Turn The Saturation Up To 11

Impelled by a sense of curiosity, I grabbed a half a dozen or so sample magazines that had been dumped on the lunch table at Camera Electronic and took them home. There were two free sample DVDs included with them so I got to play them as well.

It is a delicate matter for one writer to write about the writings of another writer. It can take on the flavour of undiscriminating fandom...or bitchy jealousy. I tried to look at the mags with an open eye.

It was an eye that watered. Not because of bad journalism or ugly photography - indeed most of the images printed in these magazines were really well done.The main problem was the overpowering intensity of the colour. The saturation, vibrancy, and detail were slid  way over to the right...and that was just in the advertisements. The actual editorial stuff was vibrating sideways off the page. It's hard to do that with a shot of a shingle beach in Yorkshire, but they managed to do it...

Okay. This is in contrast to the Australian Would-Be Professional Photographers Magazine Printed In Singapore. The AWBPPMPIS, as it is known in the trade, has an editorial policy - indeed it has an automatic program - that desaturates every image shown. This is to give an extra sense of drama, professionalism, and retro hip, and to save on the more expensive printing inks. These can be kept in reserve for the advertisements. It's a necessary economy these days. Fortunately web-based publication can still give full rein to the entire sRGB spectrum and the advertisers count on you having the screen set to laser-intensity anyway.

I did enjoy the DVDs - they were bright, simple, and gave a useful bit of information in each section. The fact that the information was aimed at the dumb end of the market is neither here nor there - that is my neighbourhood. Besides, even if you found that they were telling you something that you should have known but didn't, the fact that you could view it unbeknownst to your professional rivals means that you never need to admit to ignorance. Like voting in a federal election - as you are all alone there in the cardboard booth no-one need to know that that you endorse the local wacko party candidate.

Are they as good as the dear old publications of the analog era? Are they, as British magazines, as good as their American or Australia rivals? Yes and no. If they seem heavy on trick photography and computer manipulation, take comfort that you can emulate what they do with the images without the need for plumbing or organic solvent developers. You might fall prey to the occasional blue screen but you won't break out in eczema while doing it.

But they are a signpost to another thought about photographic knowledge - and we'll explore that in the next post.

M Magazine - Doesn't Melt In Your Hand

You may be forgiven for thinking that the M Magazine from Leica is just the old Leica Fotographie or Leica Fotographie International magazine in a larger size and with a black and white cover. It is similar, of course, but there are subtle differences inside. 

Fewer pictures of dark-skinned people on beaches in mid-day sun with the contrast turned up high so that they appear blacker. Fewer photos of Hong Kong streets with laundry strung between apartment buildings. Fewer dewy-eyed children around perfectly safe and non-military German Christmas trees.

You can still count on New York street pictures with either beggars or lunchtime crowds and there is generally a riot available somewhere that yields good value.

At least the price has been kept reasonable - $ 20 per issue. This one is the third in the current series and by the way the company is going there should be a lot more. 

I'm waiting for the issue with the ghost gum in the paddock, the white cockatoos, and the rusted 1937 Ford ute. Ya can't beat a classic...

Online Catalogue/magazine at cameraelectronic.com.au

In Their PRYME - The Regnard Brothers Feature In An Instant

Pryme magazine is a publication that concentrates its focus upon instant photography - the sort of thing that Polaroid, Fujifilm, and briefly...Kodak...were responsible for. One of their recent issues feature two of our favourite Mauritians - Ian And Erick Regnard.

The article revolves around work that Ian and Erick did in the Pacific with a a camera that Camera Electronic helped them to construct. It started out as a 4 x 5 Linhof and gained a waterproof housing and instant film back. It also gained a great deal of weight to help it sink...

The article is fascinating - I never realised how many magazine covers that Tungsten have been credited with. Here's the link to read it - you might even be inspired to subscribe to the magazine.

Read the article here

The images are gorgeous and unusual.

Note - no models, sting rays, or Regnards were harmed in the filming of the series...

Pentax Garner TIPA Award

The distributors of Pentax have just let us know that their K-3 camera has gained an award from the TIPA. Which prompted me to wonder what TIPA was. Off to Google and fond out:

It is the Technical Image Press Association. Apparently a confederation of 28 different world-wide photographic magazines with a further connection to 11 photo magazines in Japan. They met recently in Vancouver and judged what they consider to be 2014's best  equipment and accessories.

The K-3 got the award for being the Best Digital SLR Expert.  Thee were plenty of other divisions of judgement and many fine products from all sorts of manufacturers. The wide range of points-of-view and the different advertising bases mean that the award is not just a rubber stamp - there has been a fair consideration of the equipment.

What surprised me was the number of photo magazines - that's 39 in the group. How many more are there in the world? I mean how many more are out there being printed on real professional presses and not just web blogs or Gestetner machines out of Mom's basement...That's a heck of a lot of photo magazines.

Never mind - they like the Pentax K-3 and so can you.