HDR = High Dynamic Range Photography
Newer camera models have built-in contrast-reducing capabilities. HDR is the buzz word. It helps to reduce excessive contrast which has been a long-standing problem both in film and digital photography.
This image was processed the old fashioned way, by bracketing exposures, picking an image that was just starting to lose some detail in the sky and recovering them in PS’s Camera Raw. The rest of the image was selected in PS with the rapid selection tool and brightened.
I have found HDR helpful in city images. In nature, especially with trees, foliage etc, it has been problematic. The latitude built-in with Raw images is sufficient in 99% of the time to get a decent image.
I will try some more once I get my next camera which will probably have HDR built-in. But I’m not holding my breath. Buildings can hold their breath, nature doesn’t.
Sony ILCE 7R, ISO 200, 1/250thsec., F22, Zeiss FE 24-70mm F4 : at 29 mm.