So what if all pre-preparation is not possible and you do not have the luxury of key accessories like those professionals? You do one last thing - post processing with software.
Some call it cheating but it opens a whole new dimension to us amauteurs!
I did cover the very basic workflow of Aperture sometime back and I think I will seriously review them again. All we need is to shoot in pure RAW format on the Nikon D90. Let Aperture do the rest. For non-mac folks, you can always use Photoshop to accomplish stirring results! Nikon Capture NX is a good tool too.
In fact, some advices to use both!
We shall see to that. Also, I think its the trend to recap an actual HDR exercise too to add to the drama of the shot (see above image).