Yeah, you have more like Qui-Gon hair than Yoda..
I agree absolutely with what these two have said. If you protect your highlights (don't let them blow out or they'll clip) and pump a bunch of light into your shadow areas then you essentially cheat your way around the tiny dynamic range of the digital format.
Combine a nice evenly exposed flat image with color correction in 32bit color space and you'll have the makings of a pretty sexy looking image. It also is a good idea to turn the sharpening down on the camera, because extra sharpening can be added in post, but it can't be taken away as easily.
As for what knightly said about knowing how to light correctly before arguing "art"... I can't help but smile at that. I firmly believe that one must first know the rules before breaking them.