I look forward to hearing what others do too!
I have set a preset to automatically apply. It’s a starting point which suits most of my pics.
It has highlights down to 0.97, shadows up to 0.8, recovery to 0.04.
Definition is at 0.20, deepen at 0.07, lighten at 0.15
Contrast is at 1.1, saturation 0.94, vibrancy 0.11
Sharpen at 0.2
I created a LUT to bring down the saturations of greens and their brightness. I frequently use this whenever there is a lot of grass in a pic.
I add a gentle curve modification – sometimes on luminosity. I bring up the red curve a smidgen for portraits.
Nik, would it be possible to explain more precisely what the difference is between deepen and shadow please? ie, does one negate the other, or do they act on different parts of the curve. And also how they interact with the black point? thank you!