From A Different Angle

Boy, is that a milked cow, or what?
These days the whole HDR thing is SO overdone! It seems like people don’t seem to understand the true meaning of this technique anymore.
True, you can do some funky stuff with it (although then it’s not really called HDR anymore but cross-processing), but some people really just don’t know when to stop and go waaay overboard with it.
So here’s a little 1-2-3 on HDR:
1) the abbreviation HDR stands for High Dynamic Range
2) the meaning of this High Dynamic Range is to capture a range of contrast with a series of exposures of the same subject, which your camera wouldn’t be able to capture in a single exposure
3) the result of of a true High Dynamic Range image is a believable image which doesn’t have HDR written all over it.

The exposures:

Left: D200, ISO100, 1/3 sec @ f/11, Sigma 10-20mm. Right: D200, ISO100, 1/30 sec @ f/11, Sigma 10-20mm.

The outcome:

Compiled from 2 images shown above

Compiled from 2 images shown above