one of the best uses of lighting i have every seen was in Finding Nemo. the underwater scenes are phenominal. making a model fit the enironment it belongs in or that you are trying to place it in depends upon the lighting alone. you can't stick a vehicle outside with a shiny/gloss super reflective material while using a bitmap with an overcast as your background. it doesn't add up. having a better render software helps too (Vray, Brazil, Mentalray, Renderman, etc.)