I do art to show weird emotions i am having to other people. Sometimes I want abstract, but currently my fetish is on realism. I've never been much for still life type scenes, but I try to get more real life everyday lighting scenes set up. For example, flourescent lighting, skylights, bright sunny day, etc. HDRI, radiosity, and global illumination all help me to fullfill my creative need more quickly. Usually I try to make the HDRI's myself or edit them before I use them...mostly just because I don't like most of the one's available to me. Just another tool in the toolbelt i guess :)