Very nice first fractal ... I like lines & warm colors. Youn mentioned grain ... you can do two different things to correct it ... lower the gamma in Apophysis or increase the contrast in PS until the grain is no longer noticible. Also if you open the 'adjust' window in APO & click on gradient you will notice a drop down box (rotate by default). There you can adjust hue, saturation, brightness, & contrast.
Hope this helps & thank you for sharing your first fractal. Will be looking forward to more.
Hope this helps & thank you for sharing your first fractal. Will be looking forward to more.