Lighting Thoughts

I listened to the podcast of Dave Hill on studiolighting.net and was interested to hear some of his ideas and thoughts about lighting and photography. The interviews they give are so valuable. I credit the podcasts there for getting the idea for the homemade ring light. The talented Ric Diaz was interviewed. It's amazing to hear from real pros and hear how much dedication and work it takes to achieve what they have. I love Dave Hill's work and from what I could tell is there is just a TON of work given to create each image he makes. His lighting seems so complex. I wasn't sure I understood his lighting style. It sounds like he lights from a LOT of different angles, shooting RAW obviously allows him to do some great processing after the shoot. He also mentioned using a tripod....I wish I could watch him for for a few weeks and understand his tricks. He also mentioned how bad the wanna be Dave Hill's are. I guess I'll raise my hand and admit I've tried to mimic his work. My stuff doesn't come very close. I guess the polish he has comes from tons of layers and photoshop work to achieve that look. I respect it as an artist and I don't really want to copy the kind of look or work he has but would love to know how he does it. Even if I applied it to my work I think the interpretation would be unique to my style as a photographer.
I think my fave lighting now is: ( keep in mind this is my equipment that I have)
1. Natural Light
2. Homemade RingLight
3. AlienBee Ring Flash
4. AlienBee Ring Flash with shoot thru white umbrella - 2 AB 400's as backlights, hairlights...etc.