Outdoor Photographer

Outdoor Photographer is more like 50:50 gear and technique. There's still a lot of equipment writing- which tripod, which lens and so forth- but a significant amount of editorial space is devoted to technique as well. Unfortunately most of it is about creating the same stale and hackneyed nature photos that fill the pages of this and other magazines: Heavily filtered, over saturated color images of senic vistas that make for nice posters but say very little about the subject.

In some sense the notion of there being an "outdoor" genre of photography is rather silly; can you imagine a magazine called "Indoor Photography"? Good photographers are good photographers, and can see images wherever they are- and with whatever equipment they use. For every Ansel Adams who obsesses over technique there's a Cartier-Bresson, who couldn't be troubled to get his exposures quite right, and truth be told, Cartier-Bresson was the better of the two when it came to art.


Well...   August 4, 2004
Adam Griffith (Bothell, Washington USA)
34 out of 52 found this review helpful

You know, somehow I ended up with a free subscription to this magazine, and although I've been getting it for months it hasn't made much of an impression.

It's more balanced between gear and technique than say Popular Photography. However, I'm sitting here trying to conjure up an interesting article from memory, and I'm getting nothing.

Outdoor photography is difficult from an artistic standpoint, but from a technique standpoint there's just not all that much to know. Put your camera on a tripod when you can. Worry about Lens flare. Autofocus is good for rapidly moving animals. Wait for the light. Experiment with fill flash until you find a level that you like. Ho hum. You're not going to find any tips in this magazine on how to bring out the highlights of a B&W photo with farmer's reducer, or anything like that. It's all on the blur-the-waterfall-with-a-slow-shutterspeed kind of level.

Anyways, a beginner might like it for a year or two, so I've given it 3 stars.


NOT packed with advertisments!   December 31, 2002
C. Sullivan (Beaverton, OR USA)
29 out of 30 found this review helpful

I have looked at many photography magazines - many of them are just filled with ads....not what an amateur is looking for. I wanted indepth articles, helpful tips and information to help me improve my craft. I found it here. I read every issue cover to cover and back again. I find helpful information in every issue. I highly recommend this magazine - even if you aren't purely an "outdoor" photographer.


Do NOT subscribe to this magazine   October 16, 2007
Anthony Martin (Sterling, VA United States)
25 out of 28 found this review helpful

I let my original subscription run out without renewing, ignoring their numerous requests to sign up for another year. The publisher, Werner Publishing, sent my account to a collection agency, despite the fact that I had not purchased anything, nor said that I would renew the subscription. They sent me a threatening letter saying they were trying to collect a debt, and that "full payment is expected." When I called the agency, they even had a phone menu option for stating that you never renewed the magazine, showing clearly that this is a well-known, standardized process.

This tactic of harassing people and frightening them into coughing up $14.97 for a magazine renewal is unconscionable. They need to be held accountable for using this scare technique as part of their regular business practice. This publisher also publishes such magazines as PC Photo and Digital Photo Pro. At a minimum, they caused me to waste a fair amount of my time correcting the problem.

It's a shame, too, because the magazine is well-written, has great photography, and decent equipmnent reviews. Some outstanding photographers write here. However, their efforts are ruined by their terrible publisher. Do not support these harassment tactics. For a mere $14.97, they've permanently lost a customer, and I hope others as well.