It is not necessary to invest (or steal) into expensive software to get impressive lighting results. Vue d’Esprit 4, or in this case Bryce, are perfectly adapted to simulate advanced lighting techniques.
This tutorial on simulated HDRI from Azagoth provides tips to obtain realistic lighting – check out his gallery for amazing images in Bryce. This technique builds on a simple trick of light domes, detailed extensively in a tutorial from Bryceanworld.