Photoshop Creative

Rusty, Nice results with both, the autoHDR & your toning,
I wish I had the wonderful equipment & talent to produce the truly authentic HDR, but in the meantime, pseudo hdr is a fun experiment. IMO, mask-blended camera raw layers often produces some interesting results. Unlike your preference for subtle results, I like to push the limits (to a point), but hate halos.

btw, I appreciate any links, from anyone, to tutorials for pseudo and fake (bad word) hdr

Not really before and after but after and after. Two different versions of an HDR treatment.
Chas

Both are nice Chas. Which do you prefer? I think the second would be the way I would go for that particular image. Just wondering what processing was used on each?

The first rendering was HDR sharp with the structure slider maxed out. The second one is a realistic HDR preset. Nik HDR Efex Pro has more presets than Jimmy Carter has peanuts..... And the nice thing about the presets is that you can use them as a starting point and make adjustments to them to suit your taste.
I do like the second one better.
Chas

Chas i like the 2nd one. Turned out really well. I love messing with hdr although i can only do it with one photo.

That photo was ONE photo. I just recently have the 3-shot capability since I bought the Nikon D7000. All of my current HDR postings were from a single photo.
Chas

Chas, how about posting more of what you & your Nik software can accomplish. The variety of settings sounds interesting.

btw: thanks for the FilterForge info.

This photo has a Faux HDR treatment. You can even get the same result with PSE. In PS(CS3,4,5) click on image>adjustments>shadow/highlights. Also click the tiny box in the lower left corner for more options.
Chas

Very nice Chas ... it is fun to see what we can come up with in CS isn't it? So many options, so little time!

This train photo has a partial HDR treatment to the clouds. The U-point technology of Nik HDR Efex Pro allows me to do this.
Chas