Photography magazines - recommendations sought

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RegG

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Hi everyone,

I like to think I am a fairly competent photographer albeit relatively new to the hobby. I have been subscribing to one of the photo magazines that is specific to my brand of camera for the last year. I have gained some very useful knowledge from reading the magazine which is, in general, very well presented. However, it does seem that once you have taken the photo the next stage is to enhance it considerably using Photoshop or similar software. It is this I find frustrating in that the articles may just give half a page of advice on taking a picture then another couple of pages telling you how to improve it digitally in Photoshop! IMHO this is not what photography is necessarily all about - I want to learn to take great pictures using the technology packed into my camera which is where I feel the pleasure of this great hobby should come from.

I realise this is something that will stir up all sorts of emotions and that post processing thing is a matter of personal choice and I fully recognise and accept this.

Can anyone recommend a photography magazine which concentrates more on taking the photo rather than post processing please?
 
+1 on the books. As for magazines there are two I subscribe to, Black+White Photography and British Journal of Photography. I find them much more focussed on the image than techniques than the majority of the photo press.

There are also some online magazines - mainly landscapes or black and white based.
 
RichBrew said:
The negative is the equivalent of the composers score, and the print the performance - Ansel Adams

If it's good enough for him it's good enough for me. ;-)

RichBrew
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I agree, looking at other peoples' work is the way to go. And art generally is good for understanding composition and colour and such. When I look at other peoples' photography and admire it, I often find myself asking how they achieved the final result so that in a roundabout way is a technical thing.

But I think regG is more interested in pure technicalities. Could be wrong there. For me, once you get past the relationship between aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and the importance of light in all of that, you are more or less left to focus on the purely creative and artistic side of things.
 
I subscribe to outdoor photography magazine. Loads of really nice pics in there and it has a section on techniques. They have landscape and nature sections and also do sport and adventure.
 
The problem with most of the "mainstream" photo mags is, once you've read a year's-worth, they become very repetitive. There'll be the b&w issue, the portrait issue, the landscape issue, the sport/action issue, the travel issue, the street photography issue and, of course, the biggest selling issue of the year - the "glamour" issue. And then they start again....

The 2 mags Brian mentions are way more interest in the image than the latest piece of whizz-bang technology, as he says.

When I studied for the City & Guilds courses I did a few years ago, I was very fortunate to have a tutor who's opening gambit was, "this isn't a camera club, we won't be talking about cameras and lenses and which is best." The most valuable thing I learned was to go out and look at other people's work. I own over 50 "photography" books - only 3 of which are remotely technical - and they're Ansel Adams' seminal books, "The Camera", "The Negative" and "The Print". If you want to learn about exposure, even today they take some beating IMO. The rest of my "library" are books of photographs - IMO, you'll learn far more looking at other people's work than reading the majority of photo mags.

Plus, at - what? - £5-6 a pop, you'll save a bloody fortune too!

Just my 2p-worth..
 
RegG said:
Can anyone recommend a photography magazine which concentrates more on taking the photo rather than post processing please?
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Not so much magazines, but several decades of film photography produced some excellent books on getting it right in the camera - although the degree of darkroom work that went into getting a good print can often make Photoshop look like the "lite" option. Books like The Making of Landscape Photographs by Charlie Waite are just as valid with digital as with film - although colour balance is significantly easier digitally. I paid £1 for my copy of the Waite book and I refer to it regularly. You can sometimes pick-up old photography magazines from the film era cheaply in charity shops and recycling centres.
 
Thanks to all who replied to my thread and for the advice and comments made - I will explore all of them!

Thanks again :ty: :canon:
 
Raptor Mike said:
I subscribe to outdoor photography magazine. Loads of really nice pics in there and it has a section on techniques. They have landscape and nature sections and also do sport and adventure.
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I also recommend outdoor photography, some good locations guides in there as well. I also like Black and White photography magazine.
 
+1 for Outdoor photography mag.
On the book front don't think you have to spend lots of money. The last couple I picked up were 500 page hardback compilations from National Geographic (not a bad 'not photography' photography magazine). I bought them 2nd hand through ABE books for about £6 each, and given their heft that must have barely covered the postage!
 
I did buy Outdoor Photography this month as it had the beach I live 75 yards from as one of the featured locations. Wasn't overly impressed - the place they recommended food from is closed half the year, and the "nearest" accommodation is miles away. There is a hotel and several B&Bs between me and the beach...

Other than that it is worth an occasional read for me.
 
I currently get the practical photography magazine and digital photo, i find the first is better for technique and the second is a good read with some good tips

I have to agree with the whole photoshop thing though, for those that don't want to use photoshop it is pointless and a waste of paper and money

I recently went into WH Smiths and bought 'the essential guide to outdoor photography' and having a flick through it is all technical and best of all NO PHOTOSHOP (164 pages of inspiration) and there are other magazines in the same series covering different sections of photography

Hope that helps
 
BTW all my mag subscriptions are funded with clubcard vouchers- seems as good a use for them as any.
Other brands of supermarket are available.
 
BT Bob said:
The problem with most of the "mainstream" photo mags is, once you've read a year's-worth, they become very repetitive. There'll be the b&w issue, the portrait issue, the landscape issue, the sport/action issue, the travel issue, the street photography issue and, of course, the biggest selling issue of the year - the "glamour" issue. And then they start again....
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Not forgetting the "get to grips with shutter speed" issue, the "master depth of field" issue and the "Get the most from RAW" issue of course!

