Hmmm, thanks for the input. I will play around with it. I previously played around with it and although I did note an improvement with light and detail, it seemed to throw the colors off a bit for me. I haven't tried HDR since the update to 5.1 because I have been happy with RAW. The last pic was actually taken thru the glass of a vehicle while it was moving, so that may have had an effect with detail. The others are still shots at my local fishing hole. I'm probably gonna hit that hole tonight, so I will have an opportunity to play with HDR mode and compare.You should try those shots again in HDR. That has really improved since the last software update. That last picture taken in HDR would have showed all the detail in the sky as well as the trees. In auto the trees and landscape are always pretty much black.
I was comparing pictures I took in a dark restaurant with pictures my wife took, and it was clear my pictures were very washed out.
I decided to raise saturation up to +1, and I really liked the result. I know someone will say the color is a little too hot, like the red window panes, but the actual red is pretty bright, so color here is not that exaggerated.