Props for learning. Knowing your camera and lenses like the back of your hand will really help when you're shooting (especially when trying to say, spot meter and AF separately on something moving, like dancers or cars, or whatever).
Have you tried taking the same shot in manual and adjusting either your f-stop or shutter speed in one-third increments? If you can manage a good exposure like that, it might be something's off with the light meter. Not common, but maybe you got a lemon.If you really can't manage a good exposure no matter what, then I'd consider getting it looked at. Note that I mean using a scene that's not very contrasty; a white wall or something like that would do well for testing on.
Thanks for the responses. I'm having a heck of a time getting my new D90 to expose correctly. I've tried adjusting the exposure compensation settings with no luck. My pictures are either blown out or really dark. No middle ground here. I've read my manual cover to cover as well as about everything on the web I can find. I'm beginning to think something is wrong with my camera. I have a pretty good understanding of how to adjust my settings and what everything does but this sucker just doesnt seem to want to take decent pictures. As it stands, my D40 blows this thing out of the water.
I've tried spot, center weighted, and matrix and it doesnt seem to make a difference. What I think I need is a guide that can tell me some basic setups for certain situations. I have the D90 Setup Guide from Nikon and I set it up according to the Nature, Landscaping and Travel recommended settings and it didnt seem to make a difference. I have to be missing something. I'll figure it out. The good thing is Im learning this camera inside and out. lol I just hope its something I'm doing wrong and not the camera.