Quote - "When you adjusted the light settings, rather than turn down the power, you modified the filter. Does that have a different result than just lowering the power?"

Yes, completely different. The light was too bright near the source and was washing out the details. However, it was fine further away. So, when I changed the filter, I decreased the light intensity near the light source while maintaining the same intensity further away from the source. The light became more evenly spread, like you'd see in a real situation.