Tonemapping to the rescue.

I was taking photographs at a lovely house last week and having some issues with light.  I'd taken a couple of Speedlights, my "orb of diffusion" as well as a few other lights and stands.  Some parts of the house, however, were awkward to photograph using anything apart from Speedlights, and in some rooms locating the Speedlights was awkward due to reflections and shadows.  The next two images show the type of problem I was facing.  To get the walls lit as I wanted I was blowing out the bright whites of the bath and shower curtain, but to get the bath and shower curtain detail I was making thew walls very dark.

Average exposure to get the detail in the wood ... blows out all detail in the bath, shower curtain and window.

Exposed for highlights ... looks a bit dark and "dingy"

The answer seemed to be to blend the two images to provide a photograph that illustrated the room as I saw it.  Bright with lovely warm tones from the wood, but also with an ability to discern the bath and shower curtain.  Photomatix Pro and the Tonemapping option led to the image you see below.  Acceptable?  Perhaps let me know what you think?

A tonemapped image thanks to Photomatix Pro.