We don’t need more light

We don’t need more light
We need more Chiaroscuro

If your render is dark, simply increase the exposure, you don’t need anything more. This is how a camera is handled in a real world.

When you add a new light, make sure your Chiaroscuro improves (or at least be safe!)

Look these two images:
A – In the image on the left, there’s a light right behind the camera
B – In the image on the right, I removed those light!

In the image-B, I also compensated increasing the exposure, in order to have more or less the same brightness.

Click on the image to magnify and compare points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 in both images. You’ll notice how much more Chiaroscuro has image B, without any additional light. The pot for example (1): In IMG-A is flat, in IMG-B has a subtle gradient on it.

Thanks to the Chiaroscuro, everything is more tridimensional in and this is the only thing we have to keep in mind adding lights.