for one, the image i'm working on was rendered in D|S, so i don't think i could use HDRI.  and in Poser I use 6, so also no HDRI.  but i find IBL suffices.  it's not the global bright light i have a problem with; i'm actually pretty confident in that area.  it's the low light where i need to improve.  and it wasn't the app, it was my faulty brain lol.

i sketched, used a photo as inspiration, and still i only focused on the form and the pose.  i didn't think enough about the light.  i had a vague idea of what i wanted, but not enough of one.  and i didn't think hard enough about light and shadow, so i wanted the light to lie on the figure one way, and the shadows to be cast another.  overall, it was a learning experience with lots of short-comings i'm sure critique group members will talk about when i post it.   i don't know when that will be, since i might paint some clothes on it so that i can have it rejected by the DAZ gallery :tongue2:.  i'll post a nude version here, though, since i've learned my lesson about posting only crippled versions. 

for examples of carodan's light that i envy, see his painted work.  his most recent, for instance, and there are two of older people by windows i remember on Artzone that i love.