Photography Magazines

Badger8

Badger8

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Tim
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Good Afternoon Everyone,

i'm thinking about signing up for a monthly photography magazine. My question is, are any of you signed up to one? And what one would you recommend? I've heard "amateur photographer" is a good one.

:shrug:
 
AP is fine, but all magazines have the same characteristics. From time to time they carry useful information, but are also very repetitive.
 
Practical Photography and Digital SLR Photography are my favourites.
 
I subscribe to Digital Photographer and Professional Imagemaker.

In the case of the DP, note that I don't even own a digital camera. It's for the photographic content.

Professional Imagemaker is excellent in its chosen areas. No one else reviews inkjet papers with the thoroughness that they do; and their tests of equipment even assume that the buyer will optimise them rather than use them straight out of the box. How many printer reviews do you read where the magazine testers use them straight and compare accordingly, rather than taking the time to set them up? The reason being that that's how most people will use them.
 
While most are fairly repetitive (Oh, HDR, must be March...) Amateur Photographer is less so than others. One slight problem is that it's weekly rather than monthly so a bit more expensive than some of the others over a year but sign up for a subscription (for any of them) and there'll usually be an offer, either discounted subscription, a (usually cheap and a bit nasty) tripod/bag or similar.

I used to buy a few of the usual suspects every issue but now only get AP as a matter of course (now subscribe) and the others if there's something of interest inside.
 
Most seem to me to be advert-dominated and content-light. Depends whether you want to ogle the latest toys, see brief hints for technique (where mags are necessarily much more lightweight than books) - or TO BE INSPIRED.

Ag used to be good (the final Chris Dickie years). BJP is a belter these days & I consider it good value. Source is interesting (http://www.source.ie), and there's Portfolio (http://www.portfoliocatalogue.com). Lenswork can be sent from the US. On-line there's Prism (http://issuu.com/prism_photomagazine) ...

AP has rather down-market page design and is on fairly crappy paper.
 
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Zoom.
 
AP is good, but as has been said its weekly so can work out expensive.

I've had DSLR mag before and its a good read - currently on offer at 3 for £1 so worth a punt to see if you like it.
 
I subscribed to 2 monthly photo mags. Photoplus and Digital Camera. Photoplus is for Canon camera users, Digital Camera did reviews across all cameras and has a pocket sized guide for different shooting styles and how to get good photos. Both come with a DVD of tips etc. But as others have said they become repetitive after a while. Now I am down to Photoplus as a Canon owner.
 
Badger8 said:
Thank you for the comments thus far. I think what I am looking for is a magazine that will inspire and teach me new techniques.
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I find that Practical Photography has some good projects monthly. I'm still doing ones from the May issue.
 
HoppyUK said:
Will Cheung is editor of Advanced Photographer magazine.
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Yip, I know, Richard. That is one mag I do read fairly often. I have a book of his, too.
 
I used to subscribe to Digital Photography, but after a year, and especially after 2, it just repeats itself; landscapes, portraits, HDR, night shots, macro, water drops...

I'd say it depends on what you want to get out of a magazine; technical skills, inspiration, gear reviews.

For inspiration, and some more-advanced/theoretcal skills (not camera settings, but conceptual ideas) I love F11 magazine - www.f11magazine.com - which is free and has some very different photographers, albeit slightly NZ/Australia-centric.
 
Check out your local library. They may offer some magazines. The libraries here offer Digital Camera World as both a magazine and digital downlaod.

They also do DSLR Photography via download too. I get download both of these each month as well as Trail Magazine and National Geographic.

It's all free!!!
 
graphilly said:
Check out your local library. They may offer some magazines. The libraries here offer Digital Camera World as both a magazine and digital downlaod.

They also do DSLR Photography via download too. I get download both of these each month as well as Trail Magazine and National Geographic.

It's all free!!!
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Wow. I might take a trip to the local library.
 
for landscape the best one is outdoor photography
ive bought all the mags over the years. but only subscribe to outdoor photography now,
i normally go in smiths a couple of times a week and look at the other mags on sale. if something in it catches my eye i buy it, but i dont do that much now.
you always feel let down by a lot of the articles that you think are going to be good,
like most people say, they repeat a lot of the time
infact i posted on here a few weeks ago advertising over 100 magazines going back to 2005
i wanted to give them away to someone who would collect, but no one took me up on the offer
ANYONE
 
Are there any magazines that aren't mostly equipment based? I'd love to subscribe to a magazine, but to be honest the last thing I need is something else telling me I need this/that piece of kit.

Heavily technique focused (I understand there's going to be unavoidable equipment related things in there) I could get behind.
 
Listening to photographic podcasts is good too.....My faves are
The Candid Frame ......interviews photographers..hosted by Ibarionex Perrelo
Tips from the top Floor .......technique with listeners questions
This week in Photography (TWIP) ........mix of technique/equipment/questions
Nikonians......seems to be a bit hit and miss though lately.
JohnyT
 
Durbs said:
I used to subscribe to Digital Photography, but after a year, and especially after 2, it just repeats itself; landscapes, portraits, HDR, night shots, macro, water drops...
.
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Yeah I also cancelled my subscription to them. Especially when there was more of "how to photoshop your photo's to look like amazing landscapes" instead of just teaching people how to take really good landscape shots. :bonk:
 
graphilly said:
It's worth a look at least. My girlfriend downloads a couple of her magazines from there too.

Check it out online, it might save you a trip.
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Yeah I checked their website and I'm not sure that they offer downloads of them. I'll pop in when I get back from holiday and see what they have.
 
I used to read Amateur Photographer - with envy - when I was a youngster, but never really got into the habit of buying magazines and finally gave up completely when I lived in South Africa. Most magazines are imported there, and very expensive in rand. I've bought an odd one now and aagain since I've been back in the UK, usually for a train or plane journey, but I just grab the one that looks the most interesting on the stand. The internet works pretty well as an alternative, and it's easy to target what you're looking for.

I agree with the comments about many magazines being pretty repetitive.
 
Don't always Hardly ever understand it but BJP helps me get through the month.
 
To be honest, you're probably likely to learn more and get more inspiration from just looking through the various boards on this, or any photography forum.
 
Black and White Photography, N-Photo and Outdoor Photography, I subscribe to all 3 via iPad, I think when this years N-Photo runs out I may not repeat it but the other 2 are worthwhile. B&W is definitely my favorite, it can sometimes be a bit arty and pretentious but it is always inspiring and has yet to repeat a feature technique!
 
I agree with what's already been said about repetition, but if you are just starting out, it's all new, isn't it? Over the years I have learned a lot from them (especially Digital Photo for skills on the computer) and used to spend a fortune on them all, but I now stick to Outdoor Photography as it covers landscapes and wildlife and Black and White magazine as I love mono. B&W is worth it, just for the front covers, which are always stunning!!

It's worth checking who the magazine publishers are (small print inside, usually on index page) as quite a few are from the same "house" so run the same features, which is a waste of your money.

If I was you, I'd buy a few each month for a couple of months and keep them by your bed. See which one you pick up and re-read the most and that will be the one to eventually subscribe to.
 
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