HDR does not improve every picture, HDR can but usefull, but not allways.
use it when you have a strang light situation, a mix of bright and dark areas, then combining different exposures do make sense 
And please don't put every slider in your program to the "max". Most of the times it looks horrible.
Here is a good tutorial for photomatix:
Photomatix Before the Coffee
And a HDR I have made:
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"It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere. Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death
— Albert Einstein
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