I'm by no means a professional, but I would say to use some reference images if you're not already. For example, when I go to Google Images or Google Maps and find similar environments, these areas look to be a bit more overgrown in real life. The grass in the render almost looks mowed in comparison, and there doesn't seem to be any weeds or other types of foliage that would typically pop up here. A bonus of making longer grass would also be that you might not need to model tree roots unless they're essential to the vision.
I'd also say to move the light source somewhere that casts more interesting shadows, perhaps through the leaves from above, or somewhere where it could stretch shadows across the wall. Just experiment and see what strikes you.
The last thing I'd say is purely my taste, but I might tighten the focal length. I can see that the mountain framed by the tunnel is supposed to be the focal point, but it's a bit small in the frame. If you move the camera back and tighten that up you might be able to keep most or all of your current frame as well.
Otherwise great work! I love the concept and the composition. Take everything I said with a grain of salt too because there's a chance I'm missing some of the intention behind certain elements.
Thx for your feedback. In my post I probably should’ve mentioned that I based this render off of a photo that I was using as a reference. I took some liberties with tree placement and the formation of grass but I think I get what ur saying about grass variation. There actually are some flowers popping out of the grass but if they’re too hard to see then I should probably add more.
I just finished rendering the scene again and I fixed the lighting to what I preferred. Thx again for the critique.
After receiving some feedback I made some slight changes. I increased the focal length, added mid-grass, more flowers, more dead leaves, scaled the leaves down, used a different texture for the floor, more bump to the main path, and added dirt and grime to the inside of the tunnel. I'm pretty satisfied with how it looks now.
I think the lighting is a big improvement from your initial image. Following from the feedback given by Korbology, a few more plant variations could help sell the scene. Maybe the odd bigger tuft of grass or some clumped nettles growing. Another suggestion is adding some damage to the structure of the rail, in the reference it has sunk slightly, maybe you could add a slight bend in one of the rails. But I really like the scene so far.
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I just finished rendering the scene again and I fixed the lighting to what I preferred. Thx again for the critique.
After receiving some feedback I made some slight changes. I increased the focal length, added mid-grass, more flowers, more dead leaves, scaled the leaves down, used a different texture for the floor, more bump to the main path, and added dirt and grime to the inside of the tunnel. I'm pretty satisfied with how it looks now.
But I really like the scene so far.