Expose for the shadows, develop for the highlights. That's what the 'zone system' for exposure is all about - controlling the tonal range through exposure and development of the film. You have to read Ansel Adams 'The Negative' to really understand it. You need to use sheet film and take multiple readings with a spot meter, take lots of notes do lots and lots of testing. He worked it all out. Clever bloke was Adams. This shot is just like the examples in the book. Here, you can see I've retained texture in the white plastered wall, and in the dark woodgrain of the shutters. Perfect exposure.

But I don't tend to use the zone system. I use roll film for a start and that rules out half the technique. I'm much more of a 'expose for the mid tone and hope' kind of guy. Sometimes I guess and bracket. Sometimes I'm in a sunny 16 mood. Today, I was pointing-n-shooting. This was taken with my Olympus Trip 35 set to automatic. I developed the film in my usual developer in the usual way. I scanned the neg using the default settings. Clever little thing the Oly Trip. It works it all out. And like Ansel, it doesn't require batteries.