Without getting into too much detail here, overall, I have found that bracketing and HDR are two good habits to get into just because you might need the information at a later time when you start editing. You don't have to use all of the HDR information just as you wouldn't use all of the bracketing shots. It's there, if you need it. You can even use photo foregrounds and backgrounds in other photos. I haven't used this combo for portraits yet, but I don't see why it wouldn't work for you there as well.
There are some examples on this Google page specifically for portraits with HDR.
Elaborate backgrounds bother a lot of people when it comes to portraiture. It may come down to taste and a specific portrait composition whether it works or not.
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There are some examples on this Google page specifically for portraits with HDR.
https://www.google.com/search?q=portraits+with+high+dynamic+range&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls={moz:distributionID}:{moz:locale}:{moz:official}&tbm=isch&gws_rd=ssl
Elaborate backgrounds bother a lot of people when it comes to portraiture. It may come down to taste and a specific portrait composition whether it works or not.