iOS's auto HDR,post processing tips for similar effect sought

[Ben T]

iOS's auto HDR feature seems really good to me.
I'd love to be confident of being able to replicate as good of an effect using nikon raw images.
When I've done HDRs from my camera in the past in photoshop I've been less than impressed. But it must be possible.
I can't see how an iPhone can actually physically have more dynamic range than a dSLR so it must be some clever manipulation it's doing in software. Is it?

So what is it doing?
For instance this picture:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/147214244@N02/50613197171/in/album-72157716922662538/
is taken into the sunset, but the grass in the foreground is green.

If you were taking that picture with a dSLR:
How many stops difference would you allow, -2/0/+2 ? -3/0/+3, or maybe even more than 3?
What software would you use to do the HDR merge, any recommendations for what does it better than photoshop?
What other post processing would you do?

This one
https://www.flickr.com/photos/147214244@N02/50613306807/in/album-72157716922662538/
exhibits a similar effect but not quite to the same degree

and this one https://www.flickr.com/photos/147214244@N02/50613198381/in/album-72157716922662538/ pretty much looked that dramatic to the naked eye (heavy but broken cloud allowing the ground to be lit)

A valid point is "why not just use the iPhone if you want photos like that" to which there are several answers, 1, I do, for some, 2, I like tweaking the settings, 3, I like using different lenses with different zooms, 4, dSLR image has more pixels so better to print (I think) 5, I want the learning experience

[hubner]

It's computational photography. A big part of which is image stacking, ie several images are merged to get better contrast, sharpness, detail/resolution etc.

Smartphones do it in-camera whereas dslrs leave you to do it in post processing.

[mike]

+ and - 2 stops should do it, using auto exposure bracketing in your DSLR (probably best in aperture priority mode, so the depth of field doesnt change between photos).

I think most packages will let you do it, lightroom certainly can (and is probably easier than photoshop).  I dont do it mind, I prefer to use masks and graduated filters in lightroom to over / underexpose parts of the pic. 

[fuaran]

Photomatix Essentials is now available free of charge, could be worth trying. http://hdrsoft.com/order/compare-photomatix-features.php

[Ben T]

Photomatix Essentials is now available free of charge, could be worth trying. http://hdrsoft.com/order/compare-photomatix-features.php

thanks for that, will check it out.

[tonycollinet]

I'm amazed what my iphone 12 can do. I've stopped carrying a real camera now except for when I need a big lens.