OK, here'a a test render. There is obviously light coming from the HDRI as I've jacked up the skylight intensity in the render settings. The attached image has a number of objects, some reflective, some not. The numbers show the skylight intensity settings in the render panel. As you can see, there is a marked difference. The HDR image just doesn't have the range of the other captured HDR image I used, but it does light the scene. I intentionally used a low light setting as this is a darkened room with a "pseudo" studio light prop. Pseudo meaning it has a few objects that glow in an approximation of a lighting rig in a studio. I think it is working, but I will have to test to be sure. Ken