I used to think of doing things that way, but I’ve changed.
- First, I bring up the Advanced Work Space menu, which I have left as-is the way it comes from DxO.
- I then start at the top, and work my way downwards, selecting options as needed, and ignoring others that I don’t fully understand.
- Along the way there are “my” personalization options, which I verify I used before finishing.
If something is really amiss, I will take care of that before doing the above - the “Horizon” tool is near the top of my list, and most importantly, the “Crop” tool selects what I want the image to include, and helps me get rid of anything that interferes with what I want to show. “Deep Prime” is almost always selected as a default. I add the “copyright” notice, but often go back to it later, to match the color with something in the image.
When everything else is done, there are the options that I consider “fine tuning”, such as white balance, and sharpness, and the tone curve. I have rarely been using the HSL tool, but when necessary I figure out how to get it to do what I need.
The problems come in when the semi-finished image just doesn’t “look right” for whatever reason. There are times when I don’t think it’s worth publishing an image, so I just leave it as-is, and move on.
There are a LOT of things that I have changed how I do them, based on discussions in this forum. There are tools that I will never use again because of negative feedback. I’ve been getting more and more sensitive to where the sharpest part of the image is, and if that’s not right, I’m likely to abandon the image.
Finally, there are those things limited or influenced by my camera gear. Photos I take with my D780 are most likely to be technically excellent. Photos taken with my M10 are most likely to represent what I thought. But neither is essential, although both would be preferred.
I gave up on “recipes” long ago, and I’ve had many starting points, especially when I copied and used a Workspace from @Joanna or @Platypus, but I always wondered what I was forgetting. If I start with the entire advanced workspace, and work my way down, twice, I’m least likely to forget something.
Who knows, at some point I may develop a “style” but I’m not there yet, and may never get there.
I’d love to say that the equipment I use is based on what I’m going to be photographing, but the truth is the equipment I use is usually based on whatever I happen to have with me. Of course, if I walk out the door with a photo objective in mind, I take the camera and lens(es) that I think I’ll need, but that is rarely the case. I usually leave home with an open mind, and search for things that might be photogenic…