The photography papers

I thought I would write this post in response to my friend Andrew’s post about photography magazines. I am not really surprised Andrew doesn’t buy magazines; not many people I know do. I actually am the only local photographer that I know who buys them on a consistent basis.

So since I buy so many of the mags, you would think I would know a little about them, eh? Well I guess we are just going to find out, now aren’t we?

In all honesty I have read a lot of magazines on the topic of photography and by far the best ones all come out of the UK. The main problem with this, though, is that they are twice as much as any of the magazines that are from the States or Canada, often reaching into the $16 range. They do tend to be much larger and better put together than anything in our region, which adds to the price as well. They often also include a CD with the content from the magazine as well as bonus software and stock photography.

Professional Photographer: Professional photographer is by far one of my favorite magazines but it is also one of the most expensive. This magazine often covers more of the business aspect of photography than the equipment like most other magazines. This is what attracts me to its pages over the other magazines in this list. It is, though, not easy to find and only seems to be available in two shops here in Halifax (luckily one of them is Chapters).

Digital Photographer: Another great magazine from the UK is Digital Photographer. Each issue takes a topic and focuses entirely on it in all of its articles and covers such things as equipment, style and post production. Its great to have all of the information concerning one topic in one magazine. I definitely enjoy picking these up if the topic interests me.

Digital Photography User: Much like the last magazine Digital Photography User chooses a topic each month and focuses on it in great detail from equipment to post production, this one, though, is a dollar cheaper because it lacks a CD.

Digital SLR User: Much more like the American magazines than the other UK options, this magazine focuses a lot on the equipment you use and styles of photography, with very little info on the business of photography. It is still a good magazine, though, and is very well written. If you were to buy your typical photography magazine I’d definitely give this one a try even though it will set you back $12.

Digital Camera world: A new magazine I have been picking up and have definitely been enjoying. Nothing in particular stands out but over all it is just a great magazine covering many topics that other magazines haven’t covered yet.

So there you have it. There are plenty of magazines I would definitely not recommend and would actively suggest you stay away from, but when it comes to magazines, you often get what you pay for.