Is it me or are photo mags boring?

subseasniper

subseasniper

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Hey,

I don't know if it just me and a change in tastes but the mags seem dominated with the latest kit, boring photoshop tutorials and articles that are endlessly regurgitated and repeated with very little variation.

I walk into my local newsagents and see about 8 or 10 different mags and hardly ever pick up anything that really seizes my attention and fires me up.

Is it too much to ask to have a magazine that is geared towards giving inspiration rather than the current worrying obsession with gear.

I know there is a place for all of the new and exciting high tech stuff but come on, does every magazine have to be exactly the same and be dedicated to nothing other than the latest electronic wonder.

I sound like a luddite, I am not. It just becomes a worry when you can pick up a mag and flick through it without even knowing which monthly you are browsing.

I think Amateur Photographer currently has the best mix but that is just too short and the back third of the mag seems stacked with adverts.

I would really like to know what you all think about this topic, I would love if mags like Lenswork or Aperture were readily available in the UK. even better, a UK equivalent.

I am feeling really strongly about this right now and would be made up if some of you guys got on board to show your support.

I think it is a sorry indication of our beloved hobby when we are reduced to nothing more than gear collectors and covet the latest camera or lens. Above all else the images we make should be important, not the camera or lens they were made on.

Opinions please?
 
I am a subscriber to DigitalPhoto and am not going to renew it.

My main poblem with it is that it is too content heavy on post production.
Titles like : How to add a better foreground to your photos using PS.
If i wanted a better foreground i woudl find one, not add in PS. I take photos becasue i like too, not so i can "cheat" by adding completely differnet items into it.
Dont get me wrong, i do PS a bit (in lightroom though), but to add a completely different element is taking it too far IMO.
 
Photoshop Creative is pretty good for some really "arty" ideas, I suppose the problem is everybodies ideas are different. Wayne
 
Maybe I'm coming across as a luddites but what I am getting at is that the new gear/photoshop mags are way too plentiful at present. Yes they have their place but how would a music lover feel if they went into the newsagents wanting to read about say music from the 60's or 70's but found that every music mag was Smash Hits or a clone thereof?

I sometimes buy Black and White Photography for the quality of the images and the interviews but I think that with the advent of the digital darkroom these are exciting times for colour and there should be a mag that offers inspriational colour and B/W imges. I truly believe there is a niche in the market, do we really need another cloned digital photography mag?
 
AP was the first mag i bought but have now subscribed to PhotoPlus which i think is fantastic. AP is ok but most of the mag is adverts and i personally don't find it useful at all for a beginner.

Plus i got a great Lowepro backpack for my subscription to PhotoPlus amazed how much it holds on top of my gear.
 
In the eighties I read every glossy photo mag I could lay my hands on. But they've been regurgitating the same old editorials over and over since, 'spiced up' with the odd new camera review (bought and paid for), and 200 advertisements, so I quit buying and reading them 20 years ago. And that M.O. gets vindicated everytime I leaf through a 'new' mag at the news stands.
 
:agree:

Plus I can't stand those supposed reviews where the 'reviewer' clearly knows nothing about the item in question, hasn't bothered to read up on it and is obviously working from a script, X lens is good because it has a huge zoom range, Y lens is bad because it has a red stripe round it.
 
They should let you pay to download sections of the mag, although i bet that would put them out of business...lol
 
I think you may be missing the point...

The whole purpose of the articles is to support their advertisers and persuade you to part with your hard earned cash. Therefore, piece of hardware they review is wonderful and every computerised alternative to good photography is designed to sell you something.

As for actual, hard info in the articles, if they actually told you anything useful you wouldn't need to buy the next issue would you?
 
I'm not missing any point, the reason for my comment is that theres a lot of rubbish i dont want and i get annoyed paying for it
 
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this way. So, if we are on a similar wavelength does that mean there is a niche for a magazine that promote image making and inspiration rather than the rehashed rubbish we have been getting of late.

I think there is a place for such a magazine. Any opinions?
 
I just spit coke thanks to you Jamougha :lol:

Back to the point....

I think it's down to experience to be honest, I am new to photography (about 6 months with a DSLR) and I think Practical Photography is great.

Every month they have something new I can try and reviews on the kit I would need.
They even recommend a work around if you can't afford the new kit.

All just my opinion
 
I think the monthly one can be very repetitive, the only mag I subscribe to is the quarterly EOS magazine.
 
dcash29 said:
I'm not missing any point, the reason for my comment is that theres a lot of rubbish i dont want and i get annoyed paying for it
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Well, the point is that if you want real info you can buy books that contain nothing but real info - but you'll have to spend a lot more.

