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Step 1
The regulation that covers logging time is 14 CFR Part 61.51.
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Step 2
Remember, logging PIC is NOT the same as acting as PIC. There can be only one actual PIC, but there can be any number of people logging PIC time. In fact there can be, and often are, times in which the person acting as PIC cannot log the time as PIC. If you want to be the actual PIC you MUST meet ALL the requirements to ACT as PIC, including endorsements, currency etc.
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Step 3
Your logbook contains a place for you to attest to the accuracy of the entries, so obviously you want your logbook entries to be true. Beyond that, exactly what you log is to some extent up to you. Certain types of logbook time are required to show that you meet recency of experience requirements or meet the aeronautical experience requirements for a new certificate or rating. You can log other time, as long as it's accurate, even if it is not eligible to be used to meet an experience requirement. When people get into heated discussions about "logging", they're almost always talking about time to be used to meet a requirement. Don't let anybody tell you "you can't log this time" when what they really mean is "you can't use this time to meet some requirement". Some people use their logbook as a journal of their personal flying experiences, that's fine, just make sure you know what entries are being used to show you meet the requirements set out in the regulations. So your first decision needs to be, what kind of time am I going to log and how will I keep track of the time needed to meet experience requirements?
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Step 4
Some instructors like to fill out all the entries in your logbook when they provide dual instruction, some don't. Many times a student gets in the habit of letting their instructor write all the time in their logbook, but my advice is, don't. If your instructor needs to endorse, sign-off or otherwise make entries in your logbook that's fine, but YOU should enter your time etc. This is especially true once you're a Private pilot because there is still, how can I put this, confusion, on how some time should be logged. It's your logbook, you decide how it should be logged.
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Step 5
When flying as or with a safety pilot is one of the few times where 14 CFR Part 91 pilots will be conducting a flight that requires more than one crew member and falls under 61.51(e)(1)(iii). The pilot flying, typically of course the one under the hood, as the sole manipulator of the controls, logs PIC time. If the safety pilot is ACTING as PIC by prior agreement then the safety pilot may ALSO log PIC time. Who is acting as PIC has ramifications for your insurance and any renter's agreement you may be party to, so you may want to review those issues before you aviate. Also remember the safety pilot is ACTING as the PIC and must be qualified in all respects. To ACT as PIC the safety pilot needs all the appropriate endorsements (complex, high performance etc.) and needs to meet the appropriate currency requirements.
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Step 6
If you don't log the safety pilot time as PIC then you can log it as SIC. In order to be SIC you must have the appropriate category and class ratings and be at least a Private Pilot (14 CFR 91.109). You do not need to be current, nor do you need any of the endorsements (complex, high performance etc.) that would be required for you to ACT as PIC. The SIC needs a current medical, the FAA Chief Counsel's opinion is that the safety pilot is a required crew member, and as such requires a current medical (14 CFR 61.3(c)). It's not very useful as SIC time, although it can be used to increase your total time. I always log something because in the same way that the pilot under the hood must record the name of the safety pilot I'd like a corresponding record of who I was the safety pilot for.
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Step 7
What about flying an actual IFR flight plan? The same rules apply, except that the person who ACTS as PIC regardless, of if they are the sole manipulator or the safety pilot, must be legal and current for IFR and their name must be on the flight plan. Notice that the actual conditions of flight don't matter, VMC or IMC, if one person is under the hood then the safety pilot is required and both pilots may log time.
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Step 8
However you choose to log the flight log the entire flight however you have decided. You are logging "flight time", which 14 CFR Part 1.1 defines as "pilot time that commences when an aircraft moves under it's own power for the purpose of flight". Some people will argue you can only log the time when the pilot flying is under the hood, but the regulations refer to the "conditions under which the flight is conducted" so you can log the entire flight as SIC or PIC (as you have chosen).
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Step 9
Student and Recreational pilots cannot act as safety pilots.
