Photographers tend to be picky with their equipment so trying to get them a job-related gift can be challenging. However, there are some good gems that the photographer in your life would appreciate if they found it under the Christmas tree this month.
Here are just a few that he or she will appreciate; will help him or her with their photography hobby (or job); and, not to mention, are pretty wallet friendly.
Ceiva digital photo frame
I've written at length about these frames. They aren't your run-of-the-mill digital photo frames. They connect to your Wi-Fi network so you can upload pictures directly from Facebook as well as through applications such as iPhoto and Picasa. There is also an iPhone app that will allow you to upload on the fly. The other cool thing is that these frames are social. For example, my brother has one of these frames and I've taken pictures of my and his daughter with my iPhone and have been able to send that picture to not only my frame, but his frame as well.
Imagine giving one of these to a family member, having it all set up so when they plug it in, pictures are already sent to the frame. The frames are in the $100 range and they come with a year subscription to the service, which is a low cost compared to the time and hassle you'll save from having to continuously load pictures on a memory card.
External hard drive
Every photographer fears one thing and that's not having enough space for their work. You can pick up external hard drives for short money, including ones that are in the 1TB range (which, for your non-tech types, 1TB is a whole TON of space). Check out Newegg.com for good deals on external hard drives.
Gorillapod
You're probably reading Gorillapod and thinking, what the hell does a gorilla and a pod have to do with photography. Well, this little handle tool is a tripod for those times when your photographer doesn't want to carry around a big tripod. This handle tool can wrap itself around just about anything and is pretty sturdy. As a bonus, it acts like a great stabilization device for video cameras.
Professional point and shoot
If you can afford to spend a few bucks on your photographer, think about a good old point and shoot. Most photographers will have all the latest gear from Canon or Nikon as well as a slew of lenses, bags, etc. Sometimes carrying around those big cameras can be a pain in the butt. But, because photographers are picky with the quality of their photos, point and shoot cameras typically aren't high up on the wish list.
However, here are two point and shoot cameras you can't go wrong with -- both from Canon and over $500, but well worth the investment because the image quality is superb; they shoot in RAW format (think digital negative); they have the same functionality as professional cameras do; and, they shoot high definition video (720p).
- Canon Powershot S95 (small and lightweight...the classic pocket camera)
- Canon G12 (little bigger and bulkier, so it'll give your photographer the sense they still have something in their hands when shooting)
You can get these online, but I'd suggest either B&H Photo or Hunts Camera and Photo.
As a bonus gift, you might want to consider getting them online storage. While external hard drives and DVDs are great for backing up, it's a great idea to have your precious memories backed-up outside of your house or even your work place, just in the off-chance something happens to one of your drives or even your home.
What are you buying the photographer in your life this year for Christmas? Or, if you're a photographer, what's on your wish list?