The more experience I get with photography, the more I change my approach. Perhaps I am starting to overthink things. I’ve already changed how I approach my recipes, no longer emphasizing the highlights and shadows. My recipes are now much more about the color profile; after all, I’m not trying to emulate specific film stocks. For instance, were I attempting to re-create Kodachrome 64, I would need to get the contrast right.
I still find myself spending too much time trying to “fix” the histogram when I’m framing a shot. This leads me to second-guess myself. Instead, I need to be more concerned with getting the look I’m going for and using Raw Studio or Lightroom (depending on what the scene requires) to get the contrast right.
If I only shot jpegs, I would still have to figure all this out; jpegs are lossy, and it is much more difficult to “fix” them.
I think I will address this problem by switching all my recipes to use the DR-P Strong setting. Basically, I will start shooting everything flat. At the very least, this method will give me the most versatility in how I create the jpeg; sometimes, the DR-P Weak setting produces perfectly fine jpegs.