Confused Somewhat by DXO Mark Numbers and Still Lifes from Imaging Resource

PK, well it just comes down to the best workflow for you. Let me explain. I want a 16 bit Tiff or PS file as my working file-type because that's the best platform for the later uses for which my work is made and gives me the best flexibility for further processing. So I typically find one most representative raw file in any particular grouping by subject, and use tools, like those you mentioned in Lightroom, to get as close as possible to the most difficult target color in the image with the raw conversion. When I'm done, I have the "recipe" to set the "development" parameters for the rest of the shots in the same series, so I am not trying to process each and every shot differently - a waste of time considering the problems I will discuss next. The resulting file will almost always be spot on for one color. However, the rest of the colors in the image, equally or more important in total than the single most dominant color I converted the raw file to match, are rarely, if ever, satisfactory. For those additional colors, selections need to be made. Sometimes, those selections are very very complex (think tonal transitions) and sometimes pretty simple, but they have to be made to be able to then correct all the "secondary colors." And, sometimes, even the "main" color for which the original raw conversion recipe was intended to match, will look different, shot-to-shot in the same series. Why? Because the same color, lit at any different angle, with any different colored light source (here I mean identically specified lamp-to-lamp and reflector-to-reflector variations), with any different contrast (think broad indirect to tight focused direct lighting sources), can and will definitely look different, not only in saturation and brightness, but also in hue, than did that color in the first "recipe" conversion. Given all of the above, and because I don't want to spend my time twice  creating very very careful calibrated colors, once in Lightroom and then again in Photoshop - which I will have to use anyway - I just leave the lion's share of color work to Photoshop, one file at a time. And using Photoshop's tools, which I find quite easy to use and effective, I can get the client's job done thoroughly and well. Regards,David