Found a link to a nice HDR tutorial from one of the forums. Not unlike the bevy of other tutorials on the subject, with the one exception being that instead of a straight gradient on the layer mask (to simulate a split density filter), the HDR Blend Tutorial by Roman Johnston uses a select by color range to do the mask. Going to give that a try when I get home. Here’s the thread in question with some other info that might be interesting.
Also I’ve been playing with LAB color after buying Photoshop LAB Color on the recommendation on some random website. Very complex book it looks like (and I’m only halfway through chapter 1), but has some super-cool, yet subtle stuff.