Here are some HDR renderings of cloud photos mapped onto the environment of a silver ball in 3ds Max and Vray for this #lovetheclouds contest by @tobetada
The first sphere is reflecting a photo of the skyline of Chicago from Lake Michigan.
This is the photo I mapped to the lighting environment. This was taken from a Wendella boat tour that will tour you through the coast of Chicago and inside on the Chicago River.
This is a close-up of the rendering. As you can see I placed many chrome balls in the scene and they all reflect off each other creating an endless pattern of reflection.
This next cloud photo is of a sunrise early in the morning off my gallery. This one has a molten lava sort of glowing red hot glass look to it.
This is the photo that is reflecting in the chrome spheres.
And the close-up. It is quite the UFO invasion at dawn.
This is a test of a plain blue and white cloud. It creates a nice bold chrome reflection.
These are the plain clouds being reflected in the chrome ball. Nice and thick. The patch of blue at the top really adds a bold contrast the everything else.
In the close-up it looks more like water or glass than chrome.
Here is a overcast cloud pattern.
I got this cloud pattern on my way back from Wisconsin a couple weekends ago.
This cloud photo seems to camouflage the sphere the most out of all them.
Here's the basic setup I created in 3ds Max. Just a grid of spheres with the camera focused on one in the middle and the environment mapped to one of these cloud photos.