#2 is your best bet, Doug. At least you'll be getting some consistency in the stacks of subs and you won't have to mess about with weird combos of darks, flats etc, to get everything looking alright. That will also help your final image turn out good as well.
You could just throw everything into the pot and see what comes out. You never know, you might end up with a great piccie. Then again, you could end up with a dog's breakfast
