I've read some basic photo books and even had a short class on photog
(even though it was digital and that's not what I'm in to...). I
understand aperture, shutter speeds and film speed. I (sort of)
understand each's individual effect on exposure. It sounds great on
paper...then I get into the real world. I guess my central question is
how do all of you, as more experienced photographers, approach any
given situation in terms of exposure? Do you always meter each shot?
Do you guess at your f-stop and aperture settings (educated guessing
would I think be more correct)?

I also have another problem...I don't process my own prints. I know
very little about darkroom work and don't really have access to one
even if I DID know what I was doing. Therefore, even if I bracket a
particular shot when I get the prints back I never know which
combination of settings produced which image.

If anyone has any time to offer up some insight (any old thing that
you wanna say) it would more greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

So how do you decide the balance between aperature and shutter speed?
It depends on what is important to you for a given shot.  Usually
you'll be making an artistic decision about how much depth of field
you want in the photograph.  This determines the f-stop you need to
use and with practice you'll get to know how various f-stops make your
shots look with different lenses.  After setting the f-stop for
appearance, you set the shutter speed for the correct exposure.

Much less frequently, you'll have need for a particular shutter speed.
 This will always be based on some kind of movement.  If you are
shooting a fast moving subject, or you yourself are moving, then you
will require at least a minumum shutter speed to avoid bluring.  It
can work the other way too.  If you want the moving subject blurred
then you need a sufficiently slow shutter speed.  (A nice example of
this is a picture of a small waterfall.  A slow shutter speed gives a
great effect of blurred water against a sharp surrounding.)  In these
cases you set the shutter speed for appearance, and the f-stop to get
the proper exposure.

To really get the hang of this, you need to burn a few rolls of film.
Doesn't have to be great film or expensive processing.  Shoot the same
shoot over and over (one right after another so the conditions don't
change much) with different combinations of aperature / shutter speed.
 Take notes on what combinations you used so you can review them
against the prints you get back.  Do this exercise twice.  The 1st
time with a still subject and the 2nd with a moving one (cars driving
down a road work great - just don't get arrested in the process and
pick one color of car to shoot to keep the subject consistent).
You'll be amazed at how quickly you get onto what depth of field
"looks like".

For example, I specialize in photographing horses, and usually when
they are moving, so I need a fast shutter speed to get a nice sharp
image without blurring. So, I will shoot either in shutter priority
mode or full manual. I do meter and see what the camera thinks is
correct, but I will often adjust the settings based on my experience.
If the background is backlit, I know I need to adjust. Or I may open
the aperature a little wider because the horses are darker and don't
reflect well. Outdoors in good light, I usually trust the camera.

Many people prefer to shoot in aperature priority mode because of
their chosen subject. If shutter speed isn't an issue, then you choose
the aperature that best suits your needs. Wide open will blur the
background and make a subject stand out nicely if that is what is
wanted.

So, a lot of it depends on the subject and the lighting. They key is
to know which is more important to the image in that particular case
(aperature or shutter speed), and then adjusting it to get the best
results.

One way to get around this is to shoot some slides. They will be the
actual film, so you can study the images and see what worked and what
didn't.

Have lots of fun and practice and experiment. Study the mistakes and
figure out how to fix them. One of the great things about these
newsgroups is that you can ask questions and usually somebody will
have an answer for you. I started reading these newsgroups when I
first got serious about photography, and they helped me a lot. I don't
read them as often now since my ISP cancelled their newsgroup server
and stuck me with web viewing, but I still learn new things from the
group.

OK, let's say you have a bright blue sky with great cloud formations
and you also have your model in front of that sky.  You can get the
details of the clouds and the face by taking time to consider the film
latitude, the highlights, the shadows, . . .

If the scene is low-contrast--everything is just shades of gray--the
range of light values from brightest to darkest is three stops or
less, it's easy.  However, if the scene is high-contrast--light values
are seven stops or more, it is trickier.

You can set your shutter speed to 1/125 to minimize camera shake.
Now, you have to take 2 meter readings.  One of the sky and one of the
model's face.  Say the meter tells you the sky should have f/22 and
the model - f/2.  This is a range of seven stops and is high contrast.

We cannot simply set the aperture in the middle of these two!  

Now, film latitude is not the same for over- and underexposure.
Plus-X is a B/W film with a latitude of of about seven stops.  (Most
color films have a latitude of less than seven stops.)  This is not
equal tho!  It can handle about five stops of overexposure and only
about two of under.

The trick is to expose for the shadows.  Set your aperture so the
shadows just fall within the film latitude.

f/2 is what the meter read for correct exposure of the model's face.
f/2.8 will also capture the details of the face, since they will only
be underexposed by one stop.
f/4 this is just barely within the latitude of the 2 stops and will
still record the details.

The reading for the clouds was f/22.  f/22 is 5 stops more than f/4.
The film can handle 5 stops of overexposure and will record the cloud
detail.

You can try studying Ansel Adams' Zone System.  

Just remember that color film is usually 3 or 4 stops over- and only 1
or even .5 stop underexposure!

Color reversal film have a latitude that is opposite of negative film.
 Reversal film is much more tolerant of under- and overexposure.

Exposure should be yor obsession.. next to creative composition.

I start with aperture.   I pick one that is suitable for the lens,
subject and effect that I want to create.   I meter the shot using the
cameras meter.  I choose the meter pattern based on my past experience
and the subject at hand. I now that in many cases, my cameras matrix
metter can do a better job than I can.  In other cases, it can be
fooled, therefore I take it off matris and use spot or center weighted
as appropriate.  There are no hard and fast rules.. only experience.  
Take lots of notes in the begging so you know which exposure setting
was used.

Bracketing?  Pick a standard and stick to it.  For example,  bracket 4
shots.  Always do it in the same sequence.... 1rst is 1 stop under, 2nd
is 1/2 stop under, 3rd is the recommended exposure, 4th is 1/2 stop
over, and the 5th is 1 stop over.   Now, take the film to some decent
processor.  When you get the prints back (hopefully numbered on back so
you can see the sequence) . Look at the prints.. and look at the
negatives.  Find the print  you like best and look at cooresponding
negative. Note where it is in the sequence.  If you do it the same way
each time.. then you should know.

Jim