FYI - Great Photo Magazine/Book (USA)

This is for U.S.A., though maybe Canada also?

I came upon a magazine I thought was a real treat, so I am sharing it. It's not a typical magazine like Pop Photo, etc. in that it's more of a soft-cover book in magazine-page format than a real magazine. There are no ads, lots of pictures, and good information.

The one I got is called "Petersen's Big Book of Photography", but you'll probably notice the large-font PHOTO graphic , which looks like it's the actual title of the magazine/book.

Their web site is http://www.photographic.com (I'm not affiliated, just giving out info).

I orignally bought it because of the very nice images on the front and it promised to teach me new techniques, etc, and I thought it was a magazine I had never read before.

The first part of the book I started thinking "oh boy what a mistake!" , as it was explaining ISO, aperture, etc. Very beginning stuff.

Very quickly, though, the authors move into photographic compositional strategys, and it's excellent stuff, backed up with lots of very nice images, and I must say I've actually learned a thing or two.

For instance, on landscapes - I had never really thought about foreground elements when doing landscapes - I had focused on backgrounds. Yet, the author/photographers explain why foregrounds are important and give some excellent representative images.

Anyway, I thought I would share - even if you know most of this stuff, it's still nice to read about it and see some great examples.

The mag/book ran me about $10 USD, so it's not cheap, but it's definitely a keeper, and I'm thinking of finding more just to keep as reference/refresher material.

--
JL Smith
http://jl-smith.smugmug.com
Gear listed in profile!

I have looked at this magazine a couple times now, trying to decide whether to buy it or not. It seems like it may be a good resource tool.

If your local Costco has a magazine rack, it may be there also at a discounted price. Our Costco has it for $8 and some change.

Ron

--
Shine On...
http://ront.smugmug.com/

Some history:

Peterson's Photographic used to be one of the top magazines in the industry. The thing that set them apart (and ultimately doomed them) was their resistance to focus on gear and not allow many of the camera store ads that fill mags like Pop Photo. They focused on technique and the creative process. The failed a few years ago though and folded operations due to intense competition and lack of ad revenue.

A few months ago they were resurrected as a "series" of magazines specifically on technique (I think they're on volume 2 or 3 now). Rather than relying on ad revenue specifically, they charge more and market themselves as guides.

I was pleasantly surprised to see them back and wish them well.
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Thanks,

Mark

Ah awesome thank you for the information, very interesting!

I found that I didn't mind paying the extra price for the magazine - instead of getting 1/2 of the pages filled with annoying ads (sometimes breaking up an article, so annoying how Pop-Photo does this!), you get just pages and pages of pictures and print. Very nice.

I wish them well, and I plan on hunting down more issues if I can find them. One day I hope to capture some images as nice as they display

Kwick1 said:

Some history:

Peterson's Photographic used to be one of the top magazines in the industry. The thing that set them apart (and ultimately doomed them) was their resistance to focus on gear and not allow many of the camera store ads that fill mags like Pop Photo. They focused on technique and the creative process. The failed a few years ago though and folded operations due to intense competition and lack of ad revenue.

A few months ago they were resurrected as a "series" of magazines specifically on technique (I think they're on volume 2 or 3 now). Rather than relying on ad revenue specifically, they charge more and market themselves as guides.

I was pleasantly surprised to see them back and wish them well.
--

Thanks,

Mark

Click to expand...

--
JL Smith
http://jl-smith.smugmug.com
Gear listed in profile!

Kwick1 said:

A few months ago they were resurrected as a "series" of magazines specifically on technique (I think they're on volume 2 or 3 now). Rather than relying on ad revenue specifically, they charge more and market themselves as guides.

Click to expand...

Actually I've seen about 4 of them over the last year so far, and I think the one the OP is referring to is a larger volume which came out recently and combines all or most of the earlier 4 into one.

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Barry

Maxxuman said:

Actually I've seen about 4 of them over the last year so far, and I think the one the OP is referring to is a larger volume which came out recently and combines all or most of the earlier 4 into one.

--
Barry

Click to expand...

I used to buy Peterson's Photographic years ago. It was a great magazine.
I looked them up and found their site. http://www.photographic.com/

This appears to be special issue number 5 focussing on lenses. I plan to check out my local Chapter's tonight to see if they have it.

If they do and I like it, looks like I'll be emailing to get back issues.
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/46696371@N07/

Based solely on the websites homepage, I'd say Photographic is a spinoff of Shutterbug. Compare the websites (www.shutterbug.com). I'm not knocking the content, just finding its source.
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M.A.Stough

Kwick1 said:

Some history:

Peterson's Photographic used to be one of the top magazines in the industry. The thing that set them apart (and ultimately doomed them) was their resistance to focus on gear and not allow many of the camera store ads that fill mags like Pop Photo. They focused on technique and the creative process. The failed a few years ago though and folded operations due to intense competition and lack of ad revenue.

Click to expand...

Boy do I not agree. Peterson's at one time may have been what you describe when it first came out, but it evolved into a highly repetitive magazine that featured generally lousy photography, with the same basic articles and topics repeated each year. It also had paid for "advertorials" (articles tied to specific advertisers who had their ad placed directly opposite, or on the next page, relative to the "article"). Their equipment "reviews" were basically restatements of press releases with little to no critical evaluation. Those were just some of the problems (in my view). The magazine failed because it deserved to fail (again, my view). Some of the folks associated with the magazine have gone on to work for other magazines (Pop Photo, Shutterbug, Outdoor Photographer).

Kwick1 said:

A few months ago they were resurrected as a "series" of magazines specifically on technique (I think they're on volume 2 or 3 now). Rather than relying on ad revenue specifically, they charge more and market themselves as guides.

I was pleasantly surprised to see them back and wish them well.

Click to expand...

The name or rights to publish under that name was acquired by the publishers of Shutterbug magazine, which has resurrected it in its current form. I have not really looked at the current version so won't comment on its merits. Folks can take a look and judge for themselves whether it's worth buying.

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Mark Van Bergh
http://www.markvanbergh.com