Cree Native
Member
Are there any GOOD Outdoor or Nature photography magazines still in publication?
Magazines
- Thread starter Cree Native
- Start date
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Welcome to BCG!
I have not looked at a photo magazine in years. Instead the internet is full of excellent information (and some not so good!).
And I find forums like BCG are superb for getting accurate answers to questions from experienced and friendly photographers, getting involved in interesting discussions and the wealth of excellent images that serve as great examples to learn from.
I have not looked at a photo magazine in years. Instead the internet is full of excellent information (and some not so good!).
And I find forums like BCG are superb for getting accurate answers to questions from experienced and friendly photographers, getting involved in interesting discussions and the wealth of excellent images that serve as great examples to learn from.
Cree Native
Member
Oh yes. I do come to BCG often for info. And enjoy it a lot. But I'm old school. I still like a good magazine
Thanks
Thanks
I completely agree with Karen. What you have on this forum and the internet is the best you can get. I used to receive Outdoor Photographer Magazine and really I could not find much interesting stuff in it
Welcome to the forums 
Online is really the way to go now, at least for the latest info. I think one of the reasons magazines are fading away is that they simply can't keep up. A new camera or lens is released and the information is immediately available online - in some cases, you even have reviews already (I've done a few with Nikon). With magazines, it takes months before they have a story out about it - and by then the vast majority have digested all the info they can stand about it
I think magazines are fine for general techniques that don't change with age, but most photo magazines I subscribed to were a mix of both news and general articles. And from my own experience based on views, people care a LOT more about the latest news than they do techniques. (Just look at the threads on this forum - new gear threads generally go a lot more pages than technique threads).
Online is really the way to go now, at least for the latest info. I think one of the reasons magazines are fading away is that they simply can't keep up. A new camera or lens is released and the information is immediately available online - in some cases, you even have reviews already (I've done a few with Nikon). With magazines, it takes months before they have a story out about it - and by then the vast majority have digested all the info they can stand about it
I think magazines are fine for general techniques that don't change with age, but most photo magazines I subscribed to were a mix of both news and general articles. And from my own experience based on views, people care a LOT more about the latest news than they do techniques. (Just look at the threads on this forum - new gear threads generally go a lot more pages than technique threads).
Cree Native
Member
thanks All. I'm sold. I'll stick with on line sources like this one.
Calson
Well-known member
The online only digital publication of landscapephotographymagazine is excellent and better than anything I have seen in print. By paying for the content upfront there is not all the intrusive advertising to sell me some item I do not need for any purpose. I dislike having a paper magazine that I will read once and then ends up in the recycle bin. With a PDF version of a magazine it is not a problem to have an additional 43 kilobytes stored on my NAS.
I do like a print magazine, though most were not worth my time (when I was new to photography I learned a lot but then outgrew them). Now they are gone anyway. However, one that I will continue to buy is the annual awards edition of Natures Best Photography. They have been kind of up in the air over last couple years but I checked now and they have published a 2023 awards magazine you can buy through their website and are accepting entries for the 2024 awards.
I'm currently subscribing to a couple from here, getting them digitally to read on my iPad: Pocketmags Online
They have the option to download free samples of some of their participating titles, so you can give them a look if you care to. One really good benefit to online subscriptions is that they are available sooner than printed ones that must be mailed. Some of the titles also offer single issue sales.
They have the option to download free samples of some of their participating titles, so you can give them a look if you care to. One really good benefit to online subscriptions is that they are available sooner than printed ones that must be mailed. Some of the titles also offer single issue sales.
Thanks for this, I took a look at the website and the 2024 competition is open now until mid-March. I might send something in. I looked at many of the images from past competitions and they were all very good. And I found that there was an exhibition now hanging in Jackson and I'll be there in a week and I'll hope it works out to see it...so, thanks again.
Their website indicates two editions per year; are they publishing two per year, or just one?
Historically two per year, one is the annual international awards issue and the other has smaller contests (eg backyard nature and/or national parks) plus individual features. However when Covid hit their production wound down. They only did one issue (awards) for 2023 and it just came out. Website says they are in a rebuilding mode so we will see if 2024 returns them to the two issue model. You also used to be able to buy them in person at Barnes & Noble, but I don't think that is true any more.
