I recently picked up a copy of "Perfect Exposure" from PhotoshopCafe (
www.photoshopcafe.com). It's a series of video tutorials on how to better understand exposure, and essentially helps to apply the Zone System to digital photography.
I know a lot of us just "fix it in Photoshop", but getting the exposure right on the front end always makes life easier once you start to work on them in Photoshop.
This is one learning CD that I'd highly recommend if you want to better understand how to use/set your meter to get the right exposure.
http://www.photoshopcafe.com/video/products/zones.htm
BTW, when I lived in SoCal, I had the chance to meet Colin Smith - really great guy - good photographer and a great Photoshop guru.