i have got quite close to your reference day image, even using Filmic, but there are some things i just get quite right (and one learns so much in the final effort to do a near perfect imitation). it would be most useful to see your daytime .blend file. would that be possible?
thanks,
julian darley
I intentionally didn't include my daytime scene to prevent the temptation simply rendered the provided file (or barely tweak it) and counterfeit the experience of doing the exercise. I still value that approach and would rather not provide the .blend.
...one learns so much in the final effort to do a near perfect imitation
I tend to warn against such a belief. While I completely agree that imitation has it's pros for a learner, it also has major cons. Perfect imitation is especially not the goal in this exercise. In fact I'm always keen to see unique results from day and night submissions. Please do yourself a favor and work in the tension of NOT doing the exact same thing as me! It will force you to be creative. And that's the real prize.