After years of film, and then basic digital I'm finally getting an opportunity to explore HDR...latent artistic skills so to speak. This was shot last fall with a D750, 24-120/f4. Exposure was F/22 @ 1/200: 1250 ISO. Lens was at 24mm. Processed in both Photomatix, and Photoshop CC.

Spent first 30-years of life in a darkroom, so I naturally see most shots in B&W, although I'm starting to see life in color. I understand HDR isn't for everyone, but I figure over the next year as I go from one extreme to the next I'll land somewhere in the middle.

Shot from grandson's soccer match this past fall. Nikon D750, 180/2.8

Read KR's background notes and one gleans he's willing to admit his opinions are, well his opinions. I generally use his reviews as a starting, and work forward. As always, get the instrument in your hands, run it through the paces and judge for yourself.

I'm new here--but have been shooting since mid-'70's. After this I may be asked to leave. Honestly I don't get OP's need to make this such a big deal. Even with film I generally bracketed when possible. As a photojournalist my ultimate goal was the best image possible--regardless of whether I used Ansel Adams' Matthew Brady, or heck, Jadon Schneider's approach.

Now we have this 2-3" monitor on the back of even the cheapest cameras which affords us an opportunity to check for exposure after shooting. Digital media is relatively cheap...shoot away. I'd hate to limit myself to only one understanding of exposure theory, and get home to find I missed an incredible shot because I'm bound to ETTL or ETTR. That said, if one is in the field shooting 4x5, or 8x10 film, yeah there's a need to allow for more science.

But, with digital (similar to film) most of us have learned not all camera sensors record alike. And, since all of us have a differing idea of how we like our images, this is a good.

Interesting question. Before adding my 2-cents I'd like to pose a secondary question: of those who crop first, how many began life in a darkroom? Cropping is my first action. In the film days it was a must because most film formats did not match available finished print sizes. Note, I did say most, not all. When shooting 35mm, or 6x6 it was routine to compose the composition knowing parts would be cropped. Cropping occurred almost as quickly as the enlarger projected the image. As I migrated to Photoshop in the late '90's I continued the "crop first" action simply because I have a hard time applying any other processing until I have an idea of the finished size/format. And yeah, this applies even to my extreme horizontals and verticals.