Dear Flip,

As Mrs Brown would say, "That's nice".

 

quite predictably you've lost me with the meaning of your reply...plain english....?

 

Highlight 1: Deservedly so.

Highlight 2: Seems very likely to me

Highlight 3: Not sure. You might very well think so. I might very well think so. But a lot of people seem to want to be treated like primary school children.

Cheers,

R.

 

Haven't seen this week's yet, probably get it tomorrow. My only criticism is that all the equipment tests in the first issue were of very expensive, top of the range stuff. I hope this is not going to be a trend in the magazine, and that you will be testing more reasonably-priced equipment in the future.

To be fair, AP is not the only magazine to mainly test top of the range equipment, I have seen it in many magazines in the past (not just photography ones) and it really puts me off.

Other than that, I think I prefer Roger Hicks' previous photograph, makes him look more distinguished.

 

Dear Roy,

Sorry! I'd just had a (very short) haircut. Looks better when it's a bit longer!

Cheers,

R.

 

hi again Roger...could you please explain fully your response to highlight 3???. Thanks. Flip.

 

Dear Flip,

Package tour = being told what to do = primary school.

Of course you can "cheat" and do what you damn' well like. Nigel: are you listening? An article on cheapie ultra-low-cost assigned-on-arrival holidays?

Cheers,

R.

 

Hi Nigel,

I once heard an army guy talk about camouflage (in a cycling context!) and I think he would have looked at AP over the years (as he might at another Photographic Publication as well as a Photographic Minor publication - no names, no pack drill ) and said "You've done a nice job, there!"

It was interesting that when AP had an annual Poll on readers' favourite cover for the year (and IIRC, also a 'Most Memorable Cover Ever') the winning picture of the latter contest and one of the former was not a 'pretty girl pic in colour covered in tasters' nor a 'pretty, scantily-clad girl in colour covered in tasters' nor a 'pretty, scantily-clad girl in a provocative pose in colour covered in tasters' but ...

... Andreas Feininger's famous photograph 'The Photojournalist' with minimal tasters and in black & white, too!

It had obviously had a major impact. Why was that?

As soon as you start to break up solid areas of tone you start to make something disappear into a background that is fairly similar. I periodically walk around newsagents from time to time and just observe all the covers. It is something that photographers (and especially pro [editorial] photographers) should do. I assume that you and some of your team do this as well.

It is interesting, on a first quick walk around, before looking more closely, to see what are the stand out publications and I ask 'What made that one catch my eye?' It is also interesting to half close the eyes and see whether a publication stands out or merely becomes part of an overall splodge of colour & text.

You make an interesting point about the word 'amateur' which I am still pondering and may return to.

Am hoping AP will be even more of a 'stand-out' publication!

Cheers,
Oly

 

Barney,



Chuckle of The Week award!

Too right. Creak!

Eeek,
Oly

 

Generally, much of the equipment we cover in our reviews is self selecting but so far this has been one of the quietest years I can remember for new camera launches. There's a particular dearth of new gear at the lower end of the price range. (Though one of the pearls of wisdom I was told when joining AP is that entry level gear traditionally does not go down that well in AP, unlike What Digital Camera.)

When there's nothing new of interest we have to come up with other ideas for the technical section that we think will appeal to readers. Talking to our friends in the independent photo retail trade (which we often do, to get a sense of what people are currently getting excited about) it seems that most of the business at the moment is coming from the sales of higher end cameras, and in particular the three CSCs featured in our group test (the Sony A7, Olympus EM1 and Fuji XT1), which are consistently mentioned as among the best selling cameras currently.

But we do try to strike a balance, and coming up in the next couple of weeks is a group test of used DSLRs for £200, to see what kind of camera that buys you these days, and how they stack up against current models.

Also, I should point out that we've doubled our coverage of accessory tests (now averaging four per week) and are also doing a lot more lenses, with a new one most weeks now.

 

? and wives or partners aren't photographers too? Careful of those prejudices...

Agree with the individual traveller - so long as it is also not directed at males only!
Kate

 

The smudgy ink on the cover has been a (minor) problem through at least the last 2 re-designs. At least it doesn't seem to have got significantly worse!

 

What a coincidence. The next subject of our Classic Revisited series (where we try to recreate a famous old photo) is that very Feininger image, and therefore it's a leading contender to be the cover image for that issue (either the original or our version of it). I wasn't aware that it had been used on the cover before. Or that AP ever did a poll on favourite covers.

As for your comments about coverlines you've touched upon one of the central internal struggles of magazine publishing. Most editors, myself included, would prefer a cleaner cover less sullied by coverlines, but on the other hand I accept that one of those coverlines may be the hook that draws someone in and tempts them to buy the issue. Loyal readers of particular magazines don't need any coverlines other than the magazine masthead. They're buying it because its Radio Times, or Country Life, or AP. Likewise subscription based mags sent through the post don't need coverlines.
But for newsstand magazines operating in 'promiscuous' market sectors such as photography, where many buyers tend to graze the titles on the shelf before choosing the one whose content most appeals that month, coverlines are important. Although AP has many readers who buy it because its AP we also need to attract some of the promiscuous buyers and its these people that we are writing the coverlines for.

 

It is easy to remember the days in the 50, s and 60s when the suday morning papers would turn my bed sheets grey with oily ink stains.
today the UV and heat setting inks are massively improved, and are touch dry as they come off the press.
However they take a long time to harden right through, sufficient to stop a greasy finger breaking through the surface.

It seems fairly unlikely that this will solved any time soon

 

Just bought my new ap mag this week ,all sealed up so no one can read it. Got back home opened it up only one staple holding mag together .Thought being a bit dearer to buy thought might have used some longer staples.

 

They don't use staples. the stitching heads use long reels of wire, which is cut formed and cinched as they go. Some heads are better than others but all need setting and servicing regularly, or they become very hit and miss.

 

A bit over a year ago I reduced my photo magazine subscriptions from 16 titles to two (AP and one monthly). I now can't remember which of the other it was - but there was definitely a photographic magazine that had two different covers - one with coverlines for newsstands and one with only the title and date for subscribers.

(By the way, I noted your unusual use of the term "masthead" in your post. In the current issue, the masthead (by conventional definition) appears on p20.)

 

On receiving the second copy of the "new look" I realized that one of the things that is very successful indeed is that each issue begins and ends on a strong picture. This says clearly that AP is a photography magazine, not just an equipment magazine.

Cheers,

R.

 

Yes, that's probably my overall impression of the revision - even more about photography and pictures.

However, Nigel and the team seem to have cleverly managed to shoehorn in quite a bit about equipment, both ancient & modern, too.

 

I had taken a resolution not to comment on the new format until I had seen three. The third copy arrived this morning and I think it is a big improvement.

Among other points Roger Hicks has changed his style, he used to be very philosophical but not he is analysing a picture in depth. I did like the old style but this is even better.