the OP is really good - subtle, which is all too rare with every man and his dog jumping on hte HDR bandwagon just for the sake of it. Seems like you looked at the scene, and saw that a single exposure wouldnt do it justice, and so did HDR. The 'proper' way to do it
I prefer the versio the OP posted over the tweaked one - the darkness to the foreground gives it a hint of mood, removing it kind of kills it in my opinion.
Good job!