[Leica] Metering shade

[John McLeod <johnmcleod@worldnet.att.net>]

I was always taught to use an incident meter when shooting transparancy
films, especially in even lighting such as bright sunshine or even overcast
light.  For people who grew up with in-camera meters like myself, it can be
a real eye-opener how dead-on accurate and easy incident metering can be in
these situations.  You just take ONE reading, set your camera, and shoot 
;-)  away, until the light changes.  This works, at least with traditional
low-latitude chrome films, because you're essentially metering the
highlights and letting the shadows fall where they may (since blocked up
highlights look worse than dark shadows on slides, generally speaking).

But with negative film, things change.  Now you have to start paying more
attention to shadow detail.  I guess you can use an incident meter for this
purpose too, but it seems less natural and more difficult, especially in
mixed lighting. Chrome film has such a limited latitude that you have to
decide whether to expose the highlights or the shadows -- neg film has more
latitude, plus variable development allowing for both detailed shadows and
highlights.

I guess I have a question for the pros on the list.  If you are shooting neg
film outside with mixed sun and clouds and you want shadow detail, how do
you use your incident meters?  Do you simply shade the meter dome with your
hand, or put the meter in shade, and take a reading, then shoot away?  Is
the procedure essentially the same as with chrome film except now you're
giving more weight to the shadow exposure, as opposed to the highlight
exposure?

John McLeod