lets try some HDR shall we?

[merman]

Its my first dive into HDR pictures, i went out and shot a total of 9 exposures for it but i only used 7(0.+1,+2,+4,-1,-2,-4), the labeling only was influenced by the order of the shots, the 0 shot was iso 250 Exposure 4.5@1s. the only thing that was changed was the shutter speed, incremented up and down 1 stop.

I used layer masks and tone mapping in gimp to achieve the effect, it was trial and error for the most part, you will notice there are some blown out areas at the bottom, so tips on how to dull it down a little would be great!
shot 1- "0"
shot 2- "HDR"

[tirediron]

I'd like to see the highlights around the lights reduced a bit, they're a bit strong, and have blown out areas around them. Other than that, good job.

[AntZ]

This is certainly the kind of shot that benefits from HDR.
Were these hand held? There some softness in the HDR version, caused by movement in the longer exposures or between shots.

[Alex Wilson]

Faux HDR processing to even it out even more...

[merman]

they were not handheld, i used a tripod but the wind was high that night.
the faux hdr scripts in gimp help with the tone mapping big time, but i want to isolate the blown out areas and eliminate them

[Mad Aussie]

you will notice there are some blown out areas at the bottom, so tips on how to dull it down a little would be great!

You won't achieve that with this image now. You'd have to redo the HDR again but this time make sure you utilize a darker exposure with the layer masking technique now you see your trouble spots.

[merman]

i see, good tip, i still have all the .nef files so i am sure it won take much to redo it.

[merman]

here is the new one, i played with sharpness, saturation, dodge and burn with this one, the lights are still blown but much less.

[Mad Aussie]

Something in your processing seems to be screwing with the sharpness. This one is less sharp.
I think your 1st attempt looks better (sorry) because you've lost the brightness in the doorway in general now.

If it's of interest to you I'd be happy to have a go and see what I can do if you want to email over the originals. I'd say Alex might have a crack at that also. It might help to see what others can do with it so you know what's possible?

[edbayani11]

Something in your processing seems to be screwing with the sharpness. This one is less sharp.
I think your 1st attempt looks better (sorry) because you've lost the brightness in the doorway in general now.

If it's of interest to you I'd be happy to have a go and see what I can do if you want to email over the originals. I'd say Alex might have a crack at that also. It might help to see what others can do with it so you know what's possible?

MA is correct. the problem i think is the overblown hilights that erased the details of the area.
the only way you can correct that is by reshooting and expose for the overblown areas as well and include it in the hdr.

if you cannot reshoot anymore, you can reconstruct the blown out hilights by copying the areas with details.

i attached the portion that i attemted, if you don't mind.