Scene-Referred & HDR: What are the common beginner traps?

Hey everyone,

Luc Gagnon here, mostly operating Steadicam, but I'm getting more into the color science side, especially with more projects asking for HDR deliverables. I've been doing a lot of reading on scene-referred workflows and the ACES concept, trying to wrap my head around it beyond just 'shoot Log and convert.'

I'm finding it a big shift from the display-referred thinking I grew up with. For an upcoming short, we're shooting on a V-RAPTOR XL and I'm trying to ensure we set ourselves up properly for an HDR grade from the start, rather than just forcing it in post. We're thinking about lighting for higher dynamic range, even bringing in some SkyPanel X units alongside our M18s.

My question is, for those of you who've made this transition, what were the most common pitfalls or beginner mistakes you saw, or even made yourselves, when moving from a Display-Referred to a Scene-Referred mindset, particularly with HDR in the mix? I'm trying to preemptively avoid some headaches.