“She is obsessed with photography, I will get her something related to that.”
Please pause before you do so…… It is in our nature when looking for a present to consider what the recipient is passionate about. They love their cooking, they like golf…. Whatever it is, they are likely to receive related gifts at Christmas.
I have a work colleague who is bizarrely obsessed with washing up and I naively thought it was an inspired idea to buy something connected. The dishwasher wasn’t at all well received…not that it wasn’t a great and generous present, I had simply missed the fact he actually likes doing the washing up. As a result the ‘evil white machine’ near his sink is now ‘solely responsible for destroying the ozone layer’ and ‘will be the downfall of modern man’. The point being here is if you don’t understand, in intricate detail, what drives the obsession you are not likely to end up buying something they actually want.
Add to this, that professional photographers tend to muster, and carry, more kit than the average soldier heading off to war and tend to be very particular with their choice of equipment, none of which is ever cheap. Finding a related and suitable present that will be well received isn’t an easy task, in fact chicken teeth can be easier to find.
There are many articles online listing endless ( less expensive ) gift items focused towards photographers and I haven’t managed to find one yet that doesn’t have the plastic mug that looks like a lens.. PLEASE take it from me, this is no longer a novel, cool or unique present. Every photographer, pro or enthusiast, good enough to understand what ‘aperture priority’ means, already has been given one of these, if not many, over the last couple of years.
If you must get something related, consider one ,or a few, of the following.. Every Photographer, professional or not, will find them useful and I have selected them as they don’t require you to know the specifics of their existing kit or camera model details. You may think a roll of gaffer tape is an obscure present. Trust me any worthy photographer will appreciate it way more than you would imagine.. ( I know, we are an odd lot )
USB Hard drive 2TB – Somewhere to dump the enormous quantity of data ( images ) on after a shoot is imperative with modern pro cameras.. You can never have enough of these. Even if they already have one or several.. get them another. Don’t go for anything less than 2TB.
A wide base, telescopic step ladder. Half the skill of getting that perfect shot is getting the angle right. A useful bit of kit for any professional photographer.
Coffee shop gift card Love or hate coffee shops, a professional photographer can spend a lot of time in them. Normally sorting through the days shoot, meeting clients or preparing for the next. Likely to be very well received..
Gaffa Tape – Some colourful roles of Gaffa tape. Yes I know, a bizarre present for anyone but essential kit for a pro photographer. Gaffa tape – not electrical tape or duct tape.
ST Memory card. No professional photographer can have enough of these. Make sure they are large 32 or 64GB ( a pro camera can fill these up in minutes ) Make sure they are the fast variety.. ‘Extreme’.. You will find they are more expensive than the regular ones. ‘Sandisk’ is generally considered the best and is typically priced as such.
Yoga Matt – The step ladder gets you high a small yoga mat helps you get down low. A frosty morning out in the fields can produce some stunning photography- if you get down close to the ground where the action is.
Weekend Break.. Take them somewhere they haven’t been before. All photographers have typically photographed everything in their immediate environment. Give them a break and ironically some new material to process. He/she will love your ingenuity and the opportunity to photograph new vistas is always a treat.
Dish Washer – Lastly, the most valued thing to any professional photographer is Time. If nothing above is suitable then anything that saves them time is a worthy present. Who knows they may even appreciate the dishwasher.
