An Introduction to Exposure

If you have a camera that allows you to manually adjust exposure settings (and even if you don't), it pays to really understand things like aperture and ISO, and how they will affect the end result of your photograph.

The photo blog at tutsplus has a really excellent beginner's introduction to exposure. There, they go over in depth the "triangle of exposure" - an excellent model for visualizing the relationship between ISO, aperture and shutter speed. The article describes each component in detail, and then goes on to describe how they will affect things like depth of field and low-light shooting.

The author recommends a DSLR, but any camera with a manual mode will do. Both my Casio point-and-shoot and my wife's Canon have a very useable manual mode, and neither is a DSLR. The big advantages you'll get using a DSLR are much wider aperture and ISO ranges, which give you greater flexibility in composing your shot. Clearly, having better gear is always a win- but don't pass on this article just because you don't have a tremendously expensive camera.

In short, this is great information for all shutterbugs, pros and beginners alike- check it out!