any ideas??? iv'e been trying all sorts but still my image looks dead just no life at all i'v even been playing with the shadow map bias and still no joy! in the image i am trying to create my character is screaming but the inside of her mouth looks really dry not an ounce of gloosy sheen on the old tongue. any ideas im all out!

Apply a specular effect tot he inner mouth, tongue, and teeth. Glossy would be ok, but anisotropic and blinn generally work better. Both nodes are found under Lighting -> Specular. Depending on your personal preferences, you can hook them up to you specular, alternate specular, Highlight, or even alternate diffuse channels in your Poser_surface panel.

10 -15 or more infinite lights (evenly spaced) all set to default with shadows and 2-4 spots (cameraside) at 750 map 1-2 poserunits away always give you a nice starting point depending on the scene and lightlevel you set. Shut some off as you go and pick your favorite shadows. Use full preview if yo can... Sometimes you cannot beat 2 spots in a dark scene...1set 0 anglestart and set angle end to light a small part of scene. You can the set distant start to .0001 ( gets closeups) and distant end to fade the edges nicely. Use the second spot to hightlight the darkside (backlit)..etc Tons of great free lightsets here and at other famous sites. Hopes this helps. And remember to center your figure and check y rotation for some of the portait lightsets...

also make sure you have the right camera and focused ..depth field help s there a prop somewhere in the free zone that will guide you in the right direction losearch lite prop