Flash firing as synced
composition and anything that may look strange from the flash
(like a reflection, glare or something)
I zoom in on the LCD to see what the shadow line looks like under chin and such.

Since I am shooting in Raw, color balance becomes less of an issue. The Raw capture is everything the camera sees and I can control the balance in the processing of the Raw file.

I generally shoot a half dozen to a dozen test shots to tweak the image to what i want before commencing the shoot,. At that point I am comfortable with what is being shot so I can concentrate on the image as it unfolds in front of me.

You mentioned, “test shots” How many, and what were you looking for? A good histogram? A good LCD image? Did you color balance in PS, or with a gray card, or just set your camera meter to “flash?” I know with enough practice in similar situations the steps taken to capture a photo becomes almost automatic, and this is a good layout as to thinking about what you want to capture, how, where, and where to begin. The only thing missing is “check” i.e., okay, this works, next step…

Thanks for you help.