Moving away from HDR

[paulzeee]

I've been using HDR to pull more depth/detail out of background clouds and surrounding sky, but it's leaving things flat and sort of boring for me. I'm not sure if it's something I'm doing wrong? I guess I'm here to find some tutorials on a different method than HDR to work with multiple exposures and create what's seen below. I'm aware of grads and their purpose, but don't own any yet (soon enough).

Thoughts?


Jetta HDrizzle by paulzeee, on Flickr

 

[BlueMeanieTSi]

HDR or not that location/angle is very flat and boring to me.

 

[paulzeee]

Great. Composition aside, still looking for suggestions.