An in-progress render of a small scene I'm currently working on, based on a photograph from a baking blog called Simmer and Boyle. I have been using Maya, Arnold, and Substance Painter.
So far, the geometry is 80% complete – the macaron models are from CGTrader, and I haven't placed them all yet for the sake of render time. I've been watching some Substance Designer tutorials to create a better wood texture for the table. Other than the wood and the macarons, I hope to apply procedural textures inside Maya.
I'm still working with the lighting and shading more (using an area light for a key light and a skydome for a fill light) to try to attain a stronger highlight on the macarons and the jar without overexposing the scene. I may also play with the color temperature to match the cooler tones in the reference photo (or adjust the colors on the table texture map). Matching the shader on the plate in the front (a rough frosted glass) has been an interesting challenge as well.
While I am trying to get this render as close to the reference as possible straight out of Arnold, I'm excited to work on this in Nuke as well to help match this photo closer.