[oatman911]

Yesterday in the airport, the guy sitting next to me had a "shutterbug" magazine. I'd been looking for a good photo magazine, so I asked him if I could browse it. Unfortunatly, I was a bit dissapointed, the magazine was more about products and reviews (I'm not looking to expand my inventory much more before I learn how to use what I have) and selling stuff then about how to use things and ideas of how to take shots.

Do any of you have any suggestions about what magazines I might want to take a look at. I'm interested in the how to like:
-if you want to take a picture of an animal moving in the evening light, try...
-if you're taking a picture of a nightscape, try taking a picture like this and then using software, try...
-if you'd really like to bring out these colors while backpacking, try this kind of a fliter with the camera set on...

It took me quite some time, but I finally learned how to do quite a bit with a film SLR after much trial and error (and expense of film...oy), but delving into this DSLR world is new to me, and I want to maximize what I can do.

Thanks, and happy new year everyone,
Oren

[magnum1]

Unfortunately I have not found a magazine that wasn't like a politician. Eveyone of them seem to be "owned" by those that run ads in them. You may want to look more toward a book on photography.

Sorry for the lack of assistance.

[Wheatfield]

You could try "Lenswork", although I believe they have gone to digital publishing now. The last few installments that I recieved were DVD rather than paper.
Excellent publication though.

[maxwell1295]

The only mags I read and subscribe to are "Rangefinder" (WPPI) and "Professional Photographer" (PPA). Both are pretty ad-driven and cater to the organizations they service, but also have a wealth of info for practicing professionals and aspiring ones.

[reeftool]

I don't think there is a magazine right now that I would subscribe to. I read Modern Photography years ago but thats gone now. I browse the isles on occasion and if a photo mag with a particular article or subject interests me, I will buy the single issue. I probably buy Outdoor Photography more than the others because I do outdoor shooting more than anything else. All the photo mags have free online sites and most of the articles are available there so the paper mags are mostly for bathroom reading. Most of the photo mags I see in the stores now are from Europe and Britain so the ads are usless for shopping here but some of them have good articles from time to time.

[George Lama]

Professional Photographer is an excellent magazine but it does tend to focus on the business: process, financial, promotion and marketing, use of tools, workshops, etc. They do write "how to" articles about software and picture taking, but it's not their sole focus by far.

American Photo magazine, aka Popphoto.com is another good resource, however they too are very ad driven, but have lots of good info and showcase photographers all the time.

I suggest going to a large/mega bookstore and checkout their arts mag section. You'll find a dozen or more photo mags, some specialty (B&W photography, film, etc) some more consumer.

[PeterAM]

As someone else suggested, take a look at Lenswork. It is no longer available on the newsstands; they do both a print and an "extended" digital version. Very well done, no advertising. Take a look at their web site.

[rfortson]

I'd recommend Jpg magazine and Nature Photographer magazine.

Both take user submissions, but they're more about the photography than about the gear used. Nature Photographer does have a few "how to" articles now and then.

[Ron Boggs]

Unfortunately, you already looked at one of the mags that's considered "how-to". Shutterbug tends to have a theme for each issue and perhaps the theme of the issue you saw just didn't offer enough how-to that fits your style?

Most consumer mags are filled with ads because they have to be. Revenue derives primarily from ads, not subscribers. To wit...a mag with 500,000 subscribers (who got special pricing to subscribe--barely pays for printing, postage and distribution costs) gets about $20,000 per page (when sold in multi-issue packages, more for one-time ads). The mag I used to edit worked on a 40% ad rate as did several competitors...one was 60% ads. As advertisers spend less in this economy, magazines will necessarily get smaller with less content. The number of pages in the mag is directly tied to the number of pages of ads--less ads equals less content (ever notice that many magazines are smaller during the summer? Less advertisers want summer space while people are recreating instead of reading. Less ad pages means the magazine has to have less pages overall). And as advertisers cut back on ad budgets, magazines will ramp up their attempts to court them--probably by doing even more equipment reviews. Don't like it, don't read mags!

I'll second the mention of Outdoor Photographer. Decent how-to info. You might also want to look for Digital Photo Pro. More modern how-to than most...Try your area's largest book store. They tend to have a large selection of magazines and you can browse them for personal fit before buying or subscribing.

[Terri]

When I am checking out photo mags on the News stands I tend to come home with Photolife. To me it seems to be least loaded with adds.

I have yet to subscribe to them though. I went on line once and ordered some back issues. I ended up having some issues with the service and am now being stubborn about ordering a subscription.

Don't get me wrong I do still purchase them from the news stand.

Oh, before I forget, this is a Canadian Magazine but I'm sure they would ship outside of Canada.

Check them out at....

Photo Life :: HOME - Current Issue

Hope this helps.

Terri

[navcom]

I'll third Outdoor Photographer. It has lots of ads but good content.

[Kerrowdown]

Just a thought for you, over here many public libraries have good magazine sections in them.

Where you can go browse for free and not get thrown out of the shop.

You many find one that suits.

[ChipB]

I'll third Outdoor Photographer. It has lots of ads but good content.

I, too, like OP - BUT, they accept ads from Broadway Photo who is supposedly one of the biggest SCAMMERS in the photo business. I have personal experience with them - and they tried to scam me. I've written to OP and provided them with the various links about BP, but didn't seem to make any difference to them. As long as they accept ads from BP I won't buy them off the newsstand or subscribe - YMMV.

[flyer]

I tend to read the British photo mags. I think they are less publicity driven than the American's one, but they are quite a bit more expensive (at least in Canada). Some of them includes "Photoshop CD's how-to" that are interesting, if not downright instructive to Photoshop beginners"

[Suzu]

Digital Photo Pro and Outdoor Photography are the best ones I have found that are helpful