I had a lot of fun learning (still learning) about mentalray & this resulting scene was a small personal project done to test those skills. This lamp is modeled from a actual Egyptian antique as reference. Displacement/bump maps along with subdivison approximation nodes were used for the detail on the lamp & the desert. The sky was photographed by myself early in the morning. Dry desert grass is Paint Effects. Depth of Field was applied in Maya. The scorpion & traveler are photos composited in Photoshop. The sand ripples around the base of the lamp & scorpion's legs were added in Photoshop as well.

Feedback is always welcome.

Regards
Jason Mohan (Fess)