Finito...

For the scene image i wanted to create a sense of foreboding in one corner, showing the pursuing 'baddies' and hope in the other, representing safety. I did this through the simple use of light and dark.

Movement was also an important element in the scene as it is high paced with a lot of action. To try and convey this i created dust clouds by cloud rendering, adding noise, adding a movement blur, then adding a mask of more cloud layers and finally masking the area around the dust cloud. I created the sand in much the same way but without the motion blur.

I wanted the environment to add to the feeling of danger but not overbear the image. I created the cliff by rendering clouds of grey, adding noise, creating a channel that would act as a template for the cliff and finally rendered lighting.

For the white horse i wanted it to seem like it was almost heavenly or touched by the gods, because in the book its power and stamina seem unnatural. to show this i made the horse look more astral and didn't give it marks in the sand.

Im pleased with the final image considering the struggle iv had with Photoshop and will hopefully have the confidence with the software to do something that even more epic.