I just thumbed through a stack of recent NG's. I applaud them for getting a little more brave, especially in terms of expanding their footprint using amateur contributions. But after awhile it gets awfully cutesy and gimmicky, esp the digi manipulated things; and the way the images are or not cropped for publication often spoils them. It's not an art magazine by a long shot. Fun to thumb thru, but not very satisfying in the long haul. More like tasting ice cream samples rather than having a good steak. But that's what the NG magazine is for - relaxed quickie reading with fun pictures. What I most admire in recent years is features like those of Jim Brandenburg, going out and taking only one nature picture a day and making it stick - shows that not all photojournalists need be machine gunners. They have come a long ways since the day of needing someone in every printed shot wearing a red sweater. But no, I won't be ordering any prints from them anytime soon.
