Confused with lighting

Been watching tons of youtube videos and reading where I can but I’m still confused over lighting. From what I can tell there are four ways to light your scene.

  1. HDRi Maps
  2. Lamps
  3. Mesh Objects set to Emission
  4. Combination of the above three

My confusion is what to use. I see complicated light boxes on blendswap and then I see much more simple 3 point light setups. Then I also see people just using HDRi maps and no lamp/mesh emitters.

I get that there is no “best”, but if I have just a small object (e.g. an apple) what would be the suggested way in order to get it lit? Should I create a floor plane that also bends up and behind the apple to create a backdrop? Should I use a HDRi map? Or a lamp setup?

I guess I just need a basic lighting setup that I can work off of. It seems most of the tutorials I have found on youtube seem to be for the more advanced users than I am.

That link was great! I’m using the lightbox in the first post of his to illuminate my object.

Thanks!