Arthurking83, thanks for a very informative post.
Wilfried
havent read all the replies but i am sure the question has been answerd...
my take tho, there isnt much you can do if you meter for the very brights then the whole picture will look too dark, if you meter for the darks the highlights are blown. you could try a hdr (?) and thats about it.
i usually want to make sure the subject of my shot is exposed properly, and some times it means sky is blown but atleast what i am trying to show isnt.
Woops! Next time save as raw and conserve all the info the jaypegging discarded. I worked on your 1st image. Here's what I got. Some shadow-highlight in PS after cutting off sky. Then some Selective colour in the remaining sky. You can see the driver somewhat.
It's not brilliant, but if the sky offends, then cut it off. (Hmm, some foreground could also go.) Am.
CC, Image editing OK.