One of my online activities is to curate/administer a group of artists who share images related to themes that are Quintessentially British. This is something that I will explain at tedious length in a later post or two, but for now let me say that one advantage of being a member of this group is the sharing of ideas. One member, James Canning shared a great online tool for photographers that allows us to visualize the effect of changing the parameters of your camera on a set scene, all interactively. The flash-based application is called CameraSim and I think it does a pretty good job of explaining, or rather showing, how to operate a more advanced camera.
As you can see from this static screenshot (in the live site the girl and her windmill are moving!) you are able to adjust not only the shutter speed and aperture but also the ISO, lens (focal length), distance of subject and even lighting. I think this is a great tool for understanding the mechanics of photography and I thought it would be a great item to share here.
As the developer says on the page: “Happy Simulating!”
searching4theshot 
Like it or loathe it? Please let me know...