Christmas gifts for photographers

It’s that time of the year again. Christmas Day is looming and you’re struggling for gift ideas. If your friend or partner is a photographer we’ll help you out with these ideas of Christmas gifts for photographers. If you’re a photographer and you think we’ve missed something off, leave a comment below and we can add them to the list.

Photography Guide Books from fotoVUE (around £25)

Earlier this year, I discovered some great photography books from fotoVUE. The books are currently split into different regions of the UK including Scotland, the Peak District, Dorset and the latest release a guide to Central London.

The books are great to use with clear directions to get to photography locations. Once you are there, you’re given suggestions of different viewpoints for each location. As you would expect the books are filled with high-quality images from the authors who are all working professional photographers.

If you order from the fotoVUE website you can get a 15% discount by using the discount code FVFV at checkout.

Photographers gloves from Vallerret (around £65)

Living in Scotland, we get some amazing light in the winter months. It’s perfect for landscape photography! However, that’s also the time of the year when it’s the coldest. I’ve been able to keep shooting in the depths of winter by using some great photography gloves by Vallerret

The gloves have a comfortable Merino wool liner which makes it nice and cosy for your hands. The index finger and thumbs on both hands pull back to allow you to be able to use the buttons on your camera and tripod. When they are pulled back they are kept from flicking back with magnets so you can work easily on location. On the back of the gloves are a couple of handy pockets which allows you to store memory cards when you are on the move.

This is one of the Christmas gifts for photographers what will warm their hands as well as their hearts!

Camera Cleaning Kit (from £3 – £160)

I like to keep my camera nice and clean. It stops dust spots appearing on your photographs. Better still it also increases the resale price of your gear in the future. You can read my daily cleaning regime here.

You can make up your own cleaning kit by using a pick ‘n’ mix of the following items. A bottle of Pure Isopropanol Alcohol to clean the camera body and lens casing. A bottle of Tiffen lens cleaner for the glass parts of lenses. Eclipse cleaning fluid for cleaning sensors. Matin lens cleaning tissues to be used with the lens cleaning solution. Camera sensor cleaning swabs – remember that the swabs need to be the right size for the camera sensor. A sensor magnifier to find the dust spots that could have made their way to the camera sensor.

A full kit would cost £160 but some of these items can be picked up for under £5 so it can make a great stocking filler!

Tripod (£275 + £250 for tripod head)

Very quickly, landscape photographers will want a tripod. This is one of the photography things that it is definitely worth paying for. There is a rule of tripods that you can only have two of the three attributes of lightness, cheapness and sturdiness. From experience (and lots of wasted money!) it’s worth buying something that is light and sturdy. My tripod of choice is the Manfrotto 055 Carbon Tripod. I also use the Arca Swiss Monoball P0 with Quickset Fliplock ballhead which can cope with a heavy camera and lens combination.

These two are a lot of money but think of them as a gift for life. Once you’ve bought them, you’ll never need to replace them with just a bit of maintenance.

Think Tank Camera Bags (£80 – 375)

Photography is an expensive hobby. Why spend lots of money on cameras and lenses and then not protect them? I use a two-bag strategy for my camera gear. Both of them are by Think Tank and I can’t recommend them enough. There is a huge range of different bag sizes and shapes available on their website. Even better, I’ve had brilliant customer service from the company!

If you’re looking for Christmas gifts for photographers, this is going to make a great addition to their kit.

Kase Filter System (from £350)

Earlier this year, I switched my filter system to Kase Filters. It was a big and expensive change to move from the old system but I’ve never regretted it. Kase filters don’t add any colour cast to the photographs so you get much better results. Even better, they are made from Wolverine glass. It’s not indestructible but it’s almost as good as. Check out the Kase website to see the drop test video.

Photography Workshop Vouchers (any amount)

One of the great things about photography is that you can never stop learning. Learning is what we do here at Edinburgh Photography Workshop. There are three advertised workshops of Switch to Manual, ideal for beginners or those who don’t think they are getting enough out of their cameras. Night Photography for someone who wants to keep shooting after the sun goes down. Introduction to landscape and Seascape photography, perfect for intermediate and advanced photographers who want to get more comfortable shooting in the field. We can also tailor sessions to individual needs. This year we have created bespoke courses on Lightroom, off-camera flash and food photography.

Vouchers are available for any amount, although we do recommend the minimum spend of £75 which covers the cost of both the Night and Switch to Manual workshops.

Tickets to the Photography Show (£12)

Every March, Birmingham’s NEC hosts The Photography Show. It’s a great opportunity to see and try the latest gear. There are also stands with everything you can possibly imagine for photographers from picture frames to posing baskets for newborn shoots. Throughout the weekend, there are free demonstrations from well-known photographers. I visited in 2019 and I have already registered to attend in 2020.

Adobe Photographers Package subscription (£119)

There are lots of software products that photographers use. The market leader used by most professionals is Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. As well as being feature-rich, they have the advantage of thousands (if not millions) of online tutorials so you can always find how to do something easily.

You can buy a 12-month subscription to both programs for under £120 which includes updates throughout the year as well as access to mobile versions of both programs. I know some people don’t like the subscription concept so if they get it as a gift every year, they won’t need to bother about the on-going cost.

Memory Cards (£8 to £129)

You can never take enough pictures. Well, maybe you can if you fill your memory cards up. That’s why a photographer can never have enough memory cards! I’ve never had a failure using San Disk cards and so I can highly recommend them. Most cameras today take standard SD cards which are available from £8 and go up to over £100 if you want to buy the fastest cards which are great for recording 4K video and shooting sports or nature. This is one of the Christmas gifts for photographers that you can guarantee will be used.

Give us your feedback

If you’ve got any questions or comments, leave them below. You can sign up for the Edinburgh Photography Workshop monthly newsletter where you’ll get regular updates on interesting things happening in photography and some great tips. Sign up by clicking here.