Most of the pictures shown on Ulead, Photomatix, or other sites are for me UNNATURAL !
As in audio, too much compression of the captured range to enable that the result fits screen viewable range leads to very unpleasant and unnatural pictures.
I think HDR is a very interresting tool, if you use it with caution.
Don't try to put abruptly a 16 f-stop scene in a 3 Dmax LCD screen !
So, it would be interresting to create gentle S-curve to use HDR and to conserve contrast in mid-tone.
What do you think, Michael, Jonathan, Jack, and others ?
Perhaps, it's what you're doing, Jack ?!
Have a nice Day !