Good Photo Magazines

Obviously print magazines (of any category) are much less common in the digital age. A few persist and some of us like the tactile feel of holding a magazine. Some of the more mainstream photo magazines I am not sorry to see go (Popular Photography, Shutterbug, Peterson's Photographic) because I quickly outgrew them. It seemed like they would repeat (on an annual basis) the same beginner topics. I mean articles like "Why you need a wide angle lens" or "Ten reasons you need a tripod" or "Must have filters". I recently took a chance on a large shrink-wrapped mainstream magazine printed in England (bought at Barnes & Noble) and it was the same thing and a waste of money.

What I like are magazines that have feature stories on specific photographers or interesting places to photograph. I am wondering how many of you have favorites like this that are still printed? I will list a few I know of.

Really Right Stuff (the high-end American tripod company) does an annual magazine called Light & Shadow. 2020 was their fifth issue and you can call them to request a print copy or download a PDF of this and all previous copies for free on their website. BTW I bought a RRS tripod and ball head last September and they really do live up to the hype.

Travel Africa is printed in England (but available in USA at Barnes & Noble). It is not specifically a photo magazine, but most of the (well illustrated) articles deal with safari options and it is an invaluable guide for those planning or dreaming of a photo safari.

Nature's Best Photography is published twice a year and features stunning photos. These include the winners of their annual contest that is also exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. I used to see this for sale at Barnes & Noble but now I think it is only available by subscription.

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Comments

  • Ton14Ton14 Posts: 698Member
    You start an interesting discussion and you are right that we very quickly outgrew them and most articles just repeat themselves over and over again.

    My 2 cents, a year ago I started a subscription by "Readly" (https://us.readly.com), for € 9,99 per month ($9,99 in the US). You get a big amount of magazines and one month free. check it out.

    The photo magazines at the moment in the US are, Outdoor Photographer, Digital Photo Pro, Digital Photo, Popular photography, American Photo and also Shutterbug and Peterson's Photographic.
    But you can choose countries and languages and when you add the United kingdom, you get 50+ more photo magazines to read.

    I actually did this for my wife's tablet, but everybody in the family can make it's one content.
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  • MrFotoFoolMrFotoFool Posts: 353Member
    @Ton14 Popular Photography and Peterson's Photographic (and I think Shutterbug) all went out of business a few years ago. Are they selling old copies?
  • Ton14Ton14 Posts: 698Member
    edited February 2021
    @MrFotoFool OK, I checked and Shutterbug goes till june 2018 and the last one from Peterson was July 2014, PhotoPro 2012, they are all old ones.

    I have this subscription for a couple of Dutch (and English) magazines always the latest version and the old versions.

    Strange that there are only 7 photography magazines when you choose the US as a country, because when you choose other countries there are so many more.

    But .... There is a free month to look if there is something you want, I did.
    Post edited by Ton14 on
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