Choreo

HDR can be used for (3) things:

(1) To make a photo more "Realistic"
(2) To make a photo more "Surrealistic"
(3) To make a photo "Unrealistic"

Most people choose to combine the various exposures to create the last two effects using software - which is more like "painting with pixels" - so yes, they will usually result in a "fake" looking, painted environment.

I use HDR in my studio to bring out more detail than what a single exposure can produce, but that depends on the subject and the lighting as to how effective that will be.

JETZ

Frank

zdeckich

OUFAN76

Really cool stuff, Guys! I've been having a lot of fun with this stuff, and I wanted to see what some other people were doing with it. I got a big kick out of the one guy that didn't like them because "They look fake." Of course they do, some of them. I'll bet if Van Gogh had painted a precisely realistic picture of the stars he saw that night, we would never have heard of him.
The point is, you can use this technique to do as much or as little as you want.
Here's an original shot, not modified in any way.



Here's the same shot in HDR, slightly enhanced.



You can get as goofy as you want;





I guess there might be some purists who want to see a skillful photographer's work right out of the camera. That's one of the cool things about digital, you can soot a zillion shots for free and you can't help but get better.
Here's a non-car shot with absolutely no editing of any kind.



By the way, I like the second shot of my car best.
I like all the other pics on this thread, too. Modified or not.
And Choreo, you sir are an Arteest.