Mike and Penny looked out through the observation window of the little shuttle, gazing out at the view of the Empress of the Skies and its fleet sisterships.
The mammoth vessel had left port the day before yesterday, heading out over the oceans that covered most of the planet. Mike and Penny had spent most of yesterday exploring the ship - there was just so much onboard to see, that one need never even glance out at the puffy clouds rolling by. Yet, the huge glass-covered Promenade at the bow of the main hull was guaranteed to attract. Dinner was served under the starlight on the main deck, in its park-like setting. Various decks of the shopping area overlooked the park, each providing stunning views of the world beyond. (Oh, the shopping! Mike groaned inwardly as he thought of the shopping Penny had already done - with several days yet to go!)
For today, Mike and Penny were enjoying the deluxe tour that formed part of their prize. This included the opportunity to take a flight around the fleet in a glass-top shuttle as several of the huge Empress-class vessels made a mid-ocean rendezvous prior to dispersing to various points around the planet. The only fly in the proverbial ointment as far as Mike could tell, was that that particularly noisy child and his long-suffering mother were seated right beside them! Nonetheless, Mike was determined not to let the constant chatter spoil his enjoyment of this opportunity...
This image was actually one of the first two images conceived in this series. The Empress of the Skies herself was an experiment in using the new Metaball feature of Bryce 5. Combined with a few non-metaball components (the glass domes, the sensor array and antennas, landing deck, and the engine 'innards') the ship soon took form.
Volumetric clouds are also much nicer in this new version of Bryce, so it was a pleasure preparing the sky and clouds.
I really liked this image, so arranged to have a high-resolution print made for framing. While I was prepping the image, I realized that it would look better with a little more detail, so I re-worked what was originally one of my standard 'bubble-ships' to add a little human interest. My 'Mike and Penny' models actually ARE visible in the high-res version (you can almost read the slogan on Mike's T-shirt!), as are the rest of the passengers and crew - and I added significant detail to the shuttle interior as well.
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