HDR Imaging software has been a lot fun for me. In the past I would take multiple images, each with a different exposure and then use the best one. Thanks to HDR software, I can now merge all of the different exposures into one photo, which is composed of the best parts of each image. Here is a shot from Curacao where I took two pictures of the same alley. Neither photo was much good so I ignored them. After I purchased Photomatix, I went back into my files and found multiple exposed scenes. Now I can create interesting shots from what were throwaway pictures.

Full-sized image is here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/captuslumen/8107555825/in/photostream 

For more info on Photomatx, go here:

http://www.hdrsoft.com/index.html

There are coupons available for discounts on the software – a Google search will find them  for you.