historgram function, use it to 
help control the exposure on your renders.  The 
histogram shows the number of pixels which have a 
specific brightness.  Generally, the best images have 
some pixels of almost every brightness and a general 
bell shape distribution. Your image has a huge number of 
pixels at the black end of the spectrum.  The form and 
volume of objects are defined by the gradients that fall 
across them, the lights and shadows.  Try looking at 
your image in B&W, focusing just on the luminence to 
see how your objects are defined by light without thier 
colors.  Can you tell them apart easily?  Is there good 
contrast?  A good trick is to bring your rendered image 
into your paint program and adjust the brightness and 
contast and perhaps colors until it looks nice, then go 
back and replicate this look in the renderer.  

I highly recommend the book 'Digital Lighting and 
Rendering' ISBN: 1562059548

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From tenmoons@aol.com:
Nice sunset.  I think the ripples in the water could be scaled a little more realistically.



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From rgow@lanset.com:
A nice image. Good texturing. Lighting could be better, especially on the sword as it barely stands out from the background.

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From uglycasanova420@hotmail.com:
It is ok, isn't as all cracked up to be.

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From terraform@upnaway.com:

Good light and composition.
a little plasticly lookig texture on the stand.
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From marlo.steed@uleth.ca:
Nice image.  More attention to details in the foreground would have helped this image pop out.  For instance, the texture on the walls looks a bit odd.  I would have expected straw mats rather than wood floors.

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From file:
Katana rools
Notable for composition, originality, lighting


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From file:
good job the scene puts it all together. the katana is an amazing sword but the one seems dull.