If you are planing an outdoor photo session. Some of the settings can be done before leaving the house--in a nice climate controlled environment where one can sit and refer to the manual as needed.
ISO 100-200
white balance---daylight
RAW plus large JPEG
Color Adobe RGB 1998
lens
manual or auto mode
This leaves changing the shutter speed and aperture depending on the desired effect. Also the focal length can be changed as well as the focus-manual or auto.