Writing for the Photography Press
Well, honestly, I write for the photography press quite a lot. More than I ever expected to, if I’m being truthful. It started as something of a sideline and has quietly become a genuinely important part of what I do – partly because I love it, and partly because I think there’s real value in photographers sharing what they’ve actually learned rather than just what sounds good in theory.
From N-Photo to Digital Camera World
I was a monthly contributor to N-Photo – the unofficial Nikon magazine that I absolutely loved – before it was retired. Writing for N-Photo was a brilliant discipline. Those monthly deadlines kept me sharp, and there’s something wonderfully focusing about having to distil a technique or an idea into a tight, readable piece for a specific audience. A sad moment when it closed, of course, but things have a way of working out.
So I have now started writing short-form articles for Digital Camera World. You can read my first one here, where I slightly tongue-in-cheek mutter about technology. It’s one of those pieces that started as a genuine internal argument I was having with myself – do we actually need the latest kit, or don’t we? – and somehow turned into an article. The best ones usually do start that way, I find.
Five Years Writing for Professional Photo Magazine
More importantly – at least in terms of longevity – I have been writing for Professional Photo magazine for five or six years now. This is a glorious publication under the leadership of editor Terry Hope, who everyone in the photography press knows. Terry has this wonderful ability to let contributors write in their own voice whilst still pulling the whole thing together into something coherent and authoritative.
These are longer articles, and at least for the past few years have focused on “The Anatomy Of A Shoot” or something similar – which suits me perfectly, because I love unpacking how a session actually comes together from start to finish. Not just the pretty pictures at the end, but the thinking, the lighting decisions, the moments where things didn’t quite go to plan and what happened next.
The publication has now gone fully online and, although I genuinely miss the printed version dropping through our door – there was something rather lovely about holding it, flicking through the pages over a cup of tea – it does mean it’s easy to link directly to the articles. No more hunting through a pile of back issues to find the one you wanted.
My Latest Article – Reviewing the Datacolor Spyder Pro
If you fancy a read of my latest piece in the photography press, you can find it here. It’s a review of the incredible Datacolor Spyder Pro – something that has lived in my kit bag for years. Colour accuracy in your images starts with a properly calibrated monitor, and the Spyder Pro is simply the tool I trust to do that. If your monitor isn’t calibrated, you’re essentially editing blind – what you see on screen and what your client sees when the prints arrive can be two very different things. It’s one of those pieces of kit that quietly does an essential job without ever making a fuss about it.
Please do subscribe to both of these brilliant publications – Digital Camera World and Professional Photo. They’re both genuinely worth your time, whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been doing this for decades.
And who knew, when I was battling it out with my O Level English teacher, that writing for the photography press would become something I love nearly as much as creating images? She’d probably be quietly pleased, even if she’d never admit it. Enjoy!