Lighting effects are a versatile set of techniques that have recently come back into vogue in advertising and the fashion press. Lights and tracing motion effects can become part of the composition, adding brightness and motion to an image.
They're an excellent trick to have up your sleeve because of the flexibility they offer and if you've got a few different methods in your toolbox, you can easily create a dense, detailed effect to use as a focal point, or simply add some subtle highlight touches to an existing traditional or digital illustration. Either way, with enough refinement and practice, the end results of combining these techniques will benefit almost any photograph or composition.