Manual Mode

But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands.
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails
—The Tempest, Epilogue

I found a couple of articles written by Bryan Peterson that explain the fundamentals required to use the Manual mode.

The first article, Basic Photo Tips: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO explains the relationships in the "photographic triangle". The second article, Exposure Basics: Correctly Expose Your Photographs explains why there are six possible ways to correctly expose each shot but only one or two are what you want.