I’m impressed with the new “high dynamic range” (HDR) photography feature in iOS 4.1 for iPhone 4. The feature basically takes three versions of the image in quick succession, each using a different light setting. Software then combines the three photos using image processing algorithms. The goal is to avoid washed-out bright areas and dark, almost-black shadowed areas.
I took the picture below with HDR turned on. I did not use a tripod, did not set anything manually, and did no post-processing other than cropping. (Click it to see full resolution.)
The plain, non-HDR version of the image looked pretty good too, but everything was more washed out, especially the buildings and sky. The trees were a bit brighter but didn’t look as rich. I think the HDR version looks astonishingly professional.