Going fully manual

[David Mitchell]

I like to meter the highlights and then the shadows and see how many stops in between. If its extreme I then decide if I want blown out highlights or overly dark shadows. Easy with spot metering if your camera has it but a bit of a pain if it doesn't.

This is why I like the fact that my FM2n has a light meter that allows for the shot to be 1/3 over or under exposed, if I want the highlights I go under exposed, detail in shadows I go 1/3 over.