I disagree, I rarely take hdr photos except in extreme lighting conditions. You shouldn't have to rely on HDR+ to get good photos.
HDR has gotten such a bad name because of what folks did with tone/color mapping. For me HDR is always preferable, if done right -- it actually closely mimics how the human eye works (see below). Camera sensors cannot replicate the EV of the human eyes on a single shot, so they need to combine a couple images to get the full range that you would see if you were standing there. If not over processed, these images will look **more** natural than a non-HDR shot, but we are not always use to seeing photos done this way. The issue is with all the tone detail you get with bracketed shots, you can really accentuate other details in the photo, including sharpness, clarity, tone and color. When processing gets aggressive, the photo loses it realistic look -- but takes on a different artistic look that folks like or hate. Unfortunately, it is this look that is associated with HDR.
Google also uses the technology to gain additional samples of the scene to reduce overall noise in low light (and narrow EV frequently). Since our eyes are sampling and combining 'pictures' at a ridiculous rate, why do we get so upset when a camera does it?
From:
Cameras vs. The Human Eye
3. SENSITIVITY & DYNAMIC RANGE
Dynamic range* is one area where the eye is often seen as having a huge advantage. If we were to consider situations where our pupil opens and closes for different brightness regions, then yes, our eyes far surpass the capabilities of a single camera image (and can have a range exceeding 24 f-stops). However, in such situations our eye is dynamically adjusting like a video camera, so this arguably isn't a fair comparison.
Eye Focuses_________Eye Focuses________Our Mental
on Background________on Foreground_______Image
If we were to instead consider our eye's instantaneous dynamic range (where our pupil opening is unchanged), then cameras fare much better. This would be similar to looking at one region within a scene, letting our eyes adjust, and not looking anywhere else. In that case, most estimate that our eyes can see anywhere from 10-14 f-stops of dynamic range, which definitely surpasses most compact cameras (5-7 stops), but is surprisingly similar to that of digital SLR cameras (8-11 stops).
On the other hand, our eye's dynamic range also depends on brightness and subject contrast, so the above only applies to typical daylight conditions. With low-light star viewing our eyes can approach an even higher instantaneous dynamic range, for example.
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