I have a lot of new readers come through here, sometimes through Google, sometimes Stumble Upon, and it occurs to me that it could be hard to wade through the few years of content to find all the really good stuff. Not that all of my posts aren’t totally fantastic—because they are—but there are a select few that I recommend everyone read.

On the occasions that I have people ask me for casual help getting started with their new DSLR, I send them to these same articles as a “primer,” and to save me from repeating myself a lot.

So, without further ado, the most popular and essential articles in three years of Single-Serving Photo:

I also decided to put this list on its own page. You can always get to it from the “Essential Reading” link along the right side, or share that page with your friends who are getting started.