I'll have to keep an eye on them, but will likely start by purchasing a single edition, upon your recommendation.
Here, we have Barnes & Noble (B&N) and Books-A-Million (BAM), and the print periodical section of each store is way, way down.
The local BAM is no more than one-quarter the size it was twenty years ago. About thirty years ago, the BAM where I lived carried about thirty-to-forty Sunday editions of newspapers, and about ten daily editions, from around the country, and a few from overseas. Today, the local store doesn't even carry the local newspaper or the ole' standby USA Today, and only had two photo magazines the last time I visited the store, just before Christmas. The B&N went up about ten-to-fifteen years ago, and their photography magazine selection is down to just a few titles, maybe three or four, most of them from the UK.
I'm surprised that either of them is still in business, as the local retail rent is astronomical, and the internet.
Yeah the world is changing.
Now all you have is pictures for framing and mounting on your wall.
Years ago Bill Gates built this massive house in a suburb of Seattle on Lake Washington. I had a boat at the time moored near there and I used to go by during the building process. It had a foundation that looked like he was building a downtown skyscraper.
I read about his wall pictures. They were all computer screens and the images could be changed at will. The house knew who was coming into the room and could change the pictures to match the person.
I guess we will all have homes like that some day. Even wall framed pictures can be replaced by computer screens.
The change won't help the forests. We will find other reasons to cut them down besides making paper.
Now all you have is pictures for framing and mounting on your wall.
Years ago Bill Gates built this massive house in a suburb of Seattle on Lake Washington. I had a boat at the time moored near there and I used to go by during the building process. It had a foundation that looked like he was building a downtown skyscraper.
I read about his wall pictures. They were all computer screens and the images could be changed at will. The house knew who was coming into the room and could change the pictures to match the person.
I guess we will all have homes like that some day. Even wall framed pictures can be replaced by computer screens.
The change won't help the forests. We will find other reasons to cut them down besides making paper.
Calson
Well-known member
I remember in the 1970's when the conventional wisdom was that with personal computers there would be no need for paper. The reality is quite the reverse with today''s printers in offices and at home.
Not me, I don't even own a television!
Right. And now he is putting microprocessors in vaccines. Ps: Epstein didn't kill himself.
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And I thought that I was the only person in America who didn’t own a TV!
I wish that I could recommend a few but alas most of the good ones are now out of business. As others already have mentioned, the ubiquitous presence of the Internet has rendered most (but not all) print magazines obsolete. While understandable, I think I’m one of the few who think the trend not all good, as we’ve lost something in the process. In my alleged and aged mind, there’s something very satisfying about holding a high quality print magazine (or book) in one’s hands and leisurely consuming its content. I think this is especially true for photography essays that deal with specific subjects and destinations that aren’t time sensitive (as is the case with product announcements and reviews). Many things lend themselves very well to the online medium, but there are some that excel in the printed format, and photography is one of them, in my humble opinion. One could make a similar argument about images posted to social media site versus well printed versions of them. Only one man’s opinion but I’m sticking with it!
Well said !I wish that I could recommend a few but alas most of the good ones are now out of business. As others already have mentioned, the ubiquitous presence of the Internet has rendered most (but not all) print magazines obsolete. While understandable, I think I’m one of the few who think the trend not all good, as we’ve lost something in the process. In my alleged and aged mind, there’s something very satisfying about holding a high quality print magazine (or book) in one’s hands and leisurely consuming its content. I think this is especially true for photography essays that deal with specific subjects and destinations that aren’t time sensitive (as is the case with product announcements and reviews). Many things lend themselves very well to the online medium, but there are some that excel in the printed format, and photography is one of them, in my humble opinion. One could make a similar argument about images posted to social media site versus well printed versions of them. Only one man’s opinion but I’m sticking with it!
I just saw that the entire Sports Illustrated staff was laid off!
Very sad. As a teen I eagerly awaited each issue of SI. The writing and photography were first rate.
I do a lot of Sports Photography and that publication is really what got me interested.
The only photography magazine of any genre that I read in hardcopy form is ‘Nikon Owner’ produced by Grays of Westminster. It’s published on high quality glossy paper and the photos in it are beautifully rendered. I don’t know how it’s affordable to produce a magazine like that anymore, but I’m glad they’re doing it.
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