CCC Forum

It could be worth your while buying Amateur Photographer for the next few weeks.

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/la ... f2-5-35606

Shame they are even more expensive to buy over here than the UK and also delayed by several weeks

davidc wrote:Shame they are even more expensive to buy over here than the UK and also delayed by several weeks

I didn't think that you like AP. Or have you changed your mind since the revamp? Or is it nostalgia for the UK, so that even AP now looks good?

Heh well remembered, I don't like it - it was always 50% adverts and at a price that meant it was way more expensive than monthly magazines. I was only ever really a fan of advanced photographer

davidc wrote:Heh well remembered, I don't like it .....

It would be difficult to forget. Time was when any mention of AP on the forum would result in your telling us in no uncertain terms exactly what you thought of the magazine. I will be very disappointed if you have mellowed since moving to Singapore.

davidc wrote:I was only ever really a fan of advanced photographer

Whilst I agree that the amount of editorial content in Amateur P is limited compared to the cost of the magazine, at £5 a go Advanced P also seems expensive to me and I don't find the content that useful. Even the paper qualiity is not especially good in comparison with other mags and gives it a cheap feel, which does not help.

I haven't mellowed on it, just achieved some distance

I always felt like AP was false economy because it's 50% advert. It's 2.95 GBP isn't it? Which means over a month you're spending 12GBP and only getting half a magazine. Also, it did tend to run very basic articles and even a beginner like myself found that I had quickly moved past that level of content. And the letters page was just one constant back and forth argument about digital v film, or about how current photography isn't proper photography because we aren't all using wet plates It all got rather samey & tedious and flicking through it in the bookshop over here, it looked much the same Same story for magazines like Practical Photography, I followed that for months until a new issue came out that was basically the same content as the first one I'd bought. Sooner or later they just start repeating content.

Advanced Photographer on the other hand did have useful articles that didn't repeat. I also met the editorial team several times after long having been a convert to the mag & they were extremely nice, and knew their stuff. They also ran events such as the 24hr photowalk. Problem is, over here the magazine is about 8GBP and I have to go quite far out of my way to get it so I'm now currently magazine-less.

So I started looking for new options. The US magazines had some reasonable articles but were again filled with adverts. I tried lenswork but it's massively expensive for what it is and I didn't like the paper stock on that either (it had badly warped, possibly an artifact from shipping maybe).

Right now, I only really have the internet for news/articles/guides and so far it's fine. I can rely on you to post the most interesting articles from sites I don't frequent too

davidc wrote:I haven't mellowed on it, just achieved some distance

I am not so sure. You have written a reasoned critique, but where is the fire and the passion? What have the Singaporeans done with our Dave? We want him back!

Personally, I always found Amateur P to have a variety of articles which hold interest, although I do agree that the magazines from the Future Publishing stable are repetitive. I used to enjoy the articles about classic images and photographers in AmP, but they now seem to have been consigned to history themselves under the new editor. The letters page is a bit better nowadays as I thought that towards the end of his tenure Damien Demolder tried to create controversy by publishng letters which expressed stupid views on the part of the author. Yes, some of the articles are a bit basic, but I consider them more as pointers to find out new subjects and techniques myself if I am interested. I cannot say that Advanced P is really any better in that regard. I have met a number of the AmP editorial team and I doubt if they are any less friendly, enthusiastic or knowledgeable about photography than their competitors.

If you find any interesting online articles or websites, do reciprocate by posting them here.

I thought that you might like to see this recent example of how the team at Amateur Photographer interact with their readership.

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/fo ... ost1287085