I always use Katie's shadows as it's super easy and I think they look great. There are times when I need to do my own & that's when I get Cassie's tutorials out.

I have noticed that on pages that look real, the artist has great drop shadows, but the elements also seem to have some lighter spots on them to show light hitting them (especially buttons). I want to get better at making my LOs look more realistic. Does anybody ever lighten spots on elements? The designers here do a great job of making elements look real which helps me make my LOs look real. Maybe I am weird.

Here is an example: This tape looks very real because Cassie used the info from her tutorial HTDT #10 Blend, burn & Dodge. The tape has spots that are highlighted too that go well with the light source in her picture. This is what I want to learn.