I'm trying to develop a method that will work for me in my photography. This is the first acceptable faux-HDR I've attempted that I did not delete. I've not been able to bracket the way HDR suggests so I have used Lightroom and adjusted the exposures there while exporting each one as a tiff. I'm using CS4 Extended to merge and I'm not getting the results I'd like to see.

I downloaded Topaz Adjust and I got a little closer with this latest. My biggest bother with this photo is how dirty it seems but cutting noise cuts the detail I do like seeing in the dog's shoulders. The halo bugs me also but not as much as the noise.
I've attached a small copy of the image.
Regards and thanks in advance.

Micky,
the small size of the image you attached makes it difficult to see much in terms of detail/noise trade-offs. However, there's a difference between HDR and tone-mapping although they tend to get used together a lot. HDR uses the multiple exposure technique to provide a broader dynamic range whereas tone-mapping allows you to tweak the micro-contrast and increase shadow detail. It seems to me that if what you shared is the type of shot you typically want to use the faux-HDR technique on, tone-mapping might be a better alternative.

I use Photomatix frequently by itself -- without HDR -- to increase the details in some types of photos. I must admit that I don't use it on dogs or people since it tends to add an unnatural look to those images that I personally don't like but I suspect it would work on the example you shared.

Congratulations on your retirement from the telephone company. I left Southern New England Telephone in 1983 during the first AT&T restructure. It's not the same Bell System any more, is it?

Jim

Thanks Jim,

I had not thought of tone-mapping and was only trying to learn more on the HDR. I like the rough-ness and thought that technique would go well with my out of bounds on the Schutzhund work.

I was one of the "unassigned" during that 1983 upheaval. Thank goodness for Judge Green forcing the one of the sides to take us. I quit counting at 13 layoff lists and loved every minute of the last 12 years. It was a dream job But I find the more it changes the more it comes back together. I helped do the phones for the Pacific Bell that was bought back by SBC/AT&T.

Thanks again for the suggestion. I'll post a larger one when I finally get something I really like