I disagree about the choice of a meter to learn with. An incident meter is ok in certain situations where it can be used properly, but in and of itself it can't really tell you much about the range of light in a scene, as can a spot meter.
Shel > [Original Message] > From: Bob W > The way to learn, in my opinion, is to turn off all your automation, and use > an incident light meter. You can buy perfectly good used meters very > cheaply.