My uncle told me to always meter for the shadows, and a roll of Portra in Seattle proved him right
When I first got into film about 8 years ago, my uncle handed me his old Sekonic meter and said, "Meter for the shadows, the highlights will take care of themselves." I nodded and then ignored him for two years because auto modes made me lazy. Then I shot a roll of Portra 400 at Pike Place Market on a cloudy day and every frame came back muddy and flat. I finally tried his advice on the next roll, metering for the dark areas under the awnings, and the colors popped like I had never seen from my own camera. Has anyone else had a relative's throwaway tip turn out to be the fix you needed?