M_Six wrote in post #16557204
The new one is definitely better. No muddy shadows and no blown highlights. Plus no halos. Nicely done. What are you doing differently?
Old technique was using Photomatix, and Edited with LR4, Vivaza, and Color Efex Pro 4 to lighten and see more details on dock. However, it seems to me that too much details might not look as good.
New HDR was combined using PS6, then all edit was done in LR5. Left more shadows in, less of clarity and sharpening. Using LR5, hold Alt and adjusted white/black/shadow,highlight to see where blown out was and back off from it. Burned/darkened left side of lighthouse more to keep consistent exposure/hue with right side (that was made uneven by HDR).