Meter Readings?

[Sontizzle]

so ive been reading understanding exposure by bryan peterson on and off for a few weeks now and towards the end he starts saying he sets his aperture to f4 to take his meter readings off the sky/water/etc.. do you have to use your lowest aperture for the focal length your using to get your meter reading or does it matter? say im zooming 35mm and my lowest aperture for that focal length is f5.6, do i use that? it confuses me because he does that but then he stops it down 3 or 4 stop and equally stops down his shutter speed after getting the meter reading so it seems to me like it wouldnt matter?

 

[JIP]

You need to use whatever combination is best for your personal style combined with the type of scene you are shooting. For example if I was shooting a lanscape type scene with a bright sky I would definately want to use a narrow aperture. Depending on how much light there is I would use a slower shutter speed to compensate for the smaller aperture. So I might set my camera on manual set the aperture on something narrow like f/11 take a meter reading off of the ground and the sky and set the shutter speed wherever I want depending on what I am trying to emphasize. The aperture you use has nothing to do with the maximum aperture available on your lens it just depends on the scene.