I think you're better off going on Amazon and grabbing a book for £10 - £15. The price of 3 magazines. You can still take it in the loo with you and its not full of adverts for WEX et al, and when you've finished it you can keep it. Plus you can choose a book tailored to the photography style that appeals to you.

Having said that I do occasionally(rarely) pick up a mag, usually practical photography or Digital SLR user.
 
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I subscribe to two magazines, both specific to my brand of camera, these being EOS Magazine (digital edition), and Photoplus (Canon Edition).

I also occasionally buy, from the news stand, Amateur Photographer, if it has an article of particular interest to me.

EOS magazine is, IMO, pitched at a higher level than Photoplus, which is aimed at a wider variety of experience level, and as such, I do find that I tend to skip over some of the content, such as camera menu content, and basic photoshop etc.

That said, I do find a reasonable amount of the content of interest.

As Rob has said, the content of the mainstream mags does become quite repetitive.

In general, I find that all of the mainstream mags, are much of a much.

Dave
 
bluejay2807 said:
I currently get the practical photography magazine and digital photo, i find the first is better for technique and the second is a good read with some good tips

I have to agree with the whole photoshop thing though, for those that don't want to use photoshop it is pointless and a waste of paper and money
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Digital Photo has more of a Photoshop obsession than most.
 
RegG said:
IMHO this is not what photography is necessarily all about - I want to learn to take great pictures using the technology packed into my camera which is where I feel the pleasure of this great hobby should come from.
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Post-processing is often an integral part of image creation, and carries a satisfaction all of its own. Yet it still comes in for lots of criticism, most often from beginners, as being akin to "cheating".

Remember: if you are shooting to JPG the "technology packed into your camera" digitally processes your images for you anyway! This is to specifications decided by the teams that designed your camera's software*. They will have a "one size fits all" processing profile, which adjusts sharpness, contrast, saturation, etc to create a look they think fits their brand. Some cameras allow you to choose from a set of pre-determined processing profiles (some even allow you to customise the profiles in a limited fashion), but they are all digitally processed. You can sort of think of this as similar to what Boots (or any other photo lab) used to do when you handed your film in. Boots had developed a processing protocol that provides what they deem acceptable results in the majority of cases. You don't really get a say in that aspect of what your image will look like. You can think of it - both with Boots, and with your digital camera - as handing over an important part of the creation of your image to someone else.

The answer to this: shoot RAW and do your own digital processing. You will encounter very few serious digital photographers who don't post-process.

Of course, there is a limit. Sometimes digital processing straddles the territory between photography and CGI. Nothing wrong with that, but I wouldn't necessarily call it "photography".
However, anyone who tells you that any digital processing is cheating doesn't know what they are talking about.

In the days of film, serious photographers would develop and process their images themselves; using protocols and techniques that they had learned or developed and they would apply these selectively and to varying extents to get the best out of individual images. Nobody thought that was "cheating", indeed it would usually be considered a higher form of the art.




*or if you shoot RAW and just run it through the default conversion on a converter, then it's whoever wrote the converter
 
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I've tried a few magazines. The one subscription I have is advanced photographer. It has a regular series on lighting. always a couple of featured photographers with great images, and plenty of inspiration. That said - could I get that from books - well I do - I have a huge pile of reading material - including the Photographer's Eye (recomended earlier) which is excellent.
If you buy magazines regularly then a subscription is the way to go - you save loads.
Agree about lots of other magazines just repeating content after a while.
 
I get Amateur Photographer as a weekly subscription. I like it for current news and readers photo's, they also have some really interesting articles.

I also subscribe to 2 online mags. Onlandscape and Landscape Photography Magazine. Both are brilliant reads with loads of useful information and tips etc.

Other than that I have a huge library of photo books.

Andy
 
Look for photography magazines, rather than camera magazines. ie publications which showcase good photography, rather than talk about technique and gear.

Don't bother with any myself (the internet / library is cheaper and wastes fewer resources) not sure if recommendations from Australia would be of much use to you anyway.
 
Only magazines I buy are couple of month old issues on a local market stall, quid each or 3 for £2.50.

As mentioned recently on this site (thank you) you can also get free magazine download via Zinio if you are a member of your local library. Mine has Amateur photographer, Digital SLR and Digital Camera World, AP is available same day as its on sale in my local supermarket.

Only one I ever bought regularly was Digital SLR, mainly because it had a good mix of articles, but they do all repeat themselves every 12-18 months (bet its Bluebell Woods this month, usually is)
 
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Bythesea said:
+1 on the books. As for magazines there are two I subscribe to, Black+White Photography and British Journal of Photography. I find them much more focussed on the image than techniques than the majority of the photo press.

There are also some online magazines - mainly landscapes or black and white based.
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Another thumbs up for these two magazines, I don't subscribe but they are pretty much the only two I ever buy unless I'm thinking of buying some specific kit and then will read the reviews in one of the more mainstream mags.
 
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I rarely buy any photo magazines now as I think £4-5 is a lot of money to read the same recycled "top ten tips to make your photos sharper" or "five ways to improve your landscapes". I don't really want to say "read it online for free", as that kind of thinking will lead to the demise of printed magazines, but it's a sad truth.

Plus you won't have to skip every other page which is usually an advert anyway.
 
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