Digital Photo Magazine Review

Digital Photo Magazine claims to be the UK’s best selling photography magazine. Well, I like it. I like the Photoshop videos that come each month on the cover disk. The magazine actually is quite a neat guide for digital photographers.

Each issue has tips on how to shoot better photos and how to improve them in software like Adobe Photoshop. I find that the Photoshop tutorial videos are very easy to follow. Actually, sometimes the videos are so well produced that I've learnt everything after watching just once. Anyway, it’s a bit like having your own tutor next to you all the time.

The CD cover disk complements the magazine very well indeed. There are screen-shots of the video tutorials so you can work through them after watching. The videos really do teach you useful camera and software (mostly Photoshop) skills.

A popular feature each month is the Slideshow of images sent in by readers of the magazine.

Each month there are digital photo magazine Techniques covered, like shooting great landscapes in RAW to Adobe Photoshop recipes using tools such as Levels and Layers.

Also in the magazine is section called Digital Camera School. There readers can learn all about the creative functions of a digital camera and how they can be used to create better images.

For readers who require something more challenging there's a section called Advanced Photoshop. There, powerful Photoshop tools are covered and how they can be used to enhance photographs.

Each month, in the Technique & Gear Answers section, experts answer readers' questions on anything from technical queries to advice on camera skills.

There's a useful Your Pictures section in which images submitted by readers' are analysed and suggestions made on ways to improve them.

In the magazine's Tested section, photography gear such as DSLR cameras and lenses to software and printers are tested and rated. This is great for those thinking of buying new gear. The reviews, I find, are honest, impartial and informative.

Finally, there's the Technique of the Month section. It covers simple and effective four-step adjustments you can make in minutes.

Now, when it comes to websites I like the ones that are simply laid out and easy to navigate so that you can find the information you want quickly - a bit like the website you're at now. The Digital Photo magazine website, to me anyway, is one of those rather cluttered sites with tons and tons of sections and links all over the place. It's a bit like information overload.

I mean, you arrive at the site presumably looking for something and you get distracted when you see a fancy graphic or link that takes you to another part of the site. For example, I got sucked into the 'Gallery' section of the site and started rating photographs submitted by photographers from all over the world. Two hours later (for heaven's sake!) I left the site non-the wiser, having forgot why I visited the site in the first place.

The site is okay with lots of useful things, but to me it's got too much on it.