Subscribing To Better Photography

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How do you make better photographs?

How do you create photos other people admire?

Read how with our three essential ingredients.

BEFORE

AFTER

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The Three Essentials

1

GREAT IDEAS

2

PHOTO EDITING

3

A Mentor

First, we need a source of ideas. All the equipment in the world will get us nowhere without ideas. Ideas are our energy source. Ideas make great photographs.

Second, we need to embrace photo editing. Learning selective editing is the key to creating photographs that you'll be proud of and that others respond to.

Third, we need a mentor. The most famous artists and photographers in the world all benefitted from advice. Yes, photography is an individual pursuit, but how do you know if  what you're doing is any good? Only a mentor can give you this essential feedback.

1. We're Full of Ideas!

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Better Photography Magazine and its annual Photo of the Year awards provides all this to its members - ideas, skills and feedback.

Maybe you're tired of Google and YouTube, aimlessly looking around for what you're not quite sure? Or perhaps Facebook and Instagram are leaving you confused about what makes a good photograph and how to create it?

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One of the problems with so much to choose from is knowing what to choose. That's where a quarterly magazine like Better Photography can really help because it suggests ideas and techniques you might never think of trying on your own.

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Here's How It Works!

Recently, I was reading an article by Better Photography contributor Nick Melidonis. Nick was writing about a Photoshop plugin called Shape, which at the end of your editing process can give your photographs some wonderful life and sparkle.

I might be the editor, but I'm also a magazine reader! I immediately followed the link Nick provided, purchased Shape and today it is a regular part of my workflow.

My photos look better because of it, but without the article in Better Photography magazine, without the 'idea' from Nick, I would never have found it. And I would never have searched for it on Google because it wasn't anywhere on my radar.

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Click on the menu image here to visit Shape's website if you'd like to investigate it yourself.

Now, don't get me wrong. I use Google and YouTube, but the extra value of carefully selected content in a quarterly magazine like Better Photography shouldn't be overlooked.

You only need one idea from each magazine to make the subscription worthwhile. And there are thousands of ideas tucked away in the Better Photography magazine archives, available to download for all subscribers.

Chances are you've recently bought a new camera or lens, or perhaps it's a monitor or a processing app, but what did they do for you on their own? The ONLY reason equipment and techniques are useful is because of the ideas you use as a photographer - and that's what Better Photography provides.

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The secret to great photography isn't in new equipment, it's in your ideas - and you'll find tons of ideas and inspiration in a subscription to Better Photography magazine.

2. Selective Editing

Selective editing is the single most important skill a photographer can learn today. It lets you express and refine your ideas.

'Global' editing is what our cameras do. When they take a photograph, everything within the frame receives the same global settings, even if the sky ends up too light or a person's face is too dark.

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'Selective' editing let's us transform camera photos into something much, much better. Not only can we darken the sky or lighten a person's face, we can creatively interpret the image in many different ways - depending on our ideas.

BEFORE

AFTER

I'm well known for embracing post-production in my work, but I am also criticised for 'changing' or 'enhancing' reality by photographers who call themselves 'purists' or 'realists'. These misguided folk are our enemies. No one is forcing them to edit their photos if they enjoy the discipline of capturing everything 'in-camera', but I don’t think it is acceptable to criticise others who wish to be more adventurous and express their creativity through photo editing.

For me, post-production is just as important as the capture. Photography is a two-step process and depending on the subject, I get to decide how much or how little post-production is best.

And with a subscription to Better Photography magazine, the contributors and I will share with you a range of post-production techniques and approaches that will have you making great photographs.

3. Finding A Mentor

Many of the contributors to Better Photography magazine also act as mentors and lead photo workshops. We have no shortage of expertise.

However, not everyone has personal access to a mentor, so one way we thought we could help is through our annual Photo of the Year competition. Every entry receives a score and a short comment from a judge, providing valuable feedback.

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And every subscriber to Better Photography receives a free entry into the competition, which is the only photo competition judged by three AIPP Grand Masters of Photography.

Our How To Win Photo Competitions online package links in with the judging comments used for our Photo of the Year awards and you can enter extra photos as well for more comments.

So, what are you looking for?

Do you want to produce photographs of a professional standard?

Would you like to feel comfortable with post-production so you can edit any photo?

And would you like to experience the satisfaction of producing a photograph that is truly creative?

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This is where you start - with a subscription to Better Photography. Here's what you get:

Four brand new issues of Better Photography, each 100 pages and in full colour.

Access to over 50 back issues of Better Photography magazine, full of ideas and inspiration and valued at over $750.

Entry to the Better Photography Photo of the Year award, valued at $20.

Re-subscribe for just $29.80 - a saving of $20 in future years.

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We'd love to welcome you as a subscriber - why not join now and enjoy taking Better photographs with Better Photography magazine.

Click here to subscribe