Everybody knows someone that is a photographer, and with Thanksgiving wrapped up and Christmas approaching I thought I’d help you out with your shopping list. Here are 22 great gifts for the photographer in your life (in no particular order).
1. Black Rapid Strap: I love mine. The cross body carrying method is 10x more comfortable than a strap around your neck. They have both a women’s and a men’s version (although I just have the men’s. Women’s wasn’t yet created when I acquired mine).
2. Joby Gorillapod: Flexible, lightweight, adjustable, and easy to carry with you on the go. Get super creative and wrap around a pole or a tree for some great stable photography.
3. Add the Joby Ballhead X to your Gorillapod and you are golden. Much easier to move the camera around and fine tune positioning.
4. Digital Timer Remote for your SLR: Allows you to set your shutter on a timer. Also does intervals – I totally use this with my kids when I actually want to be in the photo. Put your camera on a tripod, set the intervals for every 10 seconds and then go about your activity (obviously you have to be fairly stationary). Worked great for coloring Easter Eggs one year.
5. Think Tank Card Wallet: For those wedding photographers that have a ton of memory cards. I love that it has a strap for you to attach to your clothing. Also has a business card slot for easy identification.
6. Eneloop AA Batteries: I’ve lost track of how many of these I actually own. Every photographer needs more rechargeable batteries. Trust me. These are the best.
7. The Capture Pro: For full reasons why should get this, read my blog post here. Its fabulous.
8. The Daisy Grip: I don’t own one (yet) but my child photographer friends swear by them.
9. The Expo Disc: Get perfect white balance in tricky situations. Fabulous for wedding photographers when the lighting can be all over the place at receptions.
10. The F-Stop Watch: Totally on my list.
11. Camera Cookie Cutters: Who doesn’t love sugar cookies?
12. Photo-opoly: Personalized game of Monopoly. I’ve never tried it, but it has great reviews on Amazon! Fun, easy to put together.
13. Going Pro: Scott Bourne & Skip Cohen are two of the greats in the photography world. Fantastic book about taking the leap from amateur to pro photographer. Have it, read it, loved it.
14. Understanding Exposure: For experience or beginning photographers. Understanding your camera, f-stops, and dozens of other topics to get your camera of Auto and have more control over your photos.
15. Camera Charm Necklace: Sparkly.
16. Keep Calm and Snap On Poster: Decorates one of the walls in my office. Kind of an odd size, so I had it matted and framed at Michael’s.
17. The PhotoJojo lens set: ooooh. These are fun! They’ve even added a polarizer since I bought mine. Might be time for a new set.
18. The Slingshot: stabilizing grip for your phone and it also folds out into a tripod! Super useful for video.
19. Canon Camera Lens Mug: My dad bought me one of these for my birthday. I totally love it.
20. Smartphone Attachable Lens – Sony Qx10: One of the coolest innovations for camera phones yet. 10x optical zoom, f/1.8, the lens carries everything it needs inside it and you control it with your phone. You can also find it here.
21. Holga Camera: For those of us that have always shot digital, this is a fun little experiment in film. Don’t forget to also buy film.
22. Camera Shaped USB Drive: Why not?
We played. We rode bikes. We built secret forts among the palm trees and Spanish Moss. We didn’t work enough because we were too busy swapping stories at the playground. We love to hear the background and details behind other traveling families. Everyone has their reasons and goals but almost always you can find similarities.
On this holiday of Thanksgiving, we have much to be grateful for. We love our family, our faith, and our friends. We also feel very grateful for this opportunity to restructure and re-prioritize our activities and circumstances in pursuit of a simpler life.