HDRing old stuff

The main trick for HDR is to make sure you capture the whole tonal range in as few exposures as possible, to avoid ghosting, camera move, etc. If your darkest histogram has no clipped whites and your lightest histogram has no clipped blacks, you would have attained the whole tonal range. Do not overdo this. Changing the shutter speed versus the aperture will take care of having the exact DOF in the image. For interior/exterior images, i.e. windows to the outside, it’s better to work in manual mode, because compensation will only allow for two stops each way, and in this case you may need a bigger range.
For the “grungy” look in this picture, I tone mapped the image in PM twice, then used the Orton effect at a low opacity.
Orton technique in PS is described here:
[url]http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?11216-Orton-Treatment-in-PS[/url]
This technique, at very low opacity, is also good for landscapes, giving a painterly look to the image.
I am a fan of HDR for structures and derelict interiors and Photomatix does a great job of them. For landscapes, it’s easy to overdo it and I feel PS does a more natural job.