Done properly, HDR is a combination of several bracketed exposures combined to make one GREAT exposure. It is an excellent tool.
Unfortunately, getting three exposures of people in a candid style is difficult at best. Most of the time, you can get one good exposure. With a little more effort, you can still make a good psuedo-hdr photo out of the single image. These are some samples of images that I have made HDR-like using a single raw image from the camera. Enjoy!
Mark
Note the difference between real HDR and Psuedo-HDR. See the post below
Ryan Carney 2009
Zach Miner 2009
Mardi Gras 2009
Mardi Gras 2009
Mardi Gras 2009
The dramatic colors, as well as the details, in these photos really shine through. Excellent!