Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas for The Photographer

A common rule in the photographers world is that you can never get enough of photography gear.
Because it’s 24hours (+- a cuple of hours depending where you live)  left until christmas eve, I want to give you some last minute gift ideas if you still haven’t bought something for your dad, mom, sibbling, cusin, uncle, … ,.
There are alot of things that you can buy to the photographer and I hope this little post will ease the tention during the last minute gift shopping.

1. The Digital Photography Book (TDPB) Vol. 1,2 and 3 by Scott Kelby: The Digital Photography Book is written by Scott Kelby. The man who changed the digital darkroom and have sold a large amount of books especially the ground breaking and best seller of all time, Photoshop for Digital Photographers.
The TDPB:s isn’t just a regular photography book that explains exactly how to shoot that type of objekt in that special enviorment nor going through every step to take a picture (Press the ON button, Zoom the lens by rotating the cylindrical thinge on the lens,… yeah you know what I mean).
The book is build up with the following story: You and Scott is are doing some photography on location and you ask Scott for help, “I want to take a picture there the person is in focus and the background is out if focus, what should I do?”. Instead of talking about how everything is connected to each other (the shutter speed with the aperature, etc), Scott says: “Set the aperature to f/2.8 focus on the objects eyes and press the shutter release”. Fast and simple.

I’ve personally read through Vol. 1 and 2 (and soon vol. 3) and I really love the concept behind these books. Scott mixes the text with his humor and positive energy, which makes the reading stand out from all of the other photography books out there and you will have the difficult problem to tear your eyes from the book.

2. Black Rapid Strap RS-5: When you are out on location and shooting one of the downsiders is neckpain, especially when you have a couple of houses and those super large telephoto lenses hanging from your neck.
To be honest I have never tried this item, but I’ve heard a lot of photographers talking about it and recommended it.
It’s secure, have pocketes with magnetic locks, you can access the camera quickly without being worry to drop it and you look nerdy aswell .

3. Memory Cards: When it comes to photography the holy grail is the memory cards. To have insufficient amount of memory cards isn’t good at all, it’s like sitting at the toilet without toiletpaper (yeah I know not the best example but you know what I mean), I can’t describe it in words but SHAME ON YOU! if you don’t have enough memory cards.
I would really recommend memory cards from HoodMan due to it’s preformance, no loss if image data and it’s used by the pro:s. If it’s too pricey then I would recomment Sandisc Extreme III cards.

4. Spare Batteries: CLICK, CLICK,….,…. Huh?!? What happend?, OHH NOOOO the battery is out of juice! That is a situation you don’t what to stuble up on. It’s always good to have extra spare batteries when you are out on location and shooting especially when it’s cold outside. It has happend to be in situaltions where I almost wanted to eat my own shoe for not bringing extra spare batteries.
So bewere folks buy it, before you loose your precious pictures.

5. Gift Subscription to Kelbytraining.com or Lynda.com: As a photographer you always need to learn new techniques and addapt yourself to the enviorment. This is why a gift subscription to Kelbytraning.com or Lynda.com is a good idea. It doesn’t matter how old or how young you are (ok, well, not too young but young enough to learn) this gift suits everyone.

6. The moment it clicks by Joe Mcnally: Yep, it’s a another book recommendation. This time it’s “The moment it clicks” by Joe Mcnally.
This book will make everyone who reads it want to be a photographer. The book do not have so much How-To sections, I would rather say more behind the scenes on Joe Mcnallys amazing work.

7. Camera Cleaning Kit: In our digital time you need to have the equipment in perfect condition so it will work propertly in the future.
What is that black dot I get everytime on my images at the same place?!. Well it’s a dust particle on your sensor dude, you need to clean it. Do not spend a lot of money on cleaning products and expensive brands. They almost all have the same function and cleaning quality.

8. A Good Tripod or Monopod: A good tripod or monopod is always a good thing to have with you. There will always be moments when the light isn’t the best and you need to keep the camera perfectly still. Manfrotto and Gizto are two rock solid brands that will never let you down.

I hope this last minute list will help some one out there.
It have been a fun and exciting year and a lot have happend especially this website. After som rethinking a couple of times I think I’m happy with the design.
The list may need some spell checking, but well well making the list was more important

Last but not least I wish you everyone A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!