Sheila, your memory is better than mine. : ). Yes, I do use spot metering for most shots. The quickie group here was shot from my easychair at a corner across the room. The white spot shows where the metering was done. There is significant difference in the overall images. I tried the "matrix" or averaged metering and got one close to #1 but the shadow was darker on the left of the picture frame. Matrix averaged metering would work ok on this particular shot but would not allow me to select the lighting for the effect desired. This is in reference to the Zonal System thread where you posted. My cam allows "exposure lock" meaning I can take a reading, lock the exposure, then zoom out or in, recompose and take the shot. Without this feature, some digitals allow you to go half shutter, while the cam then does exposure and focus. Then move the view to where you want it and shoot...otherwise, a handheld meter would be good with a spot reflected light view. If you have a meter for your studio "hot lights", maybe try that in reflected and not incident(ping pong ball dome)reading. Anyway, this is a simple post but shows at least the some difference in where the exposure is metered. When it comes to Zone metering, I have little experience but have tried it on large expanses of landscape, not shots such as these quickies. Tom.