This is the first in a series of before-after shots, where I show the shots that came out of the camera, and the final image, describing how I got from one to the other.
This is a recent shot involving three exposures. On the left are the three un-modified raws. Nothing has been done to these, they are straight out of camera. The final blend is on the right. The three images were blended using simple gradient masks on each layer, one revealing the sky, one for the wave in the middle exposure, and finally the rocks in the foreground. Once the blend was done, I removed dust spots, a small bit of lens-flare, and straightened the horizon. I enhanced the colours slightly, but only slightly. I also compressed the foreground slightly to fit my desired aspect ratio.
(click on image for larger version)