There are 3 things that affect your image quality in photography; ISO, aperture and shutter speed. All 3 of these things depend on one other factor which is light. A photograph is basically a chemical process in which light is exposed to film, or a sensor in digital cameras, and registers an image.
There is a lot of material in this article, so I suggest you have your camera with you as you read it and try out the techniques as you go along. If you don't have a camera yet then you can still enjoy this article; however if you do intend to buy a camera sooner or later, I suggest doing so before you read.
A large proportion of the readers of Digital Photography School classify themselves as beginners - so we thought it might be helpful to have a page set up that collates some of our Digital Photography Tips for Beginners.