OK, this morning I burnt the highlights on this pelican to a crisp by not paying attention to the blinkies on the back of the camera. Rather than try to correct them with layers and a mask in the usual way (which is nothing more than a "manual HDR"), I let the software do it to see what would result. I processed the RAW file twice -- once for overall and once for highlights -- and threw both 16-bit images at the HDR software (Photomatix). No further processing in PS. This was the result. While it may not make the final edit due to lack of color gradation on the head, it was still interesting to see that the HDR software could produce a reasonably natural image -- from a blown original exposure -- with just a few moments of work.
In spite of direct sun on the bird, the background is steel rather than nice blue due to dark gray clouds on the horizon. 1DsII / 500 handheld / ISO 320 / f/6.3 @ 1/1600.
Phil I like the recovery Natural and effective For the water and bird I took the image back into LR and played around with the settings Able to change the water and brighten up the bird !!!
My post was simply to illustrate what straight-from-the-box HDR can do. You are right Alfred, it needs further work on the water color and the mid-range contrast on the bird in PS, your edits show that well, thanks.
HDR is for the birds
