I have just got interested in photography again and as any man would, I went out and bought a slew of magazines to read. Well, I exaggerate there, I bought four. Two were pretty dire and I read and threw them away in a day. The other two, Digital Photo and Photography Monthly were keepers.

The initial reason I felt that Photography Monthly deserved a review here, was that of price. Many magazines now, bundle disks, freebies, but then bump the price up, sometimes as high as £5.99. Well PM sells for £3.95 and the April issue that I bought had 148 pages packed full of useful information.

The Techniques section is really valuable. There is the normal look at a photographer and how they got into the game (for inspiration) and yet more inspiring galleries. The guide to seeking out photo opportunities in your own town was very interesting and their 'Big Guide to Portraits' very very useful and something that I will come back and read again.

There are also 'Digital Workshops' that take you through manipulating your photos on a computer. Again, this is very helpful and done in a step-by-step manner. They have some great reviews too, with a mega test of wide angle lenses in this particular issue. Everything is topped off with readers letters, new gear and some competitions.

This is a very good value magazine, which I highly recommend.