One of the new features of Apple’s forthcoming iOS 4.1 update is HDR photography.

iOS 4.1 update’s HDR photography allows users to take photos that capture a wider range of light intensity using the new high dynamic range (HDR) setting on iPhone 4, which automatically combines the best parts of three separate exposures into a single HDR image.

When running iOS 4.1, in Settings>Photos, users have the option to “Keep Normal Photo” which will save the normally exposed photo in addition to the HDR version.

So you can see what HDR does (good and bad), we snapped some examples — focusing more on high contrast situations than on composition — with an iPhone 4, running iOS 4.1 GM with HDR off (left) vs. HDR on (right):
(click on the photos for larger images)

cliff non-hdr
non-HDR		 cliff hdr
HDR
scenic non-hdr
non-HDR		 scenic hdr
HDR
tower non-hdr
non-HDR		 tower hdr
HDR
cave non-hdr
non-HDR		 cave hdr
HDR
stairs non-hdr
non-HDR		 stairs hdr
HDR

iOS 4.1 is expected to be released soon. See more of what’s new in iOS 4.1 here.