Gifts for your Favorite Photographer or Camera Aficionado

With the holidays upon us, you may be wondering what to buy for your favorite photographer or camera buff. Unfortunately, photography gear is pretty pricey, and it’s tough to find a gift in your price range. Here are my suggestions for the best gifts under and around $50, with the prices in effect at the time of this writing.

1. Think Tank Pixel Pocket Rocket

I love this item. If you’ve read my “What’s in my Bag?” post, you’ll know I’m a fan of all Think Tank gear, but this is a gem. It holds your cards in a safe convenient place which you can hook to your belt or camera bag so you know that no valuable images are lost. When we were on the beach in Nevis, we found a stray memory card. If you lost a card in front of the Four Seasons in Nevis, check with the front desk as we turned it in to the beach attendant. Then quickly get one of these so it never happens again!

Think Tank Pixel Pocket Rocket $18.75

Think Tank Pee Wee Pixel Pocket Rocket (smaller size) $15.75

2. The Lens Pen

This one is the perfect stocking stuffer, the Lens Pen. It’s small, and can hook on to your camera bag for easy access, to quickly clean your lens.

LensPen $8.70

My friends from the Cream City Flickr group, Lloyd and Kevin also suggested lens wipes and lens cloths as stocking stuffers. You just can’t get enough!

3. Honl Photo Color Correction Kit

Honl Photo has loads of great photography accessories, including this Color Correction Kit. It’s used with the Honl Speed Strap to attach to a flash, so that you can change the color of the light from the flash to match the ambient light. Color filters can also be used for some creative effects. Honl Photo has a number of different kits to color your flash, including the the color correction kit, the color effects kit, the Hollywood kit, and others. A fun and creative gift! Don’t forget to get them the strap too, which you need to use the filter kits.

Honl Photo Color Correction Kit $19.95

Honl Photo Speed Strap $9.95

4. The Lens Travel Mug

It looks like a fabulous lens, but is in fact a handy travel mug. OK, it’s not terribly useful, but it’s an interesting conversation piece and a fun gift!

Canon Lens Mug 24-105mm $24.00

There is also a Nikon version, but of course, it is more expensive, and it doesn’t have the travel lid, but I’m sure it’s superior if you’re a Nikon guy.

Nikon 24-70 Mug $30

5. Eneloop Rechargeable Batteries & Charger

For the more practical gift giver, photographers need power, and Eneloop rechargeable batteries are extremely popular with photographers for good reason: they hold their charge. Why not throw in a Think Tank Photo battery holder in a festive green color?

Eneloop Rechargeable Batteries & Charger $17.91

Think Tank AA Battery Holder $9.50

6. “Hot Shoe Diaries” by Joe McNally

A friend gave me this as a gift and I loved it! Joe McNally is one of the great innovators and masters of creating amazing images with small strobes, and this book shows you how it’s done and inspires you to get out and shoot. While you’re at it, get Joe’s book, “The Moment it Clicks” as well – - another inspiring addition to your photographer-friend’s library.

Hot Shoe Diaries $26.99

The Moment It Clicks $34.64

7. One Light Workshop Field Guide

If your photographer friend would love to attend one of Zack Arias’s One Light Workshops, but can’t afford the tuition or the One Light DVD, Zack has a great field guide with many of the tips contained in the One Light DVD. I haven’t made it to one of the workshops, but I own the DVD and this field guide, which I go back to again and again for ideas on how to light portraits.

One Light Field Guide $28.00

8. Manfrotto Tabletop Tripod

This addition to the Christmas list comes from a friend in the Cream City Flickr group, Lukinosity, as one of his most-used items. When I can’t carry a full-size tripod, this tabletop tripod will be found in my bag. I actually packed both for my last trip, and didn’t end up using it because I had the full-sized version along. But where you need (or want) to pack light, this is a sturdy little tripod. It comes with a tripod head (usually those things are separate) and costs under $40! What a deal!

Manfrotto Tabletop Tripod $39.10

9. Flickr Account

We all need a little help from our friends. In this blog post, I’ve mentioned a number of friends from the Cream City Flickr group, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Flickr is a great photo sharing site. You can not only display photos, but you can comment and review comments of others, and join groups focused on a variety of things, like subject matter, gear used, and locale. The Cream City group gets together the third Saturday of every month for a photowalk. There is a lot of technical information shared, but also a great deal of companionship and good cheer. My thanks to my friend, Mike, for introducing me to Flickr in 2007. Why not introduce your friend to this great group of people by purchasing a gift of a Flickr pro account? Flickr is free, but with a pro account, you get unlimited uploads, unlimited sets and collections, access to your original files (a nice little backup), statistics on your photos, and ad-free browsing and sharing.

Flickr Pro Account $24.95

10. Think Tank Case Management 20 Bag

Last, but not least, my favorite organizer, the Think Tank Case Management 20 bag. It is the perfect bag for organizing small items you need to bring along. When I travel, I have one for cords, one for batteries/cleaning items, and one for filters. They come with these little red bungy cords to keep your cords organized. I absolutely love these bags. Why not buy one and fill it with little treats?

Think Tank Case Management 20 Bag $21.75