Magazines exist to sell advertising space, period. If you don't want the advertising, and if you don't want the advertiser support content then you'll have to pay a lot more - maybe 6x as much
 
I get fed up with magazines that show you how to produce some OTT bit of photo art. Err right I'm really want to know how to produce smoke signals etc! Not sure you thing you show to your family etc!
 
Garry

I fully understand the need for advertising, infact i dont think i mentioned not having adverts.

I have bought one or two books and again theres a good deal of rubbish there to

Like ive said in another thread 'you cant keep everyone happy all the time'

One thing i do hate and thats when you see an almost identical article but in a different magazine
 
Garry Edwards said:
Well, the point is that if you want real info you can buy books that contain nothing but real info - but you'll have to spend a lot more.
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Average mag price £6, average book price say £30 that's only 5 issues.

That said, dcash29 did miss the point of your point if you get my point :)
 
whiteflyer said:
I think the monthly one can be very repetitive, the only mag I subscribe to is the quarterly EOS magazine.
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you pay for it?:eek:

do you have enough gear for cps - if so you get the mag free

i think its a good mag - i would pay for it if i did not get it free
 
Joe T said:
I gave up on the monthly ones cos they get repetitive. I subscribe to AP now instead. :)
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Me too - I got fed up with all the same items reappearing year after year and the over emphasis on Photoshop work.

AP has some interesting articles and is actually about taking photographs.
If you get the direct debit subscription it's about £1.30 an issue.
 
Generally speaking I agree with the OP, they are pretty boring - all of them churn out much of the same stuff over & over, previously subscribed to Photography Monthly but not now, infact I rarely look at them if in the newsagents

simon
 
I admit, I haven't read this whole topic.
Just wanted to add my tuppence worth.

Nearly all of what I know about togging (ok it isn't much!!) has come from mags.
The rest has come from superb forums such as TP.......
Due to my shift work, I cannot attend a college to do togging evening classes. As much as I'd like to.
Just today I have acquired another 2 mags (a work-mate and I share mags!!)
and there's so much useful stuff in there, I cannot keep up with it!

I have allot of reading and learning ahead of me, and it's all things I wouldn't know if it weren't for the mags.
And not just TAKING the photo. I've gained a huge amount of knowledge on PP too.......

I applaud them :clap:
Well the good ones anyway!!
 
I subscribe to Digital Photographer. A good mix of articles, tutorials, ideas.
 
I can't remember which mag it was but I bought the same mag last month and this month. However the headings for what is in there once I got it home are the same just worded differently.

I have spent a fortune recently buying all the mags there are since I am new and trying to learn however I find they are not that useful.
Most are filled with the latest revies of kit, i'm sorry but there are magazines specifically just for kit reviews, if I was wanting tobuy new kit I would buy one of those, if i am buying a mag about photograpy I already have m kit! and most of the stuff reviewed are silly prices anyway so way out of my budget.
They are filled with photoshop tutorials, you get the tutorial on dvd and then again as a slide show taking up most of the mag with the same thing printed inside.

In one mag so many full pages were taken up with advertisments I actually counted and out of a 122 page mag, 66 full pages were advertisements! Also they are soo expensive, if these mags have such a huge amount of advertisements in them (which the companys pay for) why are they still around a fiver each for effectively around 60 pages, once you take the pages of tutorials of photoshop and reviews out there is not much in there about actually taking the photographs which is what most people are interested in.

I actually decided to stop buying the mags and invest in good books instead, much more useful.

Ahhh rant over :D
 
Digital SLR was quite good though.
 
I only used to buy them when they offered a free bag for a 99p Direct Debit.

They tend to "loop" so you've read one, you've read them all.

I never trust magazine reviews for reasons I won't go into here either...
 
subseasniper said:
Hey,

I don't know if it just me and a change in tastes but the mags seem dominated with the latest kit, boring photoshop tutorials and articles that are endlessly regurgitated and repeated with very little variation.

Opinions please?
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Apart from the equipment and the editing software, what else about photography does change from month to month and year to year? Pretty much nothing.

Pick a genre of photography - sports, portrait, wildlife, night time, macro, glamour - etc. etc. and what is there new to write about that wasn't already written last year and the year before?

Composition, focusing, metering, apertures, shutter speeds and ISOs are as well understood today as several decades ago, and certainly haven't changed in a long time. I struggle to imagine that lighting techniques have altered much over the last several years either.

If you want to talk about darkroom techniques (AKA editing) then, until some radical new software comes out, what else needs to be said? Tutorials are good, but free articles are available all over the net on these things, with step by step instruction or, even better in my opinion, video demonstrations. What on earth is an expensive magazine subscription going to give me that I can't already find for free on the internet. If I find something I don't like on the internet than I'll go and find another example that suits me better. If you pay for a magazine subscription and don't like that month's content then too bad, you've already been suckered.

If you want an equipment review then I struggle to imagine that a magazine will do a more thorough job than, for example, DPReview or Steve's Digicams, plus many other very good sites.

Then you have the power of the online forum, and the lively and enlightening debate that can be found there. Imagine having this discussion through the "Letters" page of a magazine.

A magazine may be handy for a plane trip or bus/train journey, but beyond that.....? Personally I have no need for the things. It's just more clutter to have to dispose of through the recycling bin. What a shocking waste of resources to print hundreds of thousands of those things and transport them all over the country!
 
I only buy the pro mags now and again. Borders bookshop stock some good ones. Professional Photographer and an American one Pro Photo are the ones I would choose. They do have features on new (and blooming expensive) kit but they also feature the work of some amazingly talented photographers. They have articles (This months Professional Photographer)on newer trends in particular genres. This month features "wedding with a difference" which is an article on the "Trash the dress" phenomenon started in the US where after the honeymoon, the bride gets into the dress again and does some really informal stuff on beaches and in woods etc.

It's far more informative than the mags aimed at the amateur market and please don't get me started on Practical Photography!
 
I think maybe what my main gripe is that there is an oversbucsription of mags dedicated to gear worship, photoshop tutorials and churning out the same articles year in year out.

Is there not space in that markeyplace for a magazine that offers inspirational, stunning and thought provoking imagery? I myself feel far more motivated to do something meanwhile and interesting with my photography from viewing other peopls work rather than reading about how the new DSLR blah blah blah has this that and the other feature.

There are periodicals like Despatches but they are really expensive. Could we not have a monthly or bi-monthly mag coming in about the £5 mark that has quality printing, minimal advertising space and loads of really good images from new and established photographers?
 
i buy a couple per month, and since i am very new to photography i find them interesting and helpful, there are articles that go back to the basics and explain all about shutter speed, exposure etc..
i can see that in a years time they will go back and re-do all the same back to basics articles, the things i dont like with some of the magazines is that they fill half the magazine with photoshop tip and how to replace a sky or foreground etc.. which does not appeal to me at all.
 
subseasniper said:
There are periodicals like Despatches but they are really expensive. Could we not have a monthly or bi-monthly mag coming in about the £5 mark that has quality printing, minimal advertising space and loads of really good images from new and established photographers?
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So you want the most labour-intensive type of content written by the highest paid artists, expensive printing, minimal advertising and you want it cheap. I see one problem here...
 
I agree that the content of such mags are not worth a subscription.. maybe just a purchase now and again. I'm not renewing my subscription as I find more useful information on google
 
Jamougha,

Yeah, fair point, but I would be happy to spend double that on something that was decently printed and gave me decent images that inspired me or got me thinking about photography.
 
I must admit, I would like to see more articles about taking decent shots in the first place rather than concentrating on photoshop and postprocessing. But then again maybe I'm naive and this is what photography has become with the digital age :shrug:

I kinda miss the technical advice you used to get with film and the excitement of seeing the effect of filters even before you've taken a shot.
 
BJP is the only one which i read now. Gives more practical information regarding what is going on in the world of photography.
Got sick of all the massive adverts in all the newsagent mags!
 
So maybe there's a gap in the market?

'Photo Inspiration Monthly' (or such like)

A full glossy magazine dedicated to interviews with talented photographers, showcases of peoples work, fresh perspectives on old ideas, lists of photographable events, maps of good locations. NO reviews and NO photoshop workguides?

Just a thought, it might be the current climate but I never saw any magazines based on 'darkroom tricks for beginners'

Maybe the OP should be writing a proposal and sending it the likes of Future publishing?
 
Gandhi, you've hit the nail on the head. Sounds like a dream mag.
 
I have a subscription to Outdoor Photography.
It does focus more on location and techniques over Photoshop or reviews.

It's a new subscription, maybe I'll find it gets more repetitive over time, but I'm liking it so far.
 
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