HDR without HDR? And other topics

Is it possible to obtain HDRish results, without actually creating an HDR? That's what I set to find out. Sure, you can modify a RAW file so that it looks like an HDR, but what I'm trying to get at is if you can actually modify the overall lighting, to modify the shadows to a relatively high degree, as is not possible in ordinary photos. What I did for my leaf photo is that I used a long exposure in pitch darkness, and started to illuminate the subjects using a flashlight, from various angle, maybe even moving the flashlight in various ways as to throw light in various "cracks and crevices" of the subject, where darkness resides in normal, ordinary lighting situations, such as snapping a snapshot. Way back in the day, I used jpeg format only; one time I merged between 7 and 15 exposures, each with the slightest exposure difference possible, so that once I created the final HDR, the results would show very gradual transitions between light (normally overexposed) and dark (normally underexposed) areas; and I can tell you that the results were downright extraordinary. I don't have the photo anymore, unless it's still stuck on my dead PC. However, I tried the same with RAW files; and with RAW, it turns out that I can achieve a result that isn't significantly different, by only using three exposures, one at -2 EV, 2nd at 0 EV, and 3rd at +2 EV. The results were just like what you'd see with film. Just imagine doing so with a lens that is both extremely sharp and has outstanding microcontrast! If I ever get the Sony A7, I'd probably want to get the Sony 24-105mm f/4 GM OSS, however, at 65mm, I'd like to have an aperture at least as quick as f/1.8. I can do so much for free these days: add High Pass filter sharpening, chromatic abberation reduction, superresolution, image averaging, as well as other functions. And these very features really make me wonder how much of a better camera I'll need (or at least want) later in life. I can now focus on other features of a camera, without necessarily worrying too much about factors such as high ISO noise performance as well as resolution. I will hopefully be adding more to the post, so don't go away!