@ DPH, You mention in your "Who do I have to bribe..." thread that you use a set of 4 lights on average. What intensity are those lights set to? 
Have a look at this image:www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php

  There is no post work done on this image. I save as .TIF out of Poser and use GIMP to save as sized JPG for uploading. There are 3 lights in this scene, 1 IBL @ 25% w/AO, 1 point @10% and another point @40%. 

  With Gamma Correction fewer lights at lower intensity are needed to produce a well lite scene. And changing the lights does what you expect it to, the scene can be made to look more natural more easily. The less time I spend trying to correct (after the fact) an image the more time I can spend on the layout/creation of the image. By the way that image would not be half as realistic without all the tips and techniques bagginsbill has put out on the forums over the last couple of years. Thanks BB.