thanks, Tom! :) i also use spot metering most of the time now. Yes, there IS significant differences in the images depending on where you meter. i guess where we meter depends on how we want our image to look. when i said i just kinda feel my way around blindly i guess what i meant was i just meter based on what looks right to my eye. is that what you do too? my cam also has exposure lock but i forget to use it most of the time. i wish i didn't forget stuff. when you're shooting landscape shots do you still spot meter? i am. my understanding (which may be wrong) is that with zone metering we do want to spot meter. am i understanding that correctly? basically if we're shooting snow we overexpose by a stop or two. if we're shooting black, we underexpose by a stop or two? what else am i missing Tom? anyway...that's all i can articulate right now. i'm exhausted...worked tons of hours the past couple of days and gotten too little sleep. night, Tom...and thanks so much again! :)