Need help from expodev users

Shot my first film this week using this software and am really impressed. All six negs look really good. I used the incident meter as sugested by the guys at the view camera store. But there are some situations where I am not sure exactly where to point the meter and was hoping for some advice.
Lets say the sun has just set. How do I get the highlight values? Do I point the meter at the sunset and not the camera?
A scene with no shadow. I can make a shadow, but was told by somebody, and I am sure I have this wrong, to measure the light falling on the brighter areas and the darker areas. I thought the light was the same regardless of where it falls.
Are there situations where the light meter (incident) is pointed at the subject and not the camera?
Would live advice here. Cheers

If you use the incident meter system you need to remember the basic things : The density of the negative is measured in the shadows, the constrat in the highlights. In all the B&W exposure system, you need the previzualisation. Nothing is automatic, you need to use your brain. In the sunset, you could have some bright scene and some deep shadows. If you point the dome of your exposure meter to the bright light, you will have a high Subject Brightness Range (SBR) 8, 9 or 10. It could be too much but as your shadows will be accurately exposed, your neg will be easily printable on a VC paper.
A scene in a flat light (with no shadows) has no highlights. In this case, you have a very low SBR (5). You need to expand the development to have enough constrast. But remember : with incident system you expose for the shadows to have the good density of your neg. You control the highlights to have the good contrast of your neg. The key is the shadows. If you make a mistake with the highlights, you can have a good print using VC paper and using an other grade than 2. I hope it helps.

Makes perfect sense. Thanks very much.

I am also new to this, but I'm sure an experienced BTZS user will come along soon. In the meantime...

As I understand the BTZS incident method: -

For the highlight reading: Place your meter facing the camera at brightest area in your image scene that you want to have highlight detail.

For the Lowlight reading: Place your meter facing the camera in a shadow area in your image scene where you want to see shadow detail.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong?

ps I'm sure further information is available at the BTZS Forum at http://btzs.org/

Barry

Barry...you are completely correct. Don't over look the fact that the expodev program DOES allow you to enter your reading into zones...open the program and look on the first page where you enter the holder number. Tap on Zone, and on the next page you will enter your readings for the high and low EV...BUT...when entering the EV then enter the zone that you envision the reading to be on. So, if your low EV reading is on Zone 4, enter the number 4 where it says "Low zone", and the actual EV reading where the low Ev is usually entered. Similarly, enter the data for the hi Ev and Hi Zone. You have then placed your readings on the zones that you have visualized, and the program will then give you the SBR, etc. for the parameters you have entered. If you desire to meter another are in the scene in order to see where that area falls, then simply meter the area and enter the Ev reading into the Test EV box and viola...you will know exactly where that subject falls. By the way, the Expodev program will NOT know if you decide to use the meter as a spot meter rather then an incident meter. For example, you feel more comfortable seeing some area of shade and metering by "reflection"....fine, just point the meter ( now set to read as a spot meter ) at the area you want to have at zone 3 or 4, and enter the reading in EV values...you have now placed the shadows where you want them. Then meter a high-light value ( as correctly noted by Phil one always exposes for the shadows ), and enter the value and the zone that you envision the value to fall upon. The expodev program will function as usual, and will provide the SBR and time of development based upon your film curves, but you will have have entered EV values obtained by using the spot function of your meter rather then the incident function.

If not clear let me know.

Ed

Thank you Ed. I really need to get out and practice using Incident and spot metering to see with which I am most comfortable. Not the best weather here at present!