I've read a lot of photography magazines on the iPad, but none have convinced me yet. But of course I had to download this immediately.
One positive aspect is that only 13 of the 51 pages are advertising. The remaining pages contain lots of good tips from the usual suspects: an interview with Jeremy Cowart and Joe McNally - the latter as a nearly 10-minute video, lighting tips from Erik Valid, Jim Schmelzer, Tom Bol, Jason Groupp and - for me the highlights of the issue - Frank Doorhof and Zack Arias. Matt Kloskowski gives a tip on "sweating" athlete portraits and Larry Becker recreates a beauty dish for little money.
So much for the content. And that is actually one of my two criticisms of the magazine: it cannot decide who it is for. Newcomers will find topics that are – as yet – beyond their horizon and professionals have to leaf through too many pages that really don't offer anything new. Personally, it annoys me that the "Saberstrips" are listed in the product presentation, but these items are only available in America.
My other criticism is that the possibilities that a magazine on the iPad could offer are not taken advantage of in the slightest. Unfortunately, when I enlarge images, they become blurry. Apart from the video with Joe McNally, there is nothing that moves - and in the video the protagonists don't move. When it comes to the topic of light and lighting, I could well imagine combining the result and the making of a portrait interactively.
Well, it's the first edition and if everything were perfect, it would be boring... 😉
Simply download it yourself and form your own opinion: it doesn't cost anything. You have to do that first Download the "Light it" app and then the first output within the app.
I would have loved to have looked at this magazine too, because the show you mentioned, “The Grid Live,” and of course “DTownTV,” are sensational formats (at least for me) with lots of tips.
It's just a shame that the magazine is only available for the iPad. Why can't they offer this on iTunes too? Then you could at least watch it on the computer. I'm not so concerned about paying, because quality also costs, but you definitely need this iPad for that. I certainly won't buy the device just for the magazine. Then Scott Kelby has one less customer. A pity.
Hi Florian,
thanks for your comment. The discussion you mentioned is currently rampant on the Internet. I can understand that because the magazine doesn't make enough use of the iPad's capabilities.
However, there are so many free things from Kelbytraining that I think it's ok if you want to develop something specifically for the iPad.
It's a shame that you absolutely need an iPad. iTunes downloads the file on the MBP without any problems, but it doesn